Manitoba Open for fun, business

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This article was published 13/01/2017 (3503 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mark Lukowich and his Granite Club teammates have left things to the last minute — again.

The foursome will compete next week at the Manitoba Open curling bonspiel, and, while fun and games are always top of mind, the team is gunning for one of three passes on the line for the 2017 Viterra provincial men’s championship.

The bonspiel begins Thursday and wraps up Monday, Jan. 23. It’s the last chance for competitive teams to grab a provincial berth.

Fourteen curling clubs will play host to the annual event, now in its fourth year as the Manitoba Open. Incredibly, it’s the 129th year of the former MCA Bonspiel.

The full bonspiel — offering the provincial spots — has attracted 252 teams (four shy of full draw), while another 56 will participate in the half bonspiel.

Lukowich, the 2002 Manitoba men’s champion, said qualifying by way of the Open has become almost habitual.

“For the last four years, we’ve done it that way,” said the Winnipeg skip. “We’ve been very, very fortunate. It’s not easy. It’s a very tall task.”

The Lukowich team — with third Stu Gresham, second Chris Chimuk and lead Kevin Wiebe — was bounced from the men’s regional playdowns after a loss to Jordan Smith of Pembina.

Their only hope now is to manufacture the same kind of momentum that swept them to eight consecutive victories, an Open title and a provincial berth a year ago.

He said the Manitoba Open is always an exciting time of the curling season.

“We don’t want to take it too seriously. It’s a fun event. We want to enjoy the games,” said Lukowich, who has curled in 11 men’s provincials. “But we want to be prepared for every game and take it as it comes.”

In the full bonspiel, all teams begin in the Asham Event. With a first loss, teams drop to either the Winnipeg Free Press or Nott Autocorp events.

Teams drop to one of five lower events with subsequent losses.

Men and women can curl in the Open, and out-of-towners are always welcome. But only eligible Manitoba men’s teams can quality for the provincial berths.

Curl Manitoba executive director Craig Baker said without a doubt the bonspiel is still an important part of the provincial sports scene.

“This is not just for Winnipeg, this is a Manitoba bonspiel,” he said. “We have teams from as far away as Gillam and Thompson coming down for it. All over rural Manitoba, teams are coming. We even have a small international flavour to it.”

The opening ceremonies begin Thursday night at the Fort Garry Curling Club (696 Archibald St.).

That night, the family of legendary Manitoba curler Vic Peters, who died last May, has been invited to deliver the ceremonial first rock of the bonspiel.

Peters was a three-time Manitoba curling champion who won the national Brier title in 1992.

His wife, Deb Peters, said her six-year-old grandson, Jacob Leafloor — who just started curling this year — will throw the stone, son Daley and daughter Elisabeth Fyfe will sweep, and daughter Kasandra Leafloor, Jacob’s mom, will hold the broom.

It will, indeed, be an emotional time for them, she said.

“It’s incredibly heartwarming for our family to witness the next generation begin to enjoy the sport Vic spent so many hours at,” she said Friday. “The MCA was a huge event in our lives when we were raising our children. We would drag them to upward of 20 games in numerous clubs around the city in the quest for the Grand Aggregate or final spot in the provincials. It was an exciting time in the life of a competitive curler.

“Fort Garry is a place where our children began to throw rocks and learn the skills it took to compete,” she said. “As a family, grief has changed each of us at the deepest level and we will forever be shaped by the loss we’ve endured. We were so fortunate to have Vic, and I cannot express how much he is missed.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell