Last Week in BC Curling: 3rd Week of 26/27

The week that was:

A quiet week in BC Curling. Team Mr. Mikes (Blandford) was the only team in action this past weekend. Everyone else took the weekend off or is waiting until next weekend to begin playing. We’ll talk more about what next weekend looks like later on, but for now let’s recap.

Junior Recap

Okotoks Classic (Sep 24 – 27)

Team Mr. Mikes [Blandford] went 2-3 in the triple knockout event. Interesting to note that there has been a bit of a lineup switch with the team. Cam De Jong, who joined the team this off-season, is throwing last rocks while Matt Blandford is throwing third while calling the game.

Of course, Cam is an accomplished skip and no stranger to the pressure of throwing last, so that’s a great option to have on a team. We’ll definitely be watching to see how it all comes together going forward.

With no Junior event and none of the women’s teams playing, we can move straight to…

Coming Attractions:

The Vernon Prestige Hotel & Resorts Curling Classic is on deck this weekend. All the teams that have been competing already this season will be there, and we will also get debuts from just about every other team looking to contend in the province this season.

This is a big event for a lot of reasons: it’s the first stop on the BC Tour, and Tour stops are generally our best chance to see BC teams compete directly against each other in preparation for the BC Championships.

The Vernon Prestige is also a satellite event for the Grand Slam of Curling this season. The winning Men’s and Women’s teams will earn a spot at the GSOC invitational being held in Victoria Oct 13-18, which has attracted a very strong field of competitors to Vernon.

Just a reminder: secured berths to Men’s and Women’s provincials are dependent on CTRS points this year, so a good showing at this event could put a few teams in the pole position for one of those spots.

Avoiding what should be a very strong playdown field will make the road to representing BC at the Brier or Scotties much smoother.

Boomer’s choice for game of the week:

No surprise here, we’re featuring Team Mr. Mikes [Blandford] this week. There were five games to choose from, but Boomer enjoyed their battle against former Olympic gold medalist John Shuster, who is also working out the kinks with a new line-up.

Check it out here: John Shuster vs. Matthew Blandford – Draw E – Okotoks Classic [1]

That does it for Last Week in BC Curling; we’ll be back next week with a recap of the massive Vernon Prestige event. Keep an eye out, as there will be some other (hopefully) fun videos and other things coming out around the event as well.

Thanks for reading! 

 

Written by Curl BC Correspondent Craig Coyne

Craig is a devoted curling fan and third-rate player who loves watching, talking about, and now writing about the BC Curling community and all the amazing athletes in it. He also has the world’s greatest dog. Just ask him!