Crunch time for Calvert

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This article was published 18/10/2021 (1629 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Braden Calvert crew charted a course in 2018 and has since avoided a sideways slide.

Formed in time for the current four-year cycle, Calvert’s team from Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Memorial Club needs to take one final stride toward its intended destination — the upcoming Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

Calvert guides his foursome of third Kyle Kurz, second Ian McMillan and lead Rob Gordon into battle at the pre-Trials in Liverpool, N.S., starting Monday, Oct. 25 at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S.

“When we created our team, we had our sights set on the pre-Trials (and) Trials, and get our feet wet in some (Grand) Slams and see how we’d make out. So, these next three weeks are a full quadrennial’s worth of work, definitely,” Calvert, a world junior champion now firmly established on the men’s stage, said this week.

“We were looking at the field, and every single team is really strong. It’s going to be the teams that play well from start to finish that will get (get the spots).”

In all, 14 teams will vie for the final two Trials spots, in each of men’s and women’s play. The Trials (Nov. 20-28 in Saskatoon) determine Canada’s representatives at the Winter Games in Beijing.

Calvert is among four men’s teams from Manitoba preparing for the pre-Trials. Jason Gunnlaugson of Morris, Sean Grassie of Deer Lodge (Winnipeg) and Pat Simmons of Winnipeg Beach will also compete in the Atlantic coastal community.

Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona joins a pair of Assiniboine Memorial squads, Beth Peterson and Darcy Robertson, in the women’s field.

Calvert, 26, has karma on his side. The Carberry product captured his first of two national junior titles in the same Liverpool rink.

“Me and Kyle won in that very building (in 2014). And we’re staying right near where we stayed the last time (as teens). That was a long time ago. So, I’m excited,” he said. “We always like going to the East Coast.”

The Calvert quartet has ascended to the top-20 of the World Curling Federation rankings, earning an invite to the big-money National, a Grand Slam Tour event Nov. 2-7 in Chestermere, Alta., just outside Calgary.

“It’s a $125,000 purse, it’s awesome exposure for our team and our sponsors. Obviously, when you put yourself beside some of the world’s best 16 teams, it’s a great test for yourself as athletes,” he said.

To date, the fall bonspiel season has been a prosperous one. Calvert lost the final of the Mother Club Classic in mid-September but prevailed at the Atkins Curling Supplies Classic earlier this month.

“Those two good finishes bumped us up in the world rankings at the right time when they were inviting teams to the Slam, so that’s how we got into (the National),” he said.

An event in Halifax this weekend — the Dave Jones Mayflower CashSpiel — should serve as a terrific tune-up for the pre-Trials, located about 150 kilometres away.

“It’s a great event to get adjusted to the time zone and prep to play,” said Calvert. “It’s going to work out well for us, because we’ve only been in two events so far this year.”

Slam season starting

The first Slam of the season starts Tuesday at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex in Oakville, Ont.

The Masters — with no shortage of Manitoba teams in the mix — is first major curling tournament to allow fans in the stands since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul and Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg will compete on the women’s draw, while Gunnlaugson and Mike McEwen of West St. Paul curl on the men’s side.

The Masters is one of the four majors on tour and has a lucrative purse of $300,000. The winning teams each take home $33,000 and earn berths to the season-ending Champions Cup, May 3-8, 2022, in Olds, Alta.

Fleury’s team, the World Curling Federation’s No.2-ranked team, is out to defend its 2019 Masters title.

Sportsnet begins broadcasting games Thursday at 10 a.m.

Pride of Sanford to Beijing

Dennis Thiessen, the pride of Sanford and a member of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame, is representing his country — again.

He’ll play for Team Canada at the world wheelchair championship, which begins Sunday in Beijing.

Thiessen, 60, is joined by skip Mark Ideson of London, Ont., Ina Forrest of Armstrong, B.C., Jon Thurston of Dunsford, B.C., and alternate Collinda Joseph of Stittsville, Ont.

Follow the team’s fortunes at https://worldcurling.org/

The same fabulous five earned a silver at the 2020 championship in Wetzikon, Switzerland after a narrow 5-4 defeat to Russia in the final.

Thiessen’s stellar resume includes gold medals the 2013 world championship and 2014 Paralympics, both held in Sochi, Russia, and a bronze medal at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.

Peterson grabs spot

Beth Peterson’s foursome has reserved a spot at the 2021 provincial Scotties.

The Assiniboine Memorial team, with third Jenna Loder, second Katherine Doerkson and lead Melissa Gordon, beat Kristy McDonald of the Granite 8-6 at a berth bonspiel in Steinbach.

The Scotties is slated for Dec. 15-19 in Carberry.

Meanwhile, Corey Chambers of Fort Garry scored in the extra end to down Assiniboine Memorial’s Jacques Gauthier 8-7 in men’s play in Steinbach.

The Chambers crew, with third Julien Leduc, second Devon Wiebe and lead Stuart Shiells, qualified for the Viterra provincial men’s championship, set for the last week of January in Selkirk.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell