The 2007 Canadian Juniors

Alberta back on top

Defending champion Charley Thomas of Alberta held on to top spot at the Canadian men's junior curling championship with a 9-6 win over Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday night.

Thomas scored four in the final two ends to improve to 9-1 and clinched at least a berth in the semi-final. Thomas finishes up with games against B.C. and Nova Scotia on Thursday.

Quebec' s Ghyslain Richard joined Prince Edward Island's Brett Gallant in second spot at 8-2 with a 7-4 win over Ontario in the 15th draw.

Northern Ontario (Ryan Harnden), Nova Scotia (Dominic Daemen) and Ontario (Ryan Myler) are still in playoff contention at 6-4.

The rock rolls to first

In women's play, Stacie Devereaux of Newfoundland clinched first place and a bye to Sunday's final beating Alberta 7-4 on Wednesday night.

The battle between the top two teams lived up to its billing as Alberta's Kalynn Park stole singles in the fourth and fifth ends to go up 3-1. However Devereaux answered with three in the sixth for a 4-3 lead.

After Alberta tied it with one in the seventh, Newfoundland and Labrador responded with a deuce in the eighth, then stole one in the ninth to put the game away.

With the win, Devereaux goes to 9-1, two games ahead of both Alberta and B.C. (Dailene Sivertson) who have 7-3 records.

Manitoba (Calleen Neufeld), Northern Ontario (Tracy Horgan), P.E.I. (Erin Carmody) and Saskatchewan (Hailey Surik) all have life at 6-4.

The round robin wraps up on Thursday with three draws at 9:00am, 2:00pm and 7:00pm Est.

First place tie

Prince Edward Island, skipped by Brett Gallant, crushed Northern Ontario's Ryan Harnden 11-2 to move into a three-way tie for top spot at the Canadian Junior men's curling championships.

P.E.I., Alberta, skipped by defending Canadian and world champion Charley Thomas, and Quebec's Ghyslain Richard are all tied at 7-1.

Ontario's Ryan Myler is back in the hunt after a 7-6 win over B.C.'s Bryan Kedziora in Draw 12. Myler stole singles in the eighth, ninth and 10th ends for the one point victory. With the win, Ontario is right behind the leaders at 6-2.

Andrew Irving of Manitoba and Harnden stand at 5-3, while Nova Scotia's Dominic Daemen and Steve Burgess of New Brunswick scored vital wins to improve to 4-4.

Daemen destroyed the winless Northwest Territories 5-2 and Burgess smashed Yukon 13-4.

Solid as a rock

On the women's side, Stacie Devereaux of Newfoundland and Labrador sits atop the standings at 7-1 after a dramatic win in the 12th Draw.

Devereaux removed the shot rock to score four in the 10th end and pull out an 8-6 win over Saskatchewan's Hailey Surik.

Alberta's Kalynn Park and Calleen Neufeld of Manitoba both sit a game back at 6-2.

Behind the top top three are B.C. (Dailene Sivertson), Northern Ontario (Tracy Horgan) and Prince Edward Island (Erin Carmody), all at 5-3.

Northern Ontario beat P.E.I. 5-3 to pull even with B.C., who lost 12-1 to Ontario's Hollie Nicol in the evening draw.

Mary Jane McGuire of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia's Marie Christianson, Saskatchewan and Ontario all remain in contenetion at 4-4.

Round robin play continues until Thursday, with tiebreakers and semifinals set for Friday.

Alberta's Charley Thomas team to beat

Defending Canadian and world junior champion Charley Thomas of Alberta is the lone skip yet to lose at the Canadian junior curling championships.

Thomas improved to 6-0, defeating Ontario 10-4 in a battle of unbeaten teams Monday night.

Thomas opened with a deuce and stole one in the second to lead 3-0 but Ontario, skipped by Ryan Myler, clawed back into it with a single in the third and three in the fifth end to tie the game at 4.

Alberta then took a deuce in the sixth end before putting the game away with a steal of four in the seventh when Myler sailed his rock through the house on a takeout attempt.

The win leaves Thomas atop the men's standings followed by Ontario, Mark Harnden of Northern Ontario, Ghyslain Richard of Quebec and Brett Gallant of P.E.I.

British Columbia's Bryan Kedziora and Andrew Irving from Manitoba remain in the hunt at 3-3.

New Brunswick (Steve Burgess), Saskatchewan(Craig Ochilwa) and Yukon (Thomas Scoffin) trail at 1-5, while Newfoundland and Labrador (Ryan Whithycombe) and the Northwest Territories (Colin Miller) remain winless at 0-6.

