Junior curling, Mac’s midget tournament underway

The junior men’s and women’s provincial curling championships got underway at the Sutherland Curling Club on Friday.

Five of the eight men’s teams to qualify call the Sutherland Curling Club their home base, while three of the eight women’s teams do. In total 11 of the 16 rinks were from Saskatoon.

Rylan Kleiter of the host club led the only undefeated team after four games on the men’s side.

In women’s action, Krystal Englot of Regina had her team at 3-0 atop the standings along with Sutherland Curling Club’s Ashley Thevenot. Results from the late Sunday draws were not available at press deadline.

Action in the round-robin event with playoffs will culminate with the finals on New Year’s Day.

SASKATCHEWAN TEAMS IN ACTION AT MAC’S MIDGET TOURNAMENT

The 42nd annual Mac’s Midget Hockey Tournament has been underway in Calgary since Boxing Day with five Saskatchewan teams among the 25 boys’ teams competing.

The Saskatoon Blazers were near the top of their pool with a 2-1-0 record and face an early Monday game against the Vancouver NW Hawks that will help determine their playoff fate. The Blazers defeated the Calgary Flames 5-1 and the Red Deer Optimist Chiefs 2-0 but lost 5-2 to the Chicago Mission. The Blazers fell just short of qualifying for the finals in last year’s tournament, losing 1-0 to the Lethbridge Junior Hurricanes in the semifinal.

An 8-2 victory over Beardy’s Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon gave the Saskatoon Contacts a much-needed boost in their pool They improve to 1-1-1 after a 3-3 tie with Grande Peace Ernies Sports Storm and a tight 4-3 loss to the Calgary Northstars.

A win in their final game on Monday against the Vancouver NE Giants will boost their playoff prospects.

Beardy’s are also 1-1-1 headed into their final game Monday against Grande Peace. The Contacts are the only Saskatoon boys team to have won the championship, having won the Mac’s tournament in 2004 and 1997.

The Prince Albert Mintos were 1-0-1 heading into a Sunday evening game against AK Bars Academy of Russia. The Swift Current

Legionnaires were 0-2-1 with one game left on their schedule against the Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers on Monday.

A new champion will be crowned on Jan. 1.