Team Saskatchewan #1 has its sights set on a historic three-peat at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship

It’s not the first time Team Saskatchewan #1’s Gilbert Dash (2-2; Moose Jaw) set his sights on a historic win at the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship, as the skip from Kipling, Sask., acquired his fifth national title at the 2024 event and looks to push it to six after a 7-3 win over Team Québec #2’s Luc Hamel (3-1; Quebec City) Thursday afternoon.

This year, Dash and his Saskatchewan squad look to accomplish a remarkable three-peat to join the other Canadian curling greats who have held similar feats at the national level. Kerri Einarson, Jennifer Jones, and Brad Gushue are just a few names Dash could join if he skips his team to gold again.

“I’ve not been focused on a three-peat,” said Dash. “We’re focused on each game, each rock. It’d be nice, but it would also be our sixth national title, which would be even nicer.”

Dash is joined on the ice by lead Darwin Bender, second Moose Gibson, vice-skip Marie Wright, and coach Ben Gamble. The two-time defending championship team looks a bit different this year, with Bender coming back from a year away from curling.

Also, another change to the lineup is coach Ben Gamble, making his debut at the Canadian championship to take over for coach Lorraine Arguin, who coached Dash and Wright to the top of the podium five times.

“Ben’s a great leader, and he knows curling,” said Dash. “He knows how we throw, and the dynamic is similar to how it was with Lorraine, so it’s an easy, simple transition for all of us.”

The game against one of the home teams, Team Québec #2’s then-undefeated Luc Hamel, got off to a close start but very quickly leaned in Saskatchewan’s favour in the third end when they scored three.

While Hamel quickly saw his opening to put up a few points on the board in the seventh end, his last draw came up just short and only scored one, securing the win for Dash.

Rest might have been just what the Saskatchewan team needed after Tuesday night’s thunderstorm blew out the power supply at Le club de curling Boucherville and halted Wednesday’s games while the ice recovered.

However, competition was not in short supply on Thursday as teams eagerly took the ice for the last full day of round robin.

Thursday afternoon draw action witnessed quite the matchup between Team Northern Ontario’s Douglas Dean and Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s Dennis Thiessen that resulted in an 8-7 extra end win for Dean. Also, Team Alberta’s Martin Purvis led his team to an 8-5 win over Team New Brunswick’s Michael Fitzgerald to put Alberta in good standing heading into the playoff round.

For live scores, team lineups, and schedule information, click here.

Tickets to the 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship are free of charge. For directions to the venue, click here.