If we harken back to the 70's and 80's, which is long before my time, and watch some highlight videos of past Canadian Men and Women curling championships, the few that exist online anyway, you'll easily ascertain that the curlers during that tenure played in front of packed, some would say rowdy venues. One video that stands out for essentially all curling enthusiasts is the 1985 Labatt Brier to where which Northern Ontario's Al Hackner made a cross ring double to defeat Alberta's Pat Ryan in the old Moncton Coliseum. It was certainly an iconic moment, but why? The shot, like all curling fans would agree is held in great prestige due to the magnitude of the moment, but let's also as fans of sport dig a little deeper on what makes the Iceman's shot so memorable. Taking nothing away from the skill that it took to pull of the Brier clinching shot, but let's face it, in the modern day of curling we see that type of shot on a game to game basis. Is it possible, eluding back to my original hypothesis, that the reason the shot holds such fan fare was how the players, and more importantly the fans embraced the moment? In a compact facility that was the Moncton Coliseum, an eruption ensued, something that is unforeseen is National Championships today. The fans acted as if Paul McCartney of the Beatles just took the stage for the encore performance. Full credit goes out to Hackner for embracing the moment and running with, a small part why you ask most people with a remedial understanding of the sport and ask them to name a few curlers, the name Al Hackner will surely be brought to the forefront. National Championships have become stagnant throughout the years, through no fault of the curlers though because the calibre of play has substantially improved, which pendants will argue has hurt our sport while others will say it's helped but nonetheless speaking from a purely historical perspective because as I mentioned I wasn't around to witness a live curling event in the 70's and 80's, the atmosphere has changed, you go to a curling event and I know certain groups are trying to change this, but we've slightly lost that entertainment edge How to get it back...keep reading and I've conjured up an interesting proposition that at worst will make some great food for thought.
The Scotties gets played in Montreal, albeit in a smaller center which I thought was a brilliant idea, allowing the long time fans to reminisce what it was like at Brier and Scotties back in the hay day, reverting back to my previous example of the Moncton Coliseum. The Brier is being played in Ottawa this year. Big markets=electric atmospheres? Not so fast. Montreal has the Canadiens which will always be the voice of the city, whether playing at home or the road, and Ottawa has the Senators and that will make the Brier back page paper conversation. The game of curling needs to locate newer, more passionate fans, and as unconventional as they may sound, and goes against every principle a National Championship stands for, but is it time for this to grow into a global event, and judging from what was a massively successful, Las Vegas hosted Contenental Cup, Vegas baby? In what was meaningless curling, the crowd was engaged and I can guarantee that was incentive enough for curlers to want to play. Like any good athlete will vocalize, the more boisterous the crowd, the easier it is to get the adrenalin flowing. Is Vegas a viable option for a National Championship, the upper hierarchy at Curling Canada will vehemently say no but let's explore and I'm sure by the end I'll have you all believing this is a superb idea. Okay, I probably won't but I'd appreciate if you keep reading.....
The climate of Las Vegas has transitioned in recent years. A touristy destination by nature, however the reason I'm suggesting the climate has changed from an interest perspective is because I'm under the premise that Nevadans are open to trying out new things, ie the recent continental cups compounded with their recent desperation to land a National Hockey League franchise. Ten to fifteen years ago hockey in Vegas would've been an absurd, laughed at idea. Have a hard time believing what I'm selling, if in doubt just check in with Sportsnet and the Fan 590's, Bob McCown, about as pessimistic as a person as they come, he's been skeptical pertaining to the plausibility of hockey in Vegas to this day and this is coming from a long time resident of Vegas but even he I think would be in agreement that citizens of Las Vegas could get behind watching the BEST curlers in the world . I can only imagine the snarky remarks he'd gesture my way if I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with him about hosting a curling National Championship in his former home city. I think in society generally speaking, we're more open to trying new things, so based on that observation what is stopping Curling Canada in even giving this a one year attempt to avoid the stagnancy recent championships have become? Revenue? Understood but I firmly believe the amount of Canadians who would be enticed by the idea of booking a week off to head to Vegas to watch curling(gamble and golf as well but you get the idea) would alleviate the valid concern that you lose your loyal,local fan base.When taking into account the amount of our native land that would travel down along with Americans who I maintain would have a large sense of intrigue, it would certainly offset increased travel costs.