Crowded on top

On the women's side, there is now a four-way tie for the lead after Prince Edward Island, skipped by Erin Carmody, beat Manitoba's Calleen Neufeld 8-4.

A steal of two by Carmody in the seventh put P.E.I. up 4-2 before Neufeld tied it with two in the eighth. However the Islanders scored four in the ninth to seal the win.

The win leaves P.E.I, Manitoba, Alberta's Kalynn Park and Newfoundland and Labrador's Stacie Devereaux in the lead at 5-1.

Day Silvertson of B.C. stands alone in fifth spot at 4-2 followed by Mary Jane McGuire of New Brunswick, Tracy Horgan of Northern Ontario, Hollie Nicol of Ontario and Saskatchewan's Hailey Surik at 3-3.

Nova Scotia (Marie Christianson) sits at 2-4 while Quebec's Alanna Routledge is well back at 1-5.

Northwest Territories (Megan Cormier) and Yukon (Sarah Koltun) are winless at 0-6.

Four unbeaten

Alberta and Ontario made it look easy, whipping their opponents, in the final draw of day two at the Canadian junior curling championships

Alberta, skipped by defending champion Charley Thomas improved to 4-0 by scoring seven times in the first four ends on his way to an 11-2 rout of the Northwest Territories.

Ryan Myler of Ontario kept pace whipping previously unbeaten Northern Ontario 8-2.

With the loss, Northern Ontario (Ryan Harnden) dropped to 3-1, tied with idle Quebec (Ghyslain Richard) and Prince Edward Island (Brett Gallant), which moved into the hunt after defeating British Columbia, 5-2.

In other games, Manitoba beat New Brunswick, 10-5, while Yukon, skipped by 12-year-old Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, the youngest skip in the 57-year history of the Juniors, earned its first win with a 10-3 victory over Newfoundland and Labrador.

Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan are next at 2-2, with British Columbia, New Brunswick and Yukon at 1-3. Still looking for their first wins are Newfoundland and Labrador and Northwest Territories.

In women's play, Manitoba, skipped by last year's runner-up Calleen Neufeld, is still perfect at 4-0 with a 9-2 pasting of New Brunswick, while surprising P.E.I, skipped by Erin Carmody, is also perfect, taking five in the eighth to beat B.C. 10-7.

In other Draw six results, Alberta hammered Northwest Territories, 10-1, Newfoundland and Labrador topped Yukon, 9-3 and Ontario stole one in the extra end to edge Northern Ontario, 8-7.

The results left three teams only a game behind the co-leaders, in third place with 3-1 records are Alberta (Kalynn Park), Newfoundland and Labrador (Stacie Devereaux) and Ontario (Hollie Nicol).

Four teams are at 2-2: British Columbia, New Brunswick, Northern Ontario and Saskatchewan. Quebec is at 1-3, while three teams are still winless – Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia and Yukon.

Nine perfect after first day

The first day of the Canadian Juniors in St. Catharines, Ont. came to a close Saturday night with nine teams still undefeated after three draws.

On the men's side, Alberta's Charley Thomas is in a five way log jam atop the standings with Northern Ontario, Ontario (Ryan Myler), Prince Edward Island and Quebec, all at 2-0.

In Draw 3, Northern Ontario, led by Ryan Harnden, defeated Saskatchewn 8-4, while skip Brett Gallant led P.E.I over the Yukon 13-2, and Quebec, headed by Ghyslain Richard, downed Manitoba 6-3.

New Brunswick won 10-1 over Northwest Territories, and B.C. took an 11-3 victory against Newfoundland to complete Draw 3 action.

B.C. (Bryan Kedziora), New Brunswick (Stephen Burgess) and Nova Scotia (Dominic Daemen) are right behind the co-leaders at 1-1, while the five others are winless.

In women's play, there are four co-leaders at 2-0; Manitoba, Ontario (Hollie Nicol), Northern Ontario and P.E.I (Erin Carmody).

In Draw 3, skip Tracy Horgan led Northern Ontario over Saskatchewan 10-8, P.E.I beat Yukon 10-3, Manitoba's Calleen Neufeld remained unbeaten edging Quebec 7-5 and Newfoundland and Labrador crushed B.C. 11-4.

Five teams, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Quebec are a game back of the leaders at 1-1. Four teams are still looking for their first win.

Yukon skips are youngest at Nationals

When most people are 12 or 13, the only thing on their mind in February is hitting the local hill on the toboggan.

For two curlers from Yukon Territory, the focus will be on competing in the pinnacle of Canadian junior curling?and setting the record for youngest skips.

