Morning Cup - Day 2 Edition

CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009 - Page 1

'ALLAGHER #ENTRE s -ARCH

The

Morning Cup

Presented by

THE NEWS REVIEW

Of cial Newspaper of the Canada Cup of Curling

Mary-Anne Arsenault has been sharp, winning her opening two games of the Canada Cup. For story, see Page 5.

Page 2 - CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009

Martin pulls Houdini act Brier champ comes off the canvas to win

By LARRY WOOD Morning Cup Editor

T

Russ Howard stumbled out of the gate with two straight losses.

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he Tim Hortons Brier champion of the past two years just keeps on winning.

And winning.

Kevin Martin’s powerhouse Edmonton juggernaut, riding a 26-game winning streak in Brier play, pulled off a pair of Houdini jobs at the $75,000 Canada Cup men’s curling championship on Wednesday at the Gallagher Centre.

Martin, with John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert in support, trailed veteran Russ Howard 6-3 after seven ends in their opening match, then scored 2-2-1 over the last three frames for an 8-6 verdict.

Then, on the late shift, SEE Martin overhauled a RESULTS, three-point deficit at the half, eventually wired Page 10 Brad Gushue of St. John’s in a deadlocked 10th end and stole two for a 9-7 decision.

“Smoke and mirrors, those two wins today,” said Martin. “We hung in there and kept it close.

In the last end, Benny made a perfect comearound to the button, dead buried and behind theirs in the top 12. That won us the game.”

When was the last time he was down 5-to-2 in any game?

“Hmmm. Before Christmas?” mused Martin.

“Brad had us on the run. That wasn’t our fault. They made every shot.”

The champ also heisted a last-end victory from Gushue during last week’s Calgary Brier.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” said the 28-year-

MEN old Newfoundland skip. “But we have to be better in the 10th end. We’re not executing properly and they executed very, very well. They made every shot absolutely perfect but we did not execute. We basically threw a second guard for them on our first rock and gave Ben a chance to put one on the button, double guarded.

“You have to put rocks in good positions in the last end against these guys. I hate to be harping on it but we have to keep positive. These 10th-end collapses are unacceptable. It all comes down to rock positioning. You give these guys an opportunity and they’re going to take it every time.”

Joining Martin in the undefeated ranks heading into today’s action was Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton, who appears to be angling for a return engagement following his defeat in the Brier final.

Stoughton dumped Edmonton’s Kevin Koe 75 and Toronto’s Wayne Middaugh 5-2 in a pair of relatively conservative tilts.

“So far, so good, but we’re not playing very good,” said Stoughton later.

“This ice isn’t as nice as last week’s at the Brier. It doesn’t curl as much. That’s why the scores are pretty low. It’s tough to get rocks in great spots and that makes it a pretty simple game.”

Teams of Winnipeg’s Kerry Burtnyk and Mike McEwen pulled even with 1-1 records on the day while Gushue, Middaugh, Koe and Edmonton’s Randy Ferbey, the six-time Brier champ, fell to the same record.

PLEASE SEE MEN P8

CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009 - Page 3

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Page 4 - CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009

The Wood file

EDITOR Larry Wood ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Komosky PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Burns Jr. PUBLISHED BY The News Review

Holland balances top SCA job with on-ice challenge of chasing Olympic gold medal

A

lot of curlers would argue that 34-year-old Amber Holland, former national junior champion skip, has the best of both curling worlds.

Two months from now, she’ll be firmly ensconced in the Saskatchewan Curling Association’s executive director’s chair in a four-person Regina office.

Eight months from now, she’ll be involved, at the very least, in the Canadian Olympic pre-trials at Prince George, B.C. But, better yet, a win in this week’s Canada Cup at the Gallagher Centre and a repeat as Players champion next month at Grande Prairie would earn her a bye to the Olympic trials proper at Edmonton next December.

Something missing from Holland’s resume, though, is a trip to the Scotties Tournament Of Hearts. In the better part of two decades of trying, she’s never won the Saskatchewan women’s title and that’s where her other curling job may qualify as a disadvantage.

Still, “I took the job (SCA executive director) on the condition I could still curl and that still works”, she was saying Wednesday.

On the subject of advantages and disadvantages, there might be a Canada Cup debate where Holland is concerned, too.

