Youth movement sweeping to power in Alberta curling
Can the youngest skip ever to play in the provincial curling championship end up in the Brier? That was the question fans at the Boston Pizza Cup were asking here Friday night when they left Grant Fuhr Arena. Karsten Sturmay, the only kid ever to win three Alberta junior titles, turned 21 on Nov. 7. He just returned from the Canadian juniors. Three days ago, your correspondent wondered in print if he might be the ‘The Next One’ to continue the tradition of greats in the game: The next Cliff Manahan, Billy Rose, Matt Baldwin, Hec Gervais, Pat Ryan, Randy Ferbey, Kevin Martin and Kevin Koe. Well, hello curling fans in northern Alberta, the future may arrive this weekend. Sturmay scored a 7-3 win over 2006 and ’07 World junior champion Charley Thomas in the B Event final Friday night to advance to the 1-2 game against defending Alberta champion Brendan Bottcher here Saturday evening. The winner goes to Sunday’s final on Sportsnet. The loser will play in the Sunday semifinal, also on the network. “I’ve only played on TV once before in my life and that was on Japanese TV,” said Sturmay. “It was in Sapporo. I went over with Chelsea Carey to play in a tournament in Sapporo. There were four teams in the men’s event that had been in the Ford Worlds, all of them from Asia, and we ended up winning it. “I don’t think TV is really going to bother us. It didn’t there. Just focus on the game.” Sturmay took the win in stride. “I definitely knew if the boys played like they could, we definitely had the opportunity to be playing Sunday.” His only loss was in the A Event to Bottcher in a game that was tied after eight ends. The only other time the two teams met was in the seasonopening Direct Horizontal Drilling cash spiel and Sturmay emerged as the winner. “That wasn’t as close. We had the edge,” he said. “Bottcher is obviously more experienced. But I definitely think that, if we keep in the moment and focus on things one end at a time, we have a fighting chance.” It could get confusing if Bottcher shows up here Saturday evening wearing his old University of Alberta Golden Bears uniform. “I watched him play in that outfit,” Sturmay said of the former U of A skip. Sturmay and team, who will play in the U Sports championship, are here wearing green and gold outfits with a giant ‘A’ on the front and the Golden Bears logo on the back. Thomas scored two in the first end to take control of the game and led 3-2 after six when Sturmay, Tristen Steinke, Jason Ginter and Brett Winfield hit him for three and followed up by stealing one. “That was a pistol of a six-foot runback to get the two on the first end, and I thought Tristan’s runback was the key to getting the three points for us on the seventh. Thomas was just inches off with his attempt for a triple.” Last year, Bottcher became the first skip this century not named Ferbey, Martin or Koe to conquer Alberta and advance to the Brier. Last year in Westlock, with Koe having a bye to the Brier as defending champion, Bottcher faced Thomas in the 1-2 game on the Saturday night. Bottcher won 8-3 and advanced directly to the Sunday final. Thomas, the Calgarian now curling out of Edmonton’s Crestwood, lost 7-6 to Edmonton Saville Centre’s Ted Appelman in the semifinal. Appelman scored two in the 10th end to send the final to an extra end, where Bottcher won it 6-5. Flash forward to this year’s event. Bottcher earned Friday off with a 7-6 win over Thomas in a contest that saw Bottcher draw for the win with his last rock. Friday afternoon, it was Thomas who had to break a 4-4 tie with No. 9 seed Dylan Vavrek of Sexsmith to make it to the B Event final in the evening. Sturmay required an extra end in the afternoon to dispatch last year’s runner-up, Appelman, by a score of 8-7. While the Bottcher- Sturmay 1-2 game match was made Friday evening, the scramble to make the final four out of C Event began here on Friday morning. Scott Garnett of Calgary sent Mike Hutchings home to Morinville with a 9-7 victory, Edmonton Saville Centre skip Thomas Usselman ended the event for Calgary’s Jeremy Hardy 8-5 and Scott Webb of Peace River eliminated No. 4 seed Aaron Sluchinski 9-4. On Friday night, Vavrek eliminated Webb, Appelman sent Kevin Park’s Calgary team home and Garnett dispatched Usselman.