On behalf of Curling Canada, I've looked after the fans, they'll come in flocks, need not worry. The last concern in this marvelous proposition is would the players get behind it? Too gimmicky? Takes away from winning a national title on home soil? Lack of general recognisability? All valid concerns sure, but any curler who may feel the idea of playing in Vegas puts this game in a poor light is in my books someone who isn't wholeheartedly getting behind the fact that we MUST find a way to grow our sport. The National Football League, a league that only boasts American franchises in recent years has held regular season games in London, England and Toronto with one purpose, to grow the game. This is an outstanding comparable because in the U.K, even the most well read fan will have no idea who Miami Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake is,newsflash people.....the only way the U.K will ever know who Wake is and how he plays is by watching them. Las Vegas will have no idea who Northwest Territories skipper Jamie Koe....actually allow me to take that back as if the stories I read are correct about his, shall we say eccentric partying ways, I'm sure he's blazed through the Vegas strip once or twice. Back to a more serious note, you understand the comparison I'm trying to make, no one in Vegas/America will know who these curlers are unless they're exposed to them. Curling Canada may be under the opinion that the forefront their main focus has to be grow the game in Canada, particularly at a junior level but by exposing our best to lesser known curling parts, the long term benefits will exceed the maybe more immediate, cost related negatives.
Crazy idea, maybe, maybe not, but this blogger is ready to see our game take a leap of faith, and what better way then for our curlers to leap onto the blackjack table, err I mean American ice.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
Phil Jackson:Basketball guru?
The New York Knicks made headlines today when it was announced that they have elected to part with Head Coach Derek Fisher. The news was handed down from Team President Phil "The Thrill" Jackson, who interestingly enough coached Fisher when Fisher was the head floor general for the late ninety/early two thousand dynasty Los Angeles Lakers. Fisher earned almost constant praise who handed down Fisher a plethora of accolades pertaining to his on-court leadership ability. The thought was, and not just from Jackson that this would translate Derek into becoming an excellent Head Coach someday in the Association, and it very well may but that day unfortunately for basketball fans of New York did not take place which left Phil with no other choice but to fire his former pupil and allowing Kurt Rambis to take over on an interim basis.
The reason I brought this discussion point up tonight is not because a coach got fired, as this has become common place, some say too frequent in professional sports but to analyze the worth of Jackson and bring into question whether or not Jackson's reputation of being one of the greatest ever is deserved or whether he's been dragged along throughout the years by the likes of Jordan, Pippen, Kobe, and Shaq. Interesting discussion to be sure, and I tend to slide in the former ledger.
Jackson, who made his professional debut in 1987 as an assistant of the Chicago Bulls, was quickly promoted to head bench boss a little less than two years later, in many individuals eyes won the coaching lottery. How can that statement not ring true when coming to the full realization that he was graced with a young Michael Jordan, a poor man's Steph Curry in Scottie Pippen, one of the original bad boys but yet ferocious rebounder in Dennis Rodman and then overlooked complimentary pieces such as Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley, and long time Orlando Magic Horace Grant. The team was deep and quite frankly a lot of coaches could've stepped into the same situation and equated the same level of success. Some(most) will view the aforementioned remark as an egregious statement but I hold true to my beliefs. In hockey, was it due to Dan Bylsma that the Pittsburgh Penguins delivered a Stanley Cup in 2009? No one in their right mind would cosign that it was Bylsma that was the missing link, the team was going to win eventually when you have at the time the best player on the planet in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Coaches that exceed expectations are held highly in the world of this blogger but I maintain quite strongly that a coach that wins when it's expected to win, and when anything less is considered a monumental failure relies on pre-existing factors and his or hers coaching abilities don't deserve the recognition they receive.
