Local Boys Make Good In A Canadian Gold Medal Week

BRCC's Team Villeneuve. After a 5 day run at the Northern Ontario Senior Mens Provincials, this squad turned out to be the third place finishers. With Bob Villeneuve at the helm, Glen Austin at vice, Terry Fryer at second and Dan Horton at lead...this crew had a pretty good run making it to the semi-final.  The winner of the provincials was the Rob Gordon rink from Sudbury defeating the Bruce Munroe rink (also from Sudbury) in the final. So what's to take away from all this? Well, on a personal note, I enjoyed playing with these guys. There were highs and lows and overall, and we handled both pretty well.

One thing is for sure. Play well and you can win. Miss a bunch of shots and it will bite you in the derriere.

Never say die. We came back from a 5 - 0 deficit to win a game in an extra. For me, this was the highlight of the week. Nothing sweeter than a "come - from - behind" victory.

Bob Villeneuve, in my humble opinion, made the shot of the week. He threw a very low percentage angle raise double takeout and stuck it. Miss it, and the game is out of reach. Make it, a an ensuing momentum shift takes place. That's the shot that I will remember. I should add that Bob was battling a sore knee and iced it between games...despite the discomfort, he played through it and had a very strong showing. Kudos to Bob for that.

And finally, if you want some post- curling competition, get Terry Fryer to fire up his I-phone and play the millions of tunes he has loaded on it and play a round of "Name That Tune". Great fun and Juha Cantavera (Soo Curlers) was a force to be reckoned with....but I think I held up the BRCC end very well.

In BRCC action, top team in the BRCC Ladies is Team Joanna Hammond with only one loss this entire season. Great job by these ladies (with Hayley Horton, Julia Horton and Tamara Behnke).

The Mens League just finished up regular season play. The top 16 teams will move on to the playoffs but there will be another flight for the remaining 5 teams. Playoffs begin Thursday, March 6 (I'm not sure if there are any playoff games on Monday, march 3 but I presume Westy will get hold of the skips). Kudos to the Molson Exers (Team Keith Rouselle) who have finished regular season play in a tie for second place with Team Al Viel. The Exers have had it together all season long...great job guys).

Congrats to Team Pat Dakin (with BRCC's Al Viel and Kelly Barry) for winning the A Event in the BRCC Mixed. I'm not sure about the B, C or D Event winners but I will post those winners in a later post.

Huge Kudos to Team Brad Jacobs (big plus for NO curling) and Team Jennifer Jones in winning double gold at the Olympics. Way to go in making Olympic Curling history!

The Brier starts this weekend. Yahoo! So, with Stoughton heavily favoured to win, here are my predictions:

Top 4 teams at the end of the week: Stoughton, Gushue, Morris and Koe. The final? Gushue vs Stoughton or Morris with Gushue winning it all! Yes, that's right. I'm giving it to Gushue. Not since Jack McDuff in '76 has a Newfoundland team won the Brier but Gushue has a tough squad and I am thinking this year is the year! I know what you're thinking....a biased prediction. Indeed it is. Admittedly, I'm a Gushue fan but they are a good squad and they have played well this year.

Other Brier participants include:

Eddie MacKenzie (PEI): Probably won't make the playoffs. Not enough exposure to the big teams.

Jamie Murphy (NS): Will not make the playoffs but kudos to this sqaud on a great win against former Brier winner Mark Dacey.

James Gatten (NB): Tough team and Gratten is a solid player. They have the potential to make the playoffs but they will have to bring it big time.

Jean Michel Menard (QC): A black horse in this competition. They are a real good team and also a former Brier winner. You never know with these guys...they might get on a roll and scream themselves into a playoff spot.

Greg Balsdon (ON): First Brier appearance. lots of experience playing against the big boys but I cannot see them getting to the playoffs.

Jeff Currie (NO): First Brier appearance. No real experience with the big boys. I hope they do well since they are a Northern Ontario team.

Steve Laycock (SK): Tough team with ,lots of experience on the WCT. Definitely potential to make the playoffs but once again, they will have to have their A Game all week long.

Jamie Koe (NWT/YT): Jamie is back for his umpteenth appearance. Could be a big surprise. He has lots of experience but can he bring it all week and get to a playoff? Time will tell.

So that's it...starting tomorrow it will be a week of the Brier. And my Gushue roller coaster ride will begin. Apparently, the Saturday night game is Gushue vs Stoughton. You can be sure I'll be watching that one! So, kick back and enjoy the ride at the Big Show!

Rock On!

The Curling Chronic