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Waterloo, Ontario

2005 Champion: Randy Ferbey

Kerry Burtnyk’s win streak has come to an end as he failled to qualify at the Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic over the weekend. The win and top prize of $15,000 this week, went to Glenn Howard and his rink of Richard Hart, Brent Laing and Craig Savill. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for the semi-final game of Howard vs Ferby with super spare Russ Howard taking the place of David Nedohin!

Team Performance Brush, skipped by Pierre Charrette won the Coupe Saguenay in Chicoutimi, Quebec by beating Francois Gagne 8 – 5 in the final after having dispatched Jean Michel Menard in the semis. Clearly the target is still hanging on the backs of the defending national champions as they chase their first cashspiel win of the season.

Guelph Curling Club’s Greg Balsdon went undefeated to win the Bacardi Cashspiel in Brampton, Ontario with an 8 – 2 victory over Pat Ferris. Janet McGhee won the ladies event with her 8 – 7 win over the Jo-Ann Rizzo’s revamped lineup.

Jennifer Jones took the Colonial Square Ladies Curling Classic beating Karen Purdy 7 – 4 in the final. The Jones overcame losses in the A and B events before qualifying from the C event. Her first game in the playoffs was against the sentimental favorite Jan Bekter in a close game by a score of 7 – 6.

Lazy Handles
Attention Detroit area curlers… The Detroit Curling Club in Ferndale is looking for you! Please see this article in HometownLife.

A new way to stay cool. The Glenboro Curling Club in Glenboro, Manitoba has installed a new geothermal heating system, for the specifics see this article from CBC Sports.

Guy Hemmings will be making stops in the Rainy River district of Northern Ontario for the purpose of getting the local youth involved in the game of curling. Read more about it in the Fort Francis Times…

It seems American Olympians Picabo Street and Dan Jansen will be joining Debbie McCormick and Pete Fenson respectively, in a battle of the sexes at the Korbel Elite Challenge, taking place in Whistler, British Columbia and will be televised on NBC during American Thanksgiving Weekend.

The high cost of maintaining an aging curling facility has yet again become a reality for an Ontario curling club. The membership of the Hylands Curling Club in Ottawa this week had to make the difficult decision to close its doors. From their website:

Hylands Curling Club Members:The executive would like to inform you all that sadly Hylands Curling Club has been permantly closed. Estimates for repairs to make the club environmentally and electrically safe totalled $250,000.00. Given that the club was built in 1958, base fund officials could not support this large loan.

All paid members for the Oct 06 – Apr 07 season will be reimbursed by the Canadian Forces Support Unit, Ottawa, Non Public Funds accounting section.

Members who have some personal items stored at the club are to retrieve those items at the earliest convenience by contacting club manager during normal working hours.

Hylands has been a great place to curl for many many curlers during it’s 48 year existance. The Executive deeply regret any inconvience suffered by our members. Further details will be communicated as they become available.

Unfortunately this seems to be becoming a bit of a trend. As clubs age and require major repairs, new compressors or even simple renovations it is becoming increasingly difficult for some community clubs to survive. So far this year we have seen this story with Avonlea and now Hylands. It’s hopeful that a trend like this does not continue…

An interesting article in the Penticton Western News reports that the Penticton Curling Club has invested in new inserts for their rocks in time for the 2006-07 season. If the program is a success it will mean less maintenance on the rocks and eliminate the need for sharpening the rocks.

“The rocks are made up of two types of granite,” explained PCC ice man Del Haidenger. “Most of the rock is what they call a Red Trevor which is good for striking. The bottom of the rock has been cored out and we’ve put in an insert of what they call Blue Hone granite. It’s a surface better suited to speed and curling.”

Will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend as technology continues to take over in the sport of curling.

Kerry Burtnyk kept his win streak alive at five, going undefeated at the Strauss Crown of Curling in Kamloops, British Columbia. With the win Kerry Burtnyk holds on to top spot on the money list, with $ 50,924.00 after six weeks on the World Curling Tour circuit.Â

Meanwhile, Kevin Martin did his best to keep pace by winning the Flint Energy Classic in Bonnyville, Alberta with his 6 – 3 victory over Kevin Koe. This game could have been billed as the battle of ex-teammates as Carter Rycroft and Kevin Koe went up against their skips from last season. With the win, Martin picked up the top prize of $15,000.00, and a total of $50,500.00 this year. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what happens this coming weekend at the Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic with many of the top teams participating. Will it be another Burtnky vs Martin final or will we see another two teams step forward? Stay tuned….

It is nice to see that curling is still on the radar south of the border with this article in the Albany Times Union.

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Beginning today weekly passes as well as particular weekend packages for the 2007 Brier at Copps Coliseaum go on sale. Visit the site here.

Individual daily tickets don’t go on sale until a few weeks before the event.

Hamilton last hosted the Brier in 1991 when Alberta’s Kevin Martin and his rink of Martin, Kevin Park, Dan Petryk and Don Bartlett defeated Randy Woytowich in the final.

It’s out with the old and in with the new at the Royal Kingston Curling Club. The venerable club is moving into new digs this weekend, but for posterity’s sake here is a great look back at their old facility that is worth checking out. Good luck with the new rink Kingston!

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