If the assumption that I don't hold Jackson's successes highly wasn't obvious enough already, I'll try to further continue on this tangent. In society, referring to somebody as a "whore" is rightfully viewed as derogatory but I hope no offence is taken when I label Phil as a "Championship whore". He leaves the Bulls in 1998, conspicuously when Jordan's career begins to fade down and hops on over to Southern California to coach the Lakers. This is a Lakers team that was able to lure Shaquille O'Neal over, partly to fulfill his Hollywood aspirations, I mean really who can forget Kazaam?? They also were able to acquire some young Philadelphia hot shot...what's his name again....o right, Kobe Bryant! Not a bad nucleus to begin his Lakers endeavour with. In Chicago, he received a pioneer rep for instituting the Triangle offence, something that was carried forward into Los Angeles. This triangle offence is perhaps my biggest bone of contention when it comes to dissecting Jackson's worth. Simply put, great players make a great offence and Jackson could've implemented the most complicated, research tested and failed methods and it wouldn't of mattered. When you hand the ball to Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, it doesn't matter what the play call is, they'll score. The Raptors from ten years ago know this all too well(eighty one point flashbacks). The triangle offence is a fancy way of describing get the ball into the best player. I would've loved to see Jackson attempt this offense with the likes of Mugsy Bogues, Andrea Bargnani and Popeye Jones? I'm going to assume his egotistical line of thinking will claim it would've meant multiple championships, but as I eluded to earlier he would've never considered coaching anywhere else as for him it was championship or bust.
The current plight of the New York Knicks is a tricky one and if anything it should verify what I've been preaching this entre entry. The New York Knicks don't have the necessary talent and sure enough the great Phil Jackson, the man overseeing this enterprise is left with his tongue out not knowing what the next move should be. Even though Porzingis, the young European they picked up at the 2015 draft projects to be a nice player and Carmelo is good for 25-30 a night, that's about in the New York cupboard. This is my opinion, I think by Phil landing in New York he presumed that more household names would follow and for his sake unfortunately didn't happen. Phil was out of options and his strategical maneuvers reek desperation as he went so far to aleniate a relationship in Derek Fisher to try something to right this broken ship.
It may not happen this year, probably not next year and not likely even the year after but at some point, those impatient New Yorkers will soon have enough and Jackson will find himself in the hot seat and will then look for the next destination that can guarantee championship. For Phil's overrated basketball mind, he better go somewhere that has actual talent, hello Golden State? I can hear the cringing from Golden State fans all the way from Regina at the slightest thought of that notion.
The reason I brought this discussion point up tonight is not because a coach got fired, as this has become common place, some say too frequent in professional sports but to analyze the worth of Jackson and bring into question whether or not Jackson's reputation of being one of the greatest ever is deserved or whether he's been dragged along throughout the years by the likes of Jordan, Pippen, Kobe, and Shaq. Interesting discussion to be sure, and I tend to slide in the former ledger.
Jackson, who made his professional debut in 1987 as an assistant of the Chicago Bulls, was quickly promoted to head bench boss a little less than two years later, in many individuals eyes won the coaching lottery. How can that statement not ring true when coming to the full realization that he was graced with a young Michael Jordan, a poor man's Steph Curry in Scottie Pippen, one of the original bad boys but yet ferocious rebounder in Dennis Rodman and then overlooked complimentary pieces such as Toni Kukoc, Luc Longley, and long time Orlando Magic Horace Grant. The team was deep and quite frankly a lot of coaches could've stepped into the same situation and equated the same level of success. Some(most) will view the aforementioned remark as an egregious statement but I hold true to my beliefs. In hockey, was it due to Dan Bylsma that the Pittsburgh Penguins delivered a Stanley Cup in 2009? No one in their right mind would cosign that it was Bylsma that was the missing link, the team was going to win eventually when you have at the time the best player on the planet in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Coaches that exceed expectations are held highly in the world of this blogger but I maintain quite strongly that a coach that wins when it's expected to win, and when anything less is considered a monumental failure relies on pre-existing factors and his or hers coaching abilities don't deserve the recognition they receive.
If the assumption that I don't hold Jackson's successes highly wasn't obvious enough already, I'll try to further continue on this tangent. In society, referring to somebody as a "whore" is rightfully viewed as derogatory but I hope no offence is taken when I label Phil as a "Championship whore". He leaves the Bulls in 1998, conspicuously when Jordan's career begins to fade down and hops on over to Southern California to coach the Lakers. This is a Lakers team that was able to lure Shaquille O'Neal over, partly to fulfill his Hollywood aspirations, I mean really who can forget Kazaam?? They also were able to acquire some young Philadelphia hot shot...what's his name again....o right, Kobe Bryant! Not a bad nucleus to begin his Lakers endeavour with. In Chicago, he received a pioneer rep for instituting the Triangle offence, something that was carried forward into Los Angeles. This triangle offence is perhaps my biggest bone of contention when it comes to dissecting Jackson's worth. Simply put, great players make a great offence and Jackson could've implemented the most complicated, research tested and failed methods and it wouldn't of mattered. When you hand the ball to Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, it doesn't matter what the play call is, they'll score. The Raptors from ten years ago know this all too well(eighty one point flashbacks). The triangle offence is a fancy way of describing get the ball into the best player. I would've loved to see Jackson attempt this offense with the likes of Mugsy Bogues, Andrea Bargnani and Popeye Jones? I'm going to assume his egotistical line of thinking will claim it would've meant multiple championships, but as I eluded to earlier he would've never considered coaching anywhere else as for him it was championship or bust.
The current plight of the New York Knicks is a tricky one and if anything it should verify what I've been preaching this entre entry. The New York Knicks don't have the necessary talent and sure enough the great Phil Jackson, the man overseeing this enterprise is left with his tongue out not knowing what the next move should be. Even though Porzingis, the young European they picked up at the 2015 draft projects to be a nice player and Carmelo is good for 25-30 a night, that's about in the New York cupboard. This is my opinion, I think by Phil landing in New York he presumed that more household names would follow and for his sake unfortunately didn't happen. Phil was out of options and his strategical maneuvers reek desperation as he went so far to aleniate a relationship in Derek Fisher to try something to right this broken ship.
It may not happen this year, probably not next year and not likely even the year after but at some point, those impatient New Yorkers will soon have enough and Jackson will find himself in the hot seat and will then look for the next destination that can guarantee championship. For Phil's overrated basketball mind, he better go somewhere that has actual talent, hello Golden State? I can hear the cringing from Golden State fans all the way from Regina at the slightest thought of that notion.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Louisville slugged out
Having been to Louisville,Kentucky in 2012 for the first two rounds of the NCAA Basketball tournament, better known to most as March Madness, I grew a fond attachment to the Cardinals athletic program, having been a fan ever since. The men's basketball program particularly has been a staple in the state of Kentucky as the program rose to prominence from being an afterthought in the early nineties to a Rick Pitino led men's powerhouse culminating in a National Championship in 2013.
On February 5th, a dark day, perhaps the darkest day took place in the program's history. A self imposed tournament ban was issued on behalf of the institution. For what you ask, a pre-emptive strike at the expense of a recruiting issue the NCAA is currently investigating. So that's right, to clarify, the school is punishing the players, the kids who have dreamt their entire lives of participating in March Madness due to a mistake or oversight, however you want to slice it, that the athletical department made in attempts to recruit the nations best. How is this justifiable? It's not, it's a travesty and repercussions and pre agreed upon penalties when facing these types of situations need to be arranged so this never happens again.
If an employee steals money from his or her's organization, does head office clamp down and fire it's entire staff? Heck no, they punish the individual who committed the crime. I respect the fact that the University of Louisville is cooperating with the investigation at hand but the way they're admitting or accepting responsibility I view as contradictory. A violation of recruitment rules was clