Lenentine, MacFadyen commence play Saturday
Canadian junior championships being held in Shawinigan
Team P.E.I.’s Alex MacFadyen rink from the Silver Fox in Summerside sees action in the opening men’s draw of the New Holland Canadian junior curling championships on Saturday.
The MacFadyen rink captured the four-team provincial men’s triple-knockout championship in O’Leary on Dec. 29, taking the title in the minimum four games.
The Lauren Lenentine rink from Cornwall, which went 3-3 (won-lost) in the round robin at last year’s Canadian championship, repeated as provincial women’s champions with a 7-0 record.
Lenentine’s first game of the nationals is in Draw 2, 2 p.m. (all times Eastern), against the Emma Wallingford rink from Ottawa, which has two members of last year’s runner-up rink in the lineup.
Both the men’s and women’s championships are being played in Shawinigan, Que., from Jan. 13 to 21, with teams getting to experience both arena and club ice.
Team MacFadyen, which also includes lead Parker MacFadyen; second stone Leslie Noye; third stone James Dalton and coach David MacFadyen, plays its first three games on arena ice. They open against Tanner Horgan’s Northern Ontario team from Sudbury at 9:30 a.m.
This is the first trip to the Canadian juniors for all members of the P.E.I. men’s team. They return to action in Sunday’s 9:30 a.m. draw against Javen Komaksiutiksak and his Iqaluit Curling Club team representing Nunavut, and Team MacFadyen goes right back out in Draw 4, at 2 p.m., against the Canadian junior men’s defending champions, the Tyler Tardi rink from Langley, B.C. Only lead Zachery Curtis is new to Team Tardi since last year’s championship win.
Rounding out the P.E.I. women’s team are Rachel O’Connor, lead; Breanne Burgoyne, second stone, and Kristie Rogers, third stone. Their coach is Pat Quilty. Following Saturday’s game against Wallingford, Team Lenentine faces Haailey Beaudry’s Northern Ontario rink on Sunday at 9:30 a.m., and they finish Day 2 against Sadie Pinksen and her Nunavut rink in Sunday’s 6:30 p.m. draw. Only their game against Northern Ontario will be played on arena ice. Round-robin pool play wraps up Tuesday, with the top eight teams advancing to the championship round, and the next six teams to the seeding round, starting Wednesday.