Her Kronau team of Kim and Tammy Schneider and Heather Seeley has been out of competitive action since the Saskatchewan provincials at the end of January. Which suggests rust could be a disadvantage.

On the other hand, teams arriving here following the grind of the Scotties might also claim a disadvantage.

“I think every team creates its own schedule,” Holland said. “And every team does its own thing and depends on how well it has prepared, so I can’t say we have an advantage.

“We were concerned about not playing a lot of competitive games coming into this event. It’s been a while. So I went and played in the mixed provincials down at Weyburn just to keep sharp. So I got in some games and the girls practised without me.”

To boot, Holland won the mixed and a trip to Burlington, Ont., for the nationals in November with skip Jason Ackerman of the Regina Tartan. That event starts the day after the Olympic pre-trials at Prince George wind up.

Talk about your crowded curling schedules!

“I think all the teams now are physically prepared to

Larry WOOD

Amber Holland says teams have to be prepared physically for the grind of the curling season.

play these tournaments,” said Holland. “And I think there’s enough of a break between this and the Scotties.

“You probably have the advantage of having played at the Scotties, in the arena and the arena atmosphere. So the teams that weren’t there get the question, are we really ready for this? But, we are! It’s just nice to come to play in an arena.”

But what about curling’s future beyond the Vancouver Olympics? What about fears of burnouts, retirements?

Who’s going to have the advantage then?

“It could be,” Holland admitted, “that a few people the immediate year following will say, ‘yeah, enough is enough, I’ve committed enough time and I’ve sacrificed enough of everything else, my job, my family’, but three

years out I think people are just going to gear up and do it all over again.

“I agree with the current trials and points system to a point. What I like about it is they’re creating something that demands teams stay together and work together as a team as opposed to a one-shot deal. And I’ll be first to admit that in 2001, I got in on the one-shot deal.

“But I think the most disappointing aspect now is the whole pre-trials thing. They’ll play two pressure-packed events, only two months out from the Olympics? You have to prepare for all of the things that will happen there. And there’ll be a lot of distractions.

PLEASE SEE WOOD P7

CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009 - Page 5

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Arsenault finds magic

By LARRY WOOD Morning Cup Editor

T

hree teams remained undefeated heading into today’s rounds in the $75,000 Canada Cup women’s curling championship at the Gallagher Centre.

Halifax’s lone entry in the 10-team competition, with Mary-Anne Arsenault throwing last rocks and Kay Zinck directing teehead traffic, won a pair of matches Wednesday as did Regina’s Amber Holland and the Quebec team of Marie-France Larouche from St-Romuald.

WOMEN “The mission is we gotta score lots of points this week,” said Arsenault, who moved to last rocks on this team when her former five-time Scotties-champion teammates Colleen Jones, Kim Kelly and Nancy Delahunt retired.

“If we win this it gets us straight to the (Olympic) pre-trials but as long as we do well it’ll get us to the Players championship and we’re on the cusp right now. So we’re waiting to see the results.”

Arsenault upended former champion Shannon Kleibrink of Calgary, the current No. 1-ranked Canadian woman’s skip, 5-3, and followed by manhandling Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., 9-3.

Holland, meanwhile, defeated Cheryl Bernard of Calgary 8-5 in the morning and

then staged a rousing rally to dump defending champion Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon 10-8 in an extra end.

“The first win was a bonus,” said Holland.

“Just being able to go out there and figure out the ice and make the shots was the key for us. Just getting a good feel and executing, we did that and it was great the wins came along with it.”

Holland held a 4-1 lead on Lawton at the half, but the current Saskatchewan champion bounced in front 5-4 after seven and scored three in the ninth for an 8-5 edge heading for home.

Holland miraculously fashioned a tying three in the 10th and stole the winning deuce in overtime.

Larouche hammered a four and two threepointers on the board in a 12-9 extra-end marathon against Bernard after earlier stopping Middaugh 8-5.

“We both made some mistakes but taking two in the eighth end was really key,” said the Quebec skipper of her initial win.

Offered Middaugh: “A lot of missed opportunities. We had ends set up and we allowed them to get out of it. We had a couple of misplaced shots to give up deuces where we could have forced them.

We turned what could have been a two or three into one in the seventh. It was all about misplaced rocks.”

PLEASE SEE WOMEN P8

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Page 6 - CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009

Kelly Scott (left) confers with Sasha Carter and Renee Simons. The Kelowna team is fighting to get back into the Olympic trials picture.

