As Yogi Berra once said, ‘It ain’t over ’til it’s over’, and that applies nicely to Team Alberta’s Michelle Hartwell of the Thistle Curling Club in Edmonton.
After struggling in the round robin, Hartwell’s Albertans find themselves two wins away from winning the women’s title at the Canadian Curling Club Championship in Winnipeg.
Hartwell, who plays third and is backed by skip Lisa Johnson, second Brittany Zelmer, lead Shauna Nordstrom, and alternate Tori Hartwell, defeated Team Quebec’s Miriam Perron (Trois-Rivières) 9-1 Saturday afternoon in the double-knockout playoffs to advance to Sunday’s semifinal at the Granite Club.
Hartwell started the day strong by winning her playoff opener 5-4 over Team Ontario’s Lindsay Thorne (Ottawa).
Hartwell admits her team struggled in the round robin and just squeezed into the playoffs with a 3-3 record (including a 7-0 loss) in Pool B.
But here they are, after two straight playoff wins closing in on a national title.
“The round robin didn’t go quite as planned, but this is very exciting for us,” said Hartwell, who yielded skipping chores to Johnson mid-season. “Every game was a very close game, but we always knew that we weren’t giving our best. We knew our best was still to come. Today we came out with two wins and it feels great.”
Hartwell said they juggled the lineup at provincials.
“We had a couple injuries and we needed to make the best team that we could,” she said. “We were actually down to three players for the playoffs. The fourth player came back and we kept things the same.”
The club championship is a first for the Alberta team except for second Zelmer who has appeared once.
Hartwell admitted having to play back-to-back games to open the playoffs was a bit daunting, but with a semifinal spot secured, her team can relax a bit.
“That was a challenge, especially at the end of a long week,” she said. “We really had to dig in and support each other.”
The Albertans will face Team Ontario’s Lindsay Thorne (Ottawa) who limped on one leg after an opening-round loss to qualify for the semis. The other semifinal will feature New Brunswick’s Sarah Gaines (Oromocto) against Team Quebec’s Miriam Perron (Trois-Rivières).
It was also a banner day for Team Ontario’s Bryan Cochrane (Russell) who won twice in the men’s playoffs to secure a spot in Sunday’s semifinals.
It wasn’t easy. Cochrane, who opened with a 6-3 win over Team Nova Scotia’s Sebastien LeFort (Sydney), needed a hard-fought 9-3 win over Team Alberta’s Sterling Hansen (Calgary) in a battle of round-robin front-runners. Hansen ran the table in Pool A, winning all six games, while Cochrane was right behind with a 4-2 mark.
Cochrane is one of the few recognizable names in the event. He won the 2019 World Senior Men’s Championship for Canada, and skipped Team Ontario at the 2003 Brier and Team Prince Edward Island at the 2020 Brier.
Here, though, is a different story. It’s a chance for him to play with his two sons, third/vice-skip Ryan Cochrane, second Jamie Cochrane, lead Paul Nooyen, and alternate Pierre Harvey round out the team.
“It’s been a thrill to play with my two sons,” he said. “Win or lose, I don’t care. It’s been fun.”
The Team Ontario skipper will be joined in the semifinal by Team British Columbia’s Mitch Young (Cranbrook) who also survived an early loss in the competition. The other men’s semi features Team Prince Edward Island’s Dennis Watts (Cornwall) and Mark Noseworthy’s Team Newfoundland & Labrador (St. John’s).
Both gold-medal games will be played Sunday at 3 p.m.
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