Peckham’s presence saluted in 91st Kelly Cup
As if the prestige of playing for the Kelly Cup curling championship is not enough, now there’s new incentive for the 40 men’s teams entered in the 91st tournament to get off to a hot start.
The team that wins the A event will be the inaugural winner of the Peckham plate.
Named in honour of local curling legend Wilf Peckham, who died on March 2 at age 94, the plate will require a team to win its first five, or possibly six, games this weekend at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
With his wife Mae cheering him on, Peckham left an indelible mark on the city’s oldest sporting event, playing in 68 consecutive Kelly Cups, and committee chairman Bill Lim said the club wanted to preserve his memory by naming the trophy after him.
“Wilf has been a fixture around the club ever since he got back from the Second World War,” said Lim. “He curled in his first Kelly Cup in 1941 and then had to leave for the war. From 1945 to 2012 – 68 years in a row – he curled in every Kelly Cup, not having missed one. We didn’t have it in 2013 because there was no one around to run it, otherwise he probably would have played in that one too.”
Peckham last stepped on the ice two years ago at the Kelly Cup when he was asked to toss the ceremonial first stone.
Frank LaBounty, a wheelchair curler and the skip of a Kelly Cup crew which includes Ron Phillips, Clarence Wigmore and Jay Bordeleau, has been asked to perform firstrock honours Saturday at 8 p.m. to kick off the Kelly Cup round. LaBounty will have Olympic team snowboard crosser Meryeta O’Dine holding the broom when he tries to draw to the button.
Blake King won’t be back to defend his Kelly Cup title from last year. He and his crew are in Thunder Bay, Ont., this week representing B.C. at the Canadian Firefighters Curling Association national championship.
James Knievel of Manning, Alta., who lost the Kelly Cup final to King in an extra end last year, is among the 40 teams entered this weekend. The first draw starts today at 4 p.m.
Lim, the 2013 Kelly Cup champion, is going after another title along with his regular Monday night men’s teammates, Chad St. Peter, Brett Johnson and Mike Walch. Other contenders for the Kelly crown include Jason Howse, Greg Morgan of Terrace (the 2016 runner-up) and Scott Sherba.
The Kelly Cup final is slated for a 3 p.m. Sunday start.
—
—
This marks the fourth year women have been competing in a separate women’s bonspiel which runs parallel with the men’s tournament. Eighteen teams are entered in the women’s event, won last year by Falon Burkitt.
The Jen Rusnell team Burkitt defeated in the women’s final in 2017 is back in the hunt along with Burkitt. Other favourites to advance to Sunday’s 3 p.m. final include Diamond Wilson, Patti Knezevic, Tracey Jones and Alyssa Connell.
• The PGGCC men’s club championship final will be held at the start of the next season in October because the two finalists were not available to play the championship at its traditional time. King was preparing for his trip to Thunder Bay for the firefighters tournament while skip Joe Rea was in Mexico.
• After five days of competition in Thunder Bay, King and his team of Cliff Warner, Trent Blair and Jay Winkel have a 5-4 record. On Wednesday the B.C. champions defeated Northwest Territories 9-7 and Quebec 9-4.
King split his games Tuesday, starting with a 9-1 win over Prince Edward Island, followed by a 9-7 loss to Alberta. Earlier this week the all-Prince George rink scored wins over Northern Ontario (7-6) and New Brunswick (10-4), and lost to Manitoba (8-7), Southern Ontario (8-4) and Saskatchewan (9-5).
Currently ranked fifth at the 11-team event, King has a bye this morning and will play Nova Scotia in the afternoon draw. To advance to the Page playoff round which starts Friday, King needs to finish at least fourth.