Scott looking to fight way back

By LARRY WOOD Morning Cup Editor

K

elly Scott and friends have had most of this new year to contemplate the long road back.

In the wake of consecutive Scotties championships in 2006 and 2007 and a world title in the latter year, Scott’s Kelowna team has experienced a long, slow and monotonous skid.

The next thing to rock bottom was failure at the interior B.C. zone level in attempting to win the provincial title and advance to last month’s Scotties at Victoria.

“I guess a bunch of different things have weighed on our results,” the petite skipper admitted on Wednesday at the Gallagher Centre.

“There have been lots of things going on.

Obviously our personal lives, with new families. The cashspieling may have taken a toll.

Chasing those CTRS points and the trials spot and there was a whole lot of distractions going on. You focus on those things instead of your game and then you don’t get your successes and suddenly it isn’t fun any more.

“The seasons are so long, September to April, and seven years of that can take a toll on you.”

Hence, Scott and vice-skip Jeanna Schraeder, second Sasha Carter and lead

Renee Simons have been on the sidelines since the first week of January.

A strange and noticeable disappearing act for a unit that ploughed its way to the top of heap just two years ago in Aomori, Japan.

“Unfortunately,” recalled Scott, “we had to battle through some small clubs and interesting ice conditions. We had a one-shot deal to get through and it just wasn’t our weekend.

“The very next Tuesday we were meeting to discuss how we could get better. As much as you want to go home and sulk, it doesn’t get you anywhere. So we made a plan right away on how we were going to fill January and February with a view to coming here in March.

“We’ve had seven years together. And it’s time to just re-energize and find our spark again.

“We’ve had a nice break now and we’ve certainly been working hard to find that edge again during this break from competition.

Now we’re coming back with a feeling we’re excited to be here instead of saying, ‘oh, here we go again, another tournament’.

“But we’re thrilled to be here, the ice is super and it’s exciting to be playing again.”

So, all matters considered, would Kelly Scott construe January’s setback as a blessing in disguise? An opportunity for complete and unfettered rejuvenation?

PLEASE SEE SCOTT P7

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Wood From Page 4 “I understand that with the Olympic trials it’s marketing and viewership for everything involved in the December timing. But to have the pre-trials a month before the trials? I think we could have figured out a better way to do that.

“Like, we could have had either one set of trials, or if you’re going to have a pre-trials, have it in, say, April. Give the teams some time. I mean, I think every team going into those pre-trials is expecting to win or to have a chance at the trials. But to have only threeand-a-half weeks from the time you step off the pre-trials ice until you step up for the trials and get ready for Edmonton? How do you manage your schedule with cashspiels and everything else in between? How do you prepare yourself all over again?”

Before she has to wrestle with that problem, there’ll be the job transition from SCA technical director to executive director.

“I’ve been with the curling association for 12 years so I’ve done a lot more of the programming,” Holland said.

“As executive director, there’ll be more

staff management, obviously more of the political side with all our board meetings, the Canadian (CCA) meetings.

“All the stuff I really love!” she added with a slight touch of sarcasm.

“And I’ll take more of a lead role in a lot of our competitions, try to take a bit of a lead role in some of our development areas, more of the club development — right now I work with coaching and junior development. It’ll be more in-house. It’s going to be different but a lot of the same, too. Our Regina office is so small, so all of us tend to do a lot of the work that needs to get done when it needs to get done.”

This Canada Cup visit for Holland qualifies as a return to her place of birth.

“Yes, it’s listed as Yorkton, but I’ve never really lived here. We lived in Dilke and I went to school in Bethune,” she said, grinning. “It was an ‘oops’. My mother and father were coming up here to visit my aunt and uncle and, lo, I just happened.

“So I guess I stayed in Yorkton for three or four or five days and then I went home.”

Hmmm. Could it be something cyclical is about to happen here?

Another successful three or four or five days, 34 years later . . . ?

“Wow!” responds Holland at the suggestion. “Wouldn’t that be just great?”

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Kelly Scott needs one more major victory to qualify for the Olympic trials in Edmonton.

Scott From Page 6 “There’ll be no breaks between now and next February,” said Scott, “so maybe this was a better time to take a breather. That’s how we’re viewing it, anyway. We have no other choice.”

As a Canadian and world champ, Scott needs only one more major victory to qualify for the Olympic trials at Edmonton in December. Without that win, or a boost in points, the team will be relegated to the pre-trials at Prince George in November.

“But that points and trials stuff is what we’re trying not to focus on,” argued Scott.

“That’s what got us in this pickle in the first place! For the past four years it’s been push-push-push. Now, we just want to come out and curl, enjoy our curling and be with

our friends out there. That’s what we’re going to do for the remainder of this year.

“If it is meant to be that we get that bye to Edmonton, we’ll take it. But there’s no harm in having to gear up to win those pretrials either, because the goal isn’t just to be in those trials but to be ready to win those trials.”

The Scott team made a command social performance during the opening weekend of the Scotties at Victoria.

“But we weren’t really emotionally attached when we were in Victoria,” admitted Scott.

“It was different to sit back and view it like everyone has watched us for the last four years.

“No doubt we’d rather have been playing, but we were lucky four years in a row to have been there, and now that we’ve missed one we may appreciate a little more how difficult it was to be in that championship for four years in a row.”

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Page 8 - CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009

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Defending Canada Cup champion Kevin Koe of Edmonton delivers.

Men From Page 2 Burtnyk, bombed 9-3 by Gushue in the morning, bounced back to throttle Ferbey 74 on the night shift.

McEwen, a 10-5 opening round loser to Middaugh, then clubbed veteran Russ Howard of Oromocto, N.B. 7-2.

Koe sawed off on the day with a 7-2 win over Ted Appelman of Edmonton. Ferbey opened with a 6-2 victory over Appelman.

Howard, whose opening loss to Martin was a mental killer, admitted: “I think we’re tired.

“We played well early, and then the ice got a lot straighter and a lot faster which is unusual.

We just started missing draws the wrong way.

“I had a draw to go four up and I thought I threw it good and it just kept sliding and I was about a foot heavy. That put us three up.

“They got a nice deuce in the eighth. We sort of protected, we could have gambled a bit but we tried to protect so now we’re one up with playing the ninth. We still had them.

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From Page 5 Larouche agreed the seventh end was the turning point.

“Our confidence is good again,” said the third-place finisher in last month’s Scotties at Victoria.

“Our Scotties was a lot of ups and downs and we tried to stay focused, but I think we can stay focused here. It’s a good thing for us.”

Regular vice-skip Nancy Belanger, a teacher, is at home handling exams and report cards. Second Annie Lemay has moved up to third, Joelle Sabourin to second and alternate Veronique Brassard is playing the lead rocks.

“Points and money both are important to us,” said Larouche. “But most of all, it’s important to play well. We know we are almost in the (Olympic) pre-trials. So we’re going to concentrate just playing against the best teams.”

Larouche won five bonspiels on tour prior to winning her provincial championship and competing at Victoria.

Elsewhere on Day One, Kleibrink

“Then in the ninth I had a come-around tapback which is my forte. And I don’t know what happened to it. I tried to throw board and I thought I threw at least board and I tried to soften my release and I did and it just took off.

“The worst part is if I hog it we’re tied up coming home with the hammer. But we swept it all the way down, I ticked the guard, rolled over and raised him in for two.

“Now we’re one down, they played a pretty good 10th, we couldn’t get the deuce.

We couldn’t even get one!”

Howard shook his head hopelessly.

“So you think you have Kevin Martin beat, we outcurl him and then we have 19 minutes to get back out on the ice again,” he said of his six-end loss to McEwen.

“We have no excuses, we’re supposed to be sharp but we weren’t and we paid.

“The way we lost was the worst part. If Martin had beaten us in five ends we would have had lunch and gone back out there. But it was like we were all over him and I couldn’t believe I raised him in. I couldn’t make that shot if I threw 1,000 rocks. I get it by the guard we’re three-up. So it’s a game of inches, right?” rebounded for a split with a 9-3 verdict over Michelle Englot of Regina.

Englot earlier stole a point in an extra end to defeat two-time Canadian champion Kelly Scott of Kelowna 7-6. Scott needed a cold draw to a full four feet and was one foot heavy, but rebounded to scored three points on the last two ends for a 6-4 conquest of Edmonton’s Cathy King.