Twelve-year-old Thomas Scoffin and 13-year-old Sarah Koltun, both from Yukon Territory, will skip their teams at the junior Nationals and become the youngest skips to ever do so.

"It's pretty cool ...I didn't expect it," Koltun said.

Koltun, who was just made skip of the Yukon junior ladies in November, found out that she'd just become the youngest female skip when her dad showed her a press release from the CCA a few days before the tournament.

The crowd at the Junior Nationals will probably be the biggest Koltun has ever played in front of but she said she's not too nervous. Besides ...she's curled since she was eight after having been introduced to the game by her dad.

Scoffin, the youngest male skip who's in his sixth year curling, did admit to being just "a little bit" nervous but he doesn't let his age factor in to his chances of doing well at Nationals.

"It's great (being the youngest) but curling is one of those sports where size and age don't matter," he said.

Both juniors attribute the Yukon's young talent to the kids' curling programs that are available.

"There are less people here," Scoffin added, "so if you start young, you have a better chance, I guess."

The 2007 M&M Meat Shop Canadian Junior Championships start on Saturday, Feb. 3 from St. Catharines, Ont.

26 teams will soon descend on St. Catharines, Ont.

All over the nation provincial junior curling champions have been determined, setting the stage for the 2007 Canadian Junior Curling Championships.

This year's field features the best of Canada's young curlers vying for their chance to be tops in the country and represent Canada at the World Junior Curling Championships in Eveleth, Minnesota, Mar. 3-11.

"Junior curling is exciting ... It's a favourite of mine," said Doug Geddie, Chair of the St. Catharines host committee. "Some of them go on to become the players you see in Briers and Scotties, and in the case of Brad Gushue, even an Olympic gold medal."

The Junior Women's 2006 champion won't be back to defend her title. Saskatchewan's Mandy Selzer squad was no longer eligible to play as Juniors with the exception of her second, Kristen Mitchell. She'll be heading back to Nationals, though, throwing second rocks for Dailene Sivertson's B.C. squad.

Last year's Junior Men's Canadian champ and World Junior Champion Charley Thomas from Alberta will be back at Nationals looking to repeat. Alberta's Women's representative Kalynn Park will finally get her shot at the Canadian Juniors after three straight provincial losses.

"The one thing that's kind of neat about junior curling at the national level is that, for most of the competitors, it's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity," Geddie said. "Every year you see a whole new group of faces."

But for two skips, 2007 will mark the third time each of them will have been to the Canadian Junior Championships.

Manitoba's Calleen Neufeld, who lost in the Nationals final last year, won her third straight provincial title to get her last chance at a National championship. She's in her final year of Junior eligibility.

PEI's Brett Gallant has won three of the last four P.E.I provincials. He finished one game out of the playoffs last year.

They, and the rest of Canada's provincial and territorial teams, will square off starting Feb. 3 from St. Catherines, Ont. The Men's Junior champion will be crowned on Feb. 10 and the Women's Juniors decided on Feb. 11.

CurlTV.com will be broadcasting draws throughout the tournament. Be sure to log in to watch the 2007 Canadian Juniors.

Trying to avenge Championship finals loss last year

Calleen Neufeld will get her third chance at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships after she and her team won the Manitoba provincials for the third straight year-only the third Manitoba team to accomplish the feat.

"Mentally, I know what we've done but it hasn't really sunk in yet," Neufeld said. "That's how it's been the last two years; you never really think about it you're packing and ready to go."

Neufeld and her squad-third Sabrina Neufeld (no relation) second Laryssa Grenkow and lead Breanne Meakin-beat Kaitlyn Lawes 7-3 in the final of the Target Junior Women's Provincial Championship, Jan. 8. Neufeld put the pressure on Lawes when she stole three points in the fifth end.

"We didn't expect that," Neufeld said. "We were lying one and two and she was trying the raise (because) I had blocked off the four-foot. (Lawes' rock) just over-curled...and bumped the one in that I just threw."

Neufeld and her crew will now head to St. Catherines, Ont. for the 2007 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Men's and Women's Championships, Feb. 3-11.

Although it will be the first appearance for 16-year-old Meakin, the rest of the team has learned much from their last two Nationals, especially their loss in the final of the 2006 Championships.

"Now I can say it's a positive," Neufeld chuckled about the loss. "Just because now we know what it's like and know what to expect. We've been there before, we can do it again."

In last year's championship game, Neufeld left eventual winner Mandy Selzer of Saskatchewan a draw to the 12-foot for three points. Selzer made the shot, going up 10-6 after nine ends.

Neufeld will bring more experience to this year's Junior Championships. The team played three bonspiels on the World Curling Tour this season, qualifying for two and winning $2,911.

To follow the 2007 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Championships, click here.

Came up one game short of playoffs at last Nationals

PEI's Brett Gallant thinks his squad will have their best chance yet of making it deep at the 2007 Canadian Junior Curling Championships.

"This will be my third time there so we know what it's going to be like," Gallant said. "Every year we're getting older and more experienced so hopefully we can look to those experiences and draw on them."

Gallant earned his third trip to the Junior Nationals with a 7-6 win over Mitchell O'Shea on Sunday, Jan. 14 in the Pepsi Provincial Junior Men's Campionship at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club in Summerside, PEI.

"We were kind of in a bit of trouble after the start but Anson (Carmody) made a great runback and another great shot ... after that I just had to hit and stick," Gallant said about the final which included two points in the last end to win by one. "We were pretty happy especially after beating a great team like Mitchell (O'Shea)."

After a lukewarm start to the season, Gallant and his team-third Adam Casey, second Carmody and lead Alex MacFadyen-have been playing their best, according to Gallant.

"I think we're definitely playing the best we have all season but I think there's room for improvement," he said. "Hopefully, we can play our best at Nationals and make the playoffs and even farther."

Last year at the Junior Championships in Thunder Bay, Ont. Gallant came within one win of making the playoffs, finishing with a 7-5 record ... good enough for fourth place.

As exciting as it is for the team, Gallant said they are just keying on making the playoffs, although they are not focusing too hard.

"We don't want to look too far ahead but our goal is to make the playoffs," Gallant said. "We try to take it every game at a time, even every shot at a time."

Another year of experience and maturity might just be the difference between an early exit and winning the championship.

Skip: Charley Thomas
Third: Brock Virtue
Second: Matthew Ng
Lead: Kyle Reynolds

Skip: Craig Ochitwa
Third: Jason Tocher
Second: Dustin Anderson
Lead: Chris Rediger

Skip: Andrew Irving
Third: B.J. Neufeld
Second: Travis Taylor
Lead: Marc LaCroix

Skip: Ryan Myler
Third: Micky Lizmore
Second: Brodie Tarvit
Lead: Jim Clayton

Skip: Ryan Harnden
Third: Clint Cudmore
Second: Johnny Miners
Lead: Steve Molodowich

Skip: Ghyslain Richard
Third: William Dion
Second: Daniel Camber
Lead: Miguel Bernard

Skip: Stephen Burgess
Third: Chris Jeffrey
Second: Ronnie Burgess
Lead: Kevin Brayshaw

Skip: Ryan Withycombe
Third: Stephen Ryan
Second: Mark Flynn
Lead: Scott Eaton

Skip: Dominic Daemen
Third: Ian Juurlink
Second: Robby McLean
Lead: Trent Hilliard

Skip: Brett Gallant
Third: Adam Casey
Second: Anson Carmody
Lead: Alex MacFadyen

Skip: Thomas Scoffin
Third: Will Mahoney
Second: Nick Koltun
Lead: Mitch Young

Skip: Collin Miller
Third: Rob Heimbach
Second: John Murray
Lead: David Aho

Skip: Kalynn Park
Third: Carrey-Ann Sallows
Second: Jessica Kaufman
Lead: Joanne Taylor

Skip: Hailey Surik
Third: Valerie Sweeting
Second: Cristina Goertzen
Lead: Brittany Lemon

Skip: Calleen Neufeld
Third: Sabrina Neufeld
Second: Laryssa Grenkow
Lead: Breanne Meakin

Skip: Hollie Nicol
Third: Laura Hickey
Second: Karen Sagle
Lead: Hilary McDermott

Skip: Tracy Horgan
Third: Amanda Gates
Second: Tara Stephen
Lead: Stephanie Barbeau

Skip: Alanna Routledge
Third: Kristen Richard
Second: Brittany O'Rourke
Lead: Sasha Beauchamp

Skip: Mary Jane McGuire
Third: Megan McGuire
Second: Erika Nabuurs
Lead: Brigette MacPhail

Skip: Stacie Devereaux
Third: Stephanie Guzzwell
Second: Sarah Paul
Lead: Julie Devereaux

Skip: Marie Christianson
Third: Katie Thomas
Second: Liz Woodworth
Lead: Jenn Baxter

Skip: Erin Carmody
Third: Geri Lynn Ramsay
Second: Lisa Moerike
Lead: Jessica van Ouwerkerk

Skip: Sarah Koltun
Third: Chelsea Duncan
Second: Tessa Vibe
Lead: Linea Eby

Skip: Megan Cormier
Third: Kourtney Williams
Second: Jessica Johnson
Lead: Valisa Aho