Opening day

Lenentine, MacFadyen start play Saturday at Canadian juniors

Team P.E.I.’s Alex MacFadyen rink from the Silver Fox in Summerside sees action in today’s opening men’s draw of the New Holland Canadian junior curling championships.

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 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, 3 p.m. Atlantic, 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 Leslie Noye, third 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 10:30 a.m.

This is the first trip to the Canadian juniors for all members of the P.E.I. men’s team.

Rounding out the P.E.I. women’s team are lead Rachel O’Connor, second Breanne Burgoyne, third Kristie Rogers and coach Pat Quilty.

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.