Also 1-and-1 on the day, King trounced defending champion Stefanie Lawton 10-4 in the morning. “We just couldn’t make the draws out there,” said the defender, who joined Bernard and Middaugh on the winless list. “We were having some trouble with the weight. But Cathy’s team played strong. Kaitlyn Lawes definitely is a great thrower.”

The silver-winning skip of Canada’s team at last week’s world junior championship at Vancouver has dropped in to toss third rocks for King.

Middaugh, who failed to defend her Ontario title in January, suggested her Coldwater crew was “a little rusty and not too sharp”.

“We haven’t the competitive edge that teams coming off the Scotties have,” she said. “It’s been a big lull now. We don’t have many opportunities to play together on a regular basis.”

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CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009 - Page 9

Winnipeg native Ryan Fry has found a new home in St. John s with 2006 Olympic gold-medal champion Brad Gushue.

Fry having a blast working George Street and chasing dream of Olympic gold

By DAVE KOMOSKY Morning Cup Associate Editor

W

hat’s a guy from the flatlands of Manitoba doing slingin’ beer by the shores of the Atlantic, on one of the most famous streets in Canada?

“Having a blast,” says Ryan Fry, who, besides slingin’ suds on George Street, is also slingin’ granite this season for 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue.

How Fry came to land in St. John’s with Gushue has been one of the more intriguing stories this curling season. There were whispers Fry, who played second on Jeff Stoughton’s Winnipeg crew last season, had a major falling out with his former skipper.

“Nothing of the sort,” says Fry, who is in Yorkton this week with the rest of the team at the Canada Cup of Curling. “I wasn’t happy with everything in Winnipeg at the time and I wanted a change. I talk with Jeff regularly and Steve (Stoughton lead Gould) is one of my best buddies so we didn’t have a falling out at all, to say the least.”

Fry split with Stoughton at the end of last season and, as a free agent, began looking around for as new place to play. He e-mailed Gushue, knowing the Olympic champ was in the market for a second after Chris Schille moved back to his native Alberta.

Gushue was in the midst of retooling his team. He had already brought back former

lead Jamie Korab, and jumped at the chance to add Fry. Third Mark Nichols was the only other holdover.

“I’ve been friends with Jamie so we started talking when I decided to make a move,” says Fry. “So really it’s more Brad and the team that brought me to Newfoundland than anything else.”

Fry admits the move all the way to the Atlantic coast was motivated by the Olympics.

“The Olympics come into play with every single person’s decision out here who’s competing,” he says. “Everyone’s trying to shuffle to give them the best chance possible to represent Canada at the Olympics. We’re no different.

“Brad's been given a little heat over the lineup changes he’s made over the course of the last couple of years, but everyone’s doing whatever they have to do to put together the best team, and be able to guarantee Canada’s going to win gold when they get to Vancouver.”

The new lineup has clicked from the start, but is still a work in progress.

“The chemistry is really good,” suggest Fry. “We’re all relatively the same age, and we all have the same goals. The three of them have become three of my closest bud-

dies. The teams that seem to win seem to be that way.

“We’ve had a great year, thus far, so hopefully we can carry it through the rest of the season. Of course our ultimate goal is the Olympics. Hopefully everything goes according to plan.”

Gushue, who was 8-3 at the recent Brier but knocked out in the Page Three-Four playoff game, says Fry has been a good fit.

“He’s a pretty easygoing personality,” says Gushue. “He’s a good team player. He’s a positive guy and he’s intense, so you know he’s into the game each and every time you play.

“We’re having too much fun, and we’ve had a reasonably successful year so far.

Obviously, any time you put a new team together there’s going to be some ups and downs, and we’ve had those, but I see definitely through next year, the Olympics, and depending on our personal lives and work situations, I could also see it going on to 2014.

“But it’s a little premature to look that far ahead."

Fry, who works at the Martini Bar on George Street, says the job doesn’t interfere with curling because, once the season began, he’s only had a few shifts. His job has been mostly a summer endeavour.

But when he works, “it’s an adventure.”

“It gets tiring,” he says. “I’ve gone

Brad Gushue has retooled his lineup. through a few Red Bulls, but other than that it’s pretty good. George Street is as crazy as they say. I don’t think there’s any place like it in North America. It’s a fun time for sure.”

“He’s been having a lot of fun down there,” Gushue adds. “I don’t go to George Street at all, but he’s had some good times and I get some good stories when we get on the road.”

Fry can thank Gushue for the job.

“I just put his name down (on the resume), and I got the job,” he laughs.

Page 10 - CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009

LINESCORES WEDNESDAY DRAW 1 8:30 a.m.

WOMEN Sherry Middaugh (a) 002 Marie-France Larouche (b) 010 S P % MIDDAUGH 79 239 76 Amber Holland (b) Cheryl Bernard (b) S P HOLLAND 75 274 Stefanie Lawton (b) Cathy King (b) S P LAWTON 71 235 Michelle Englot (a) Kelly Scott (a) S P ENGLOT 87 262

020 202

100 021 S 80

x x

203 303 S 76

x x

000 301 S KING 72

x x

110 002

200 002 S SCOTT 88

11 — 7 00 — 6 P % 282 80

002 010

x x

LAR.

001 75

020 010

% 91

BER. 200 021

200 021

% 83 001 200 % 75

— — P 250 — — P 256

5 8 % 78 8 9 % 84

— 4 — 10 P % 265 92

MEN Kevin Koe (b) Ted Appelman (b) S KOE 64

201 010 P 213

% 83

APP.

11x 00x S 63

— 7 — 2 P % 194 77

MEN

WOMEN

POOL A

POOL A W 2 1 1 1 0

Kevin Martin Brad Gushue Wayne Middaugh Mike McEwen Russ Howard

L 0 1 1 1 2

Mary-Anne Arsenault Michelle Englot Kelly Scott Shannon Kleibrink Sherry Middaugh

W 2 1 1 1 0

Jeff Stoughton Randy Ferbey Kevin Koe Kerry Burtnyk Ted Appelman S 80

P 237

% 74

KLEIB

S 80

L 0 1 1 1 2

P 241

% 75

Marie-France Larouche Amber Holland Cathy King Stefanie Lawton Cheryl Bernard HOWARD

40

129

W 2 2 1 0 0

L 0 0 1 2 2

81

McEWEN40

144

90

DRAW 4 8:30 p.m.

DRAW 3 4:30 p.m.

DRAW 2 12:30 p.m.

L 0 1 1 1 2

POOL B

POOL B

ARSENAULT

W 2 1 1 1 0

MEN WOMEN

MEN Brad Gushue (a) Kerry Burtnyk (b) S GUSHUE 64 Kevin Martin (a) Russ Howard (a) S MARTIN 80

101 000 P 208

% 81 010 102

P 254

Mike McEwen (a) Wayne Middaugh (a) S P McEWEN 72 228

% 79

101 020

05x 10x S BURT. 63

x x

101 010

022 200 S HOW. 80

1 0

020 202

— — P 188 — — P 240

9 3 % 75 8 6 % 75

011 200

100 022 S MIDD. 72

x x

— 5 — 10 P % 228 79

021 100

102 020

x x

— —

% 79

Kelly Scott (a) Cathy King (b) SCOTT

101 010 S 80

P 235

% 73

Cheryl Bernard (b) 201 Marie-France Larouche (b) 030 S P % BERNARD 86 260 76 010 Sherry Middaugh (a) Mary-Anne Arsenault (a) 201 S P % MIDD. 56 161 72

010 101

002 010 S KING 80

1 0

002 110

10 — 9 03 — 12 P % 267 76

LAR.

120 004 S 88

101 020

0xx 4xx S ARSEN. 56

— — P 265

x x

— — P 165

6 4 % 83

3 9 % 74

P 247

% 77

KOE

001 020 S 78

P 252

7 5 % 81

Ted Appelman (b) Randy Ferbey (b) S APP. 72

5 3

Russ Howard (a) Mike McEwen (a) S

WOMEN Mary-Anne Arsenault (a) Shannon Kleibrink (a)

001 020

101 010

010 000

1 0

DRAW (TIME) 5 — 9 a.m.

TODAY ON THE ICE

6 — 1:30 p.m.

7 — 6 p.m.

— —

Kevin Martin (a) Brad Gushue (a) S MARTIN 80 Kerry Burtnyk (b) Randy Ferbey (b) S BURT. 72

200 001 % 89 010 102

P 239

% 75 020 100

P 218

% 76

100 010

101 000 S MIDD. 78

x x

102 020

102 020 S GUSH. 80

2 0

013 100

x x

010 101 S FERB. 72

— — P 238 — — P 253 — — P 221

5 2 % 76 9 7 % 79 7 4 % 77

WOMEN MEN

Jeff Stoughton (b) Kevin Koe (b) S STOU. 80

Jeff Stoughton (b) Wayne Middaugh (a) S P STOU. 76 272

000 111 P 257

% 89 010 202

P

100 002

100 001 S FERBEY 72

x x

10x 03x

x x

%

xxx xxx S

— — P 253 — — P

2 6 % 88 2 7 %

Shannon Kleibrink (a) Michelle Englot (a) S P KLEIB. 48 157 Amber Holland (b) Stefanie Lawton (b) S P HOLL. 88 241

202 020 % 82 200 010 % 68

032 100

xxx xxx S ENG. 48

x x

110 003

32 — 10 00 — 8 P % 267 78

010 103 S LAW. 86

— — P 133

A

B

C

D

E

Russ Howard vs.

Kevin Koe

Sherry Middaugh vs.

Kelly Scott

Kerry Burtnyk vs.

Ted Appelman

Wayne Middaugh vs.

Brad Gushue

Mike McEwen vs.

Kevin Martin

Shannon Kleibrink vs. vs.

Amber Holland

Brad Gushue vs.

Mike McEwen

Ted Appelman vs.

Kevin Martin

Jeff Stoughton vs.

Kerry Burtnyk

Mary-Anne Arseneault Cathy King vs. vs.

Michelle Englot Marie-France Larouche Kevin Koe vs.

Randy Ferbey

Michelle Englot vs.

Sherry Middaugh

Stefanie Lawton vs.

Cheryl Bernard Amber Holland vs.

Cathy King

9 3 % 69

CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009 - Page 11

PASSING OF A CHAMPION

Mills a true student of game

By KEVIN MITCHELL For the Morning Cup

Welcome all Curlers and Fans 27 Second Ave. N., Yorkton, SK S3N 1G1 T. 306.782.6969 F. 306.786.6955 TOLL FREE: 1.800.782.6970 email: yorkton@quickprint.ca

R

on Mills, an enduring part of a longrunning Saskatchewan trivia question, died in December at 65 years of age following a lengthy fight with cancer.

Mills, with skip Rick Folk, second Tom Wilson and lead Jim Wilson won the Brier (at Calgary) and world (at Moncton) titles in 1980.

It was the same season Mills joined the team as a replacement for the departed Bob Thompson.

Their season remains a benchmark on the Saskatchewan curling scene; the province hasn’t won a Brier since Folk’s remarkable run.

Mills, a long-time Folk foe as a skip before agreeing to join the squad as a third, served as an effective conduit between the quiet Folk and the hard-sweeping Wilson brothers on the front end.

At 36, he was the old man on the team.

He was a student of the game who later moved into coaching. He also worked as a statistician with the Canadian Curling Association at many top events, including many Briers, Scotties, national juniors and mixed events and the Continental Cup. “Ron was never the guy who would go out there and beat his own drum,” Folk said from Kelowna. “He was quietly admired by a lot of people the way he curled and the way he coached and the way he helped other curlers. He had a big impact.”

Folk recalled sitting down with his friend and old teammate a few years ago and talking over old times. He was amazed by Mills’ memory for their run to the top of the world.

“He cherished every moment,” Folk said.

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Ron Mills was a champion curler who later moved into coaching and and work with the Canadian Curling Association.

“Even though he wouldn’t go out and say ‘Hey; I’m Ron Mills,’ he remembered everything.”

“Ron was one of the most studious curlers I knew,” said Bernie Yuzdepski, a close friend of Mills who also curled with and against him for many years.

“He knew the angles, the drag . . . I learned some things from him. He took his curling very seriously. He was a person of not too many words, but man — he knew the game as well as anyone.

“He’ll leave a big gap in curling circles, without a doubt.”

Mills was survived by his wife and best friend, Gloria; daughter, Julie and an extended family.

He was born and lived in Kindersley, Sask., attended the University of Saskatchewan and obtained a degree in Advanced Mathematics.

(Kevin Mitchell is a sportswriter with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

The Schneider sisters, Kim (left) and Tammy, work the brushes hard for skip Amber Holland during opening day action Wednesday at the Canada Cup.

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Page 12 - CANADA CUP OF CURLING – MORNING CUP - March 2009

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We wish all of the competitors in this year’s Canada Cup of Curling the best of luck.

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