He'd swap his tour lucre for a Safeway spot

If he gets one by the end of the week -- the city men's zones open tonight at the Grain Exchange, Elmwood and West Kildonan with 50 teams -- it will mean Kuran has qualified for his first Safeway Championship.

And there's nothing he would like more after losing 'about 14 games' over the past 12 years for spots into the provincial men's curling championship.

"One of these years it will just happen," said Kuran, 42. "And a lot of guys say once you've been there it's a lot easier getting back."

Kuran is enjoying his best year in curling with a team that formed a little later than most. Dave Elias was out walking with his son in their East St. Paul neighbourhood one day this summer when he ran into Kuran dropping his daughter off at a birthday party. Elias asked what he was doing for the upcoming season, and the next thing they knew they had a team together with Hub Perrin and Chris Suchy on the front end.

With Elias calling the game and Kuran throwing last rock, the West Kildonan foursome has been one of the best in the province since dropping their first two games of their opening bonspiel in Selkirk.

They made the semis of that event, and went on to win at Thistle, finish second in Stonewall and reach the semifinals in Portage on the cash circuit. It earned them $14,550 -- good for seventh on the Manitoba Curling Tour -- and the fifth seed in this week's zone playdowns.

"It seems to be a good fit so far," said Kuran. "We have a lot of experience with the guys."

Kuran credits Elias for his shot calling, and he says Perrin and Suchy are making a big difference with their brooms.

"I've made a lot of shots with them judging the weight and putting the rock where it's supposed to go," said Kuran, a mineral prospector. "I think that can separate the big guys from the less-experienced teams."

Elias, who went to the Brier in 2002 as Mark Lukowich's second (Suchy was at third) and in 2005 as Randy Dutiaume's third, is skipping for the first time this season. And he says his job has been made a lot easier with Kuran firing the last rocks for him.

"He's a very underrated curler, as far as I'm concerned," Elias said. "I'm not sure a lot of people realize how good he is."

After they first chatted about their curling plans in the summer, Elias thought Kuran had too much talent to pass up.

"You know the guy's good, (but) sometimes he's had a little bad luck or maybe just needs a bit of refining as far as what shot to play," said Elias. "So I just thought 'I know he's very good because I've played him numerous times and he always makes tons of shots' and that's kind of how it started."

sean.grassie@freepress.mb.ca

Perils of golf not

to be underestimated

The Winnipeg men's curling zones start tonight, and the seven winners will qualify for the Safeway Championship, Feb. 10-14, in Steinbach. Here are a few storylines to follow:

When Scott Madams plays his first game tonight at West Kildonan, he will be without lead Stu Shiells, who injured his back at The Golf Dome last week. Dan Cox, a former teammate of Madams, will fill in tonight and may be needed the rest of the week if Shiells isn't ready to test his back. Madams is looking to skip a team into the provincials for the third straight year.

Vic Peters has pretty well done it all in men's curling, but there's still one thing he's chasing: a provincial title with his son, Daley. The younger Peters, a two-time Manitoba junior champion, is throwing last rock this year for his dad, the 1992 Brier champion. "This might be the last time we play together," said Vic. "Hopefully he can find a couple of young guys and get going on his own, more or less, after this year. So this might be the last time we have a shot at it."

Kerry Burtnyk is aiming to reach his 25th provincial men's championship. Peter Nicholls is shooting for No. 22, and Vic Peters for No. 20. But if they want to catch Orest Meleschuk and Johnny Usackis, they all still have a ways to go. According to a Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame database, Meleschuk and Usackis have each played in 30 Manitoba men's championships. But Burtnyk leads in games won at the provincials with 152, 10 more than Meleschuk.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 12, 2010 B13