Rekindling the magic

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This article was published 05/02/2009 (6318 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEEPAWA — IT’S all about getting on a roll, says Maureen Bonar.

And what a roll she and her Brandon rink went on 16 years ago before they finally suffered an extra-end loss to Sandra Schmirler in front of a packed Keystone Centre crowd at the 1993 final of the national Scott Tournament of Hearts.

Three members of that team — Bonar, back at skip, along with second Rhonda Ritchie and coach Lois Fowler — have hooked up with third Nancy Smith and lead Dana Allerton for a 2009 run at this week’s Manitoba Scotties.

"There’s a lot of parity out here and teams have worked really hard on their games… everybody’s thinking and strategizing out there and playing very well," Bonar said after an opening 8-4 win over La Salle’s Chris Scalena.

"It’s a matter of who can get it rolling at the right time. That’s kind of what you look for — is it your week? The similarity I see is I’ve got great throwers and great people in front of me.

"And I had the same thing in ’93 and that makes it really worthwhile."

Back in ’93, it was Bonar at skip, Lois at third, a six-months-pregnant Allyson Bell at second and Lois’s daughter Rhonda — then going by her maiden name — that started 2-0, fell to 2-3 then ripped off six straight wins to finish 8-3.

The upstart locals crushed Ontario’s Anne Merklinger in the semifinal and went up against a then comparatively unknown Saskatchewan team skipped by Sandra Peterson in the final, only to lose in an extra end.

Schmirler, of course — who later succumbed to cancer — went on to win three world titles. But even with a 16-year span to take into account, there is a déjà vu element to this year.

Back in ’93, the Bonar team was at least partly overshadowed by the 1992 Canadian champion (and 1984 world champ) from Winnipeg, Connie Laliberte, returning to defend her title in Brandon.

That’s not so unlike this year’s nationals in Victoria, where defending world champion Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg is heavily favoured to chew up and spit out most any opponent, including whomever emerges from Manitoba.

Bonar didn’t respond directly to that conjecture. What she does know is that her team in ’93 proved it could beat Laliberte and almost win the whole shebang. Laliberte, by the way, finished 6-5.

"When you get to the national final, it is similar to this but it’s different in the fact that the intensity level goes up about 10-fold," Bonar said. "And if you’re not physically and mentally prepared to work through that all week long, you will go down."

Lois Fowler said it would have been nice to beat Schmirler in ’93, but, "we weren’t disappointed in ourselves. It was a packed house, it was so exciting. And of course that was the start of Sandra Schmirler’s legacy, little did we know at the time.

"It’s just a big dream… We’ve only seen a couple of draws so far (here in Neepawa) but I do think it’s a wide-open field. There may be a surprise that comes out of this."

chris.cariou@freepress.mb.ca

Standings (after Draw 4)

Black Group

 

W L

Barb Spencer 2 0

Chelsea Carey 2 0

Holly Scott 2 0

Lisa Blixhavn 1 1

Kim Link 1 1

Linda Stewart 0 2

Angela Wickman 0 2

Charlene Norquay 0 2

 

 

Red Group

W L

Kristy Jenion 2 0 Janet Harvey 2 0

Karen Porritt 2 0

Maureen Bonar 1 1

Terry Ursel 1 1

Karen Rosser 0 2

Tina Kozak 0 2

Chris Scalena 0 2