Alberta Rocks & Rolls

The province with the oil seems to have spawned another natural resource, curlers, and very good ones. Unless you reside under a rock, you have to be impressed with the roll that those who wear the blue & gold are on. It started with the juniors where championships for both genders were captured by Albertans. Heather Nedohin, currently battling her international foes in Lethbridge for global honours, was the Scotties winner. Only Glenn Howard and crew from Ontario spoiled the prairie party to date. But if Rob Armitage and his Red Deer foursome have anything to say about it, the path to the 2012 Senior Men’s Curling Championship will at least go through that halfway point truck stop between Calgary & Edmonton. Team Alberta sports a championship leading 3-0 win/loss record at this early juncture in the event. Their opponent in draw #6 was from our newest province, Newfoundland & Labrador’s Glenn Gloss (2-1) who played shot-for-shot until the 6^th end when Team AB hung a three on the scoreboard in response to a troika belonging to Team NL in the previous end. From that point things went from bad to worse for the east coasters as Alberta pulled away to a 9-4 victory. The men from the black, red & white province kicked field goals in ends 2, 4 & 7 to overwhelm their opponent from Whitehorse C.C. at the Mount McIntyre Centre in Whitehorse, YK. Final score was Ontario 9 and Yukon 4. Ontario’s Lewis moves to 2-1 while Yukon’s Hilderman is winless. In a second “battle of Atlantic” today, the New Brunswick men (Mark Armstrong) tangled with their neighbour to the east, Nova Scotia’s Dave McCusker. When the pebble finally wore off, the Bluenosers walked off with a well-deserved 6-3 victory. McCusker moves to 2-1 while Armstrong falls to 1-2 In women’s play, the buffaloes from Manitoba skipped by Laurie Deprez (1-2) scored early and often in posting a 8-1 win over Northern Ontario’s Darla Esch (1-2) as did the wheat province women (SK’s Darlene Gillies now at 2-1) against the Ann McKellar-Gillis (0-3) of the Northwest Territories posting an 11-3 mark. The host women’s team skipped by Penny Shantz from the Naniamo C.C. on Canada’s west coast island (aka Vancouver Island), were upset by the “other” islanders on the east coast (PEI). Shirley Berry, representing both the Charlottetown and Cornwall Curling Clubs, scored the last four points of the game with the last one being a steal in the 10^th to earn a tough 7-6 triumph.  Both teams are now at 1-2. Alberta’s Cathy King and Ontario’s Nancy Harrison lead the Senior Women standings at 3-0. For end by end results and complete standings, visit www.curling.ca/championships/seniors/scores-and-standings Host Committee web site, visit www.canadianseniors2012.com