Playoff match-ups are set at the Canadian Seniors

The playoffs match-ups are set as the Championship Round wrapped up on Wednesday evening at the 2018 Everest Canadian Seniors Curling Championships in Stratford, Ont. Men’s Leading the way on the men’s side is Al Hackner from Northern Ontario, who finished the round robin and championship round at 8-2. Hackner cemented his top spot by scoring an 8-4 win over Manitoba’s David Boehmer in the final game of the championship round. Boehmer finishes just out of playoffs with a 6-4 record. Quebec’s Ted Butler and Ontario’s Bryan Cochrane squared off in the evening draw, with Cochrane cracking a three in the fifth end to go on to a 6-2 win. Now the two are tied, with matching 8-2 records, and will pick up second and third spots heading into playoffs. New Brunswick’s Terry Odishaw picked up fourth spot by securing a much-needed 7-5 win over Saskatchewan’s Darrell McKee to secure the final playoff berth. With the final standings set, Hackner (NO) will take on Odishaw (NB) in the 1 vs 4 game, while Brian Cochrane (ON) will face Butler (QC) in the 2 vs 3 game. Just out of playoff contention are Alberta’s Wade White rink and Manitoba’s David Boehmer, both at 6-4, followed by Saskatchewan’s Darrell McKee at 4-6 and Nova Scotia’s Alan O’Leary who finishes the championship round at 3-7. In the men’s Seeding Pool, British Columbia’s Craig Lepine topped the leaderboard with a 5-4 record. Yukon followed close behind, finishing 4-5. Northwest Territories and Prince Edward Island ended with a duplicate 3-6 record, while the Ryan rink from Newfoundland and Labrador closed out with a 2-7 final standing. Nunavut failed to pick up a win at this year’s event, finishing at 0-9. Women’s In the women’s championship round, Mary Mattatall and her Nova Scotia team knew they had clinched top stop going into the final evening game, but still played hard to perfect their record. However, they came up short to Lynne Noble’s B.C. rink after giving up steals in the seventh and eighth and ultimately losing a close battle, 7-5. Nova Scotia finishes their pool play with an almost perfect 9-1 record and top spot moving into the playoffs. Second place belongs to Sherry Anderson who started off the week lagging a little behind but rebounded with six straight wins and a final win against Northern Ontario’s Peggy Taylor 7-4. Ontario’s Colleen Madonia moved up to third place after an extra-end win over New Brunswick’s Heidi Hanlon 5-4. And the fourth and final playoff berth goes to British Columbia’s Lynne Noble. So the women’s match-ups are set: Mattatall (NS) meets Noble (BC) in the 1 vs 4 game, and Anderson (SK) will play Madonia (ON) in the 2 vs 3 game. Just out of playoff contention are New Brunswick’s Heidi Hanlon 6-4, Northern Ontario’s Peggy Taylor and Newfoundland and Labrador Diane Roberts, finishing at 4-6, followed by Odette Trudel from Quebec who finishes the championship pool at 3-7. In the women’s Seeding Pool, Manitoba’s Kim Link finished 4-4, followed by Alberta’s Terri Loblaw and Prince Edward Island’s Shirley Berry with matching 4-5 records, followed by Northwest Territories at 3-5 and Yukon’s Sandra Mikkelson at 1-7, and Nunavut’s Geneva Chislett at 0-8. Playoff games take place Thursday at 10:00 a.m. EDT, with the medal games kicking off at 2 p.m. EDT. Draw results for the 2018 Canadian Seniors will be available at www.curling.ca. For event information, visit https://www.curling.ca/2017seniors.