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Alberta clipper moved in this winter

No titles for Manitoba but not time to panic

By: Paul Wiecek

Posted: 03/11/2012 10:19 AM | Comments: 0

SASKATOON -- And with that, the 2012 curling season will go into the books as an Oh-fer-Manitoba.

With an 8-6 loss by Manitoba's Rob Fowler to Alberta's Kevin Koe in the semifinal of the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier Saturday night, Manitoba's last chance to win a major Canadian curling chamionship this winter was extinguished.

Fowler went down just as Jennifer Jones did at the national Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer, Alta., last month. And in remarkably similar fashion.

Like Jones, Fowler also qualified for the coveted Page playoff 1 vs 2 game, with the only difference being that Jones enjoyed the hammer advantage as the first-place team in the round robin in her 1-2 game while Fowler finished second to Ontario's Glenn Howard and did not have the hammer Friday night.

But beyond that, both events played out almost identically for the two Manitoba teams. A Jones loss to B.C.'s Kelly Scott in the 1-2 game punted her team to the semi-final, where they were promptly sent packing by eventual champion Heather Nedohin of Alberta.

Fowler lost the 1-2 game to Ontario's Howard and was shuffled off to the semifinal where once again it was an Alberta team sticking the stake through Manitoba's heart.

Indeed, Alberta has been the author of all kids of heartache for Manitoba this winter. In addition to Nedohin eliminating Jones and Koe eliminating Fowler, Manitoba's Shannon Birchard was defeated in the Canadian junior women's final by Alberta's Jocelyn Peterman.

Only the Manitoba junior men's entry this year, skipped by Kyle Doering, was eliminated by a province other than Alberta, falling to northern Ontario in the Canadian junior men's semifinal. Northern Ontario was in turn defeated by Alberta's Brendan Bottcher in the final.

And so put it all together and in a winter when Manitoba has gone 0-4 in the major Canadian curling championships, Koe could make Alberta a perfect 4-0 with a win over Ontario's Glenn Howard in the Brier final tonight.

That would put Alberta in a tiny group of provinces ever to sweep the four major Canadian curling championships in a single season. And a Brier title for Alberta would also be their 26th all-time, putting them once again within one of Manitoba, which continues to hold down the record with 27 men's championships.

Now, the temptation in this moment of disappointment for Manitoba curling fans would be a wringing of hands at the failure of a single Manitoba team to triumph in a winter in which our most fierce curling rival has known nothing but triumph.

But the bigger picture suggests that not only is there no reason to panic right now, you could make the case competitive curling in Manitoba hasn't been stronger in recent memory than it is right now.

Let's start with the men. Manitoba already had the defending world campion and the No. 1-ranked team in the world in Jeff Stoughton as well as Mike McEwen coming into this winter, and Fowler's performance over the past week, while short of a championship, suggests his Brandon foursome is also in the conversation now.

Women's curling in the province also has its own Big 3. Although Jennifer Jones remains the heavyweight after yet another provincial title this winter, perennial finalist Chelsea Carey is a national force in her own right, while Cathy Overton-Clapham's strong performance on this winter's cash-spiel circuit suggests she's not done yet either.

And then there are the juniors. The only thing more heartening than Birchard's run to the final of the Canadian juniors last month was the fact she did it at the tender age of 17 and still has three seasons of junior left in front of her.

Ditto Doering, who made it to the semi-final at the even more tender age of 16.

And so put it all together and perhaps the only thing brighter than the preset in Manitoba curling is the future. Even amidst this, the winter of out discontent.

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