THE EIGHT-ENDER

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/12/2010 (5710 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1 Scotland’s Hammy McMillan will not be doing the Holiday Lights Tour on Zurich’s famed Bahnhofstrasse this Christmas.

McMillan let loose at Switzerland’s Christian Schwaller last week at the European Curling Championships after a late-end collapse by the Swiss to Denmark in the final round-robin draw eliminated McMillan’s Scots, who moments earlier had beaten Sweden to stay alive.

“We fought hard,” McMillan told The Scotsman‘s Mike Haggerty, “but unfortunately a spineless performance by the Swiss on the other side meant that it didn’t matter. That was just unbelievable.

“They know that if we beat Sweden and they lose, they get rid of both of us. I’m not saying they were cheating, but they weren’t up for it there.”

Schwaller gave up two stolen deuces in the final four ends in the loss to Denmark.

The Swiss ultimately got theirs in the playoffs, losing in the semifinal to Denmark, who in turn lost the European men’s final to Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud.

2It was the fourth year in a row that Ulsrud had played in the European final, but the first year that he had won it.

But Ulsrud’s win was still overshadowed by the upstart Swedish women’s rink skipped by Stina Viktorsson. The 25-year-old, who appears set to follow in the footsteps of previous Swedish skipping greats Anette Norberg and Elisabet Gustafson, hung an 8-6 upset on Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in the women’s European final in Champery.

It was the first European title for the young Viktorsson rink, who qualified for the playoffs at the 2010 worlds but lost in the 3 vs. 4 game.

3Another relative curling youngster — Brad Gushue — also raised some eyebrows recently, but for entirely different reasons.

Gushue had a tantrum and threatened never to play in the Canada Cup again after his team was eliminated in Medicine Hat a couple of weekends ago, despite finishing with the same record as two other teams who did advance to a tiebreaker game.

The problem was Gushue’s 3-2 record after pool play put him in third place in his pool, and therefore out of the playoffs, while the 3-2 record belonging to Kevin Koe and Jeff Stoughton put them in a tie for second place in their pool, and therefore forcing a tiebreaker game.

Jennifer Jones was eliminated the same way in Medicine Hat and she didn’t utter a peep, but Gushue was livid — even though the applicable rule has been in place at the Canada Cup since it started in 2003.

“I think it’s a B.S. call. I think it’s a B.S. rule,” Gushue complained to Calgary Herald curling writer Al Cameron. “We spent $5,000 or $6,000 to come up here and get eliminated with the same record as two other teams, and quite frankly, I’m pissed off about it, and I’m going to think long and hard about playing in this event again, I can tell you that. It’s frustrating, it really is. You spent a week of your life and a lot of money to come here. It’s a joke.”

Read the rules, pal.

4Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen continues to lead the World Curling Tour money list with $73,500 in winnings and a win-loss record on tour this winter of, get this, 38-10.

5Alberta’s Kevin Martin is no slouch either, however. Martin is second on WCT winnings — but first overall thanks to his Canada Cup win — and has a mind-boggling tour record this season of 27-4.

6There are four worthwhile curling road trips within a seven-hour drive of Winnipeg this winter: The Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Altona, Jan. 26-30; the Safeway Championship, Beausejour, Feb. 9-13; the Men’s World Curling Championship, Regina, April 2-10; and the World Seniors and Mixed Doubles Championship, St. Paul, Minn., April 15-24.

7Congratulations to Brandon’s Joyce McDougall, who won the Manitoba Masters women’s curling championship in Carman over the weekend.

McDougall, with third Linda Van Daele, second Cheryl Orr and lead Karen Dunbar, defeated St. Vital’s Elaine Jones 10-2 in the final. The team will represent Manitoba at the Canadian Masters at the Assiniboine-Memorial, March 30-April 5.

8 And finally, remember that in-off-for-four that won Jennifer Jones the 2005 Canadian women’s curling championship?

A video of that final shot — entitled “Jennifer Jones Best Curling Shot’ — had been viewed on YouTube by 624,424 viewers as of Monday afternoon. It is well worth a second look, if only to hear disbelief in the voice of the late, great CBC announcer Don Wittman as he called the final moment — ‘They’re working on it frantically! There’s the contact, there’s the roll — She Made It!’

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Junior men’s berths

The following teams qualified for the Manitoba junior men’s provincial championship at the Gimli Curling Club, Jan. 6-10: Winnipeg: Joel Hildebrand (Deer Lodge), Kyle Doering (West Kildonan) and Randy Creg (West St. Paul); Eastman: Nicholas Joyal (Springfield); Interlake: Sam Good (Stonewall); Parkland: Corey Toews (Dauphin); Norman: Todd Boisvert (Burntwood); Westman: Braden Calvert (Carberry) and Brett Fitzmaurice (Brandon); Central: Michael Gall (Morden) and Kyle Curtis (La Salle).

Junior women’s berths

These teams qualified for the junior women’s provincials at the Victoria Curling Club, Jan. 6-10: Winnipeg: Brandi Oliver (Victoria), Abby Ackland (Pembina), and Beth Peterson (Victoria); Eastman: Jenna Boisvert (Stonewall); Interlake: Katie Spencer (East St. Paul); Parkland: Meaghan Brezden (Dauphin); Westman: Janelle Vachon (Brandon) and Kaylee McNamee (Brandon); Norman: Ashlee Lagimodiere (The Pas); Central: Katherine Doerksen (Morden) and Kayla Curtis (La Salle).