THUNDER BAY – Chris Silver’s squad might be relatively new to Tbaytel Major League of Curling, but they haven’t looked out of place at all this season.
Silver, whose team includes Owen Riches, Connor Mangoff and Travis Showalter, opened up a 5-0 lead with a steal of three in the second round and shook hands after adding three more without the hammer in the fifth, blanking Andrew Sinclair’s foursome 9-0 in Wednesday night action at the Port Arthur Curling Club.
The win placed Silver’s team in the thick of the playoff hunt with 11 points, tied with defending champion Brian Adams Jr. for fifth place in the 16-team circuit.
Despite the lopsided score, it was tougher than it looked, Silver said.
“I wouldn’t say it was an easy end. They played pretty well,” he said. “They had us on the ropes, especially at the start. The first and second ends were shaping up not the greatest, but after that we really pulled it together.
“I was really happy with the way we played, especially after last night, when we didn’t really have the best game.”
Silver said communication was the key to picking up the win, the team’s third in regulation this season.
“And it was just kind of getting back to what we’ve been doing all season long,” he said. “It’s been a pretty good year. The communication and just having the same releases. I think we’re really good at talking and being really open with each other, if something goes right or wrong, what we need to change or what we need to keep doing well.”
Three sheets over, Gary Weiss was having almost as easy a time against Jodi Judd, stealing a pair in the second and a single in the third to jump out in front 4-0, on their way to an 8-2 win that gives the team 10 points, tied with Al Hackner and Krista McCarville for seventh place – in a league that sees eight teams advance to the championship round when playoffs begin.
“We made a lot of really good shots early on and got a bit of a lead,” Weiss said. “Then we kind of settled in a little bit and Jodi’s team made a lot of good shots to come back. They gave us a lot of challenge at the end of the game.”
Still, Judd could only manage singles in the fourth and sixth ends and trailed 5-2 heading into the seventh, when Weiss put a stamp on the match, putting up three with the hammer end the game.
“We started off a little slower than we anticipated, then we hoped to, but we’re starting to get more games and get a little more comfortable with each other, as well. So, I think we’re going to have a really good second half of the season,” Weiss said.
In other action, Ron Rosengren took over first place with a 7-0 whitewashing of Denis Malette’s team, and are the only remaining unbeaten team at 5-0-0-0. Robyn Despins rink, skipped by Nicole Westlund-Stewart, grabbed a share of second with an 8-4 win over Trevor Bonot’s team, which iced a replacement foursome, Bonot’s team out of town for an event. Team Bonot is tied with Despins at 13 points.
Adams Jr. downed Zach Warkentin 6-1, Dylan Johnston edged Jackson Dubinsky 6-4 and Hackner’s rink, skipped by Frank Morissette in Hackner’s absence, won a shot to the button tiebreaker against Bryan Burgess to earn a 6-5 triumph.
Last, but not least, McCarville scored one in the eighth to edge Ben Mikkelsen 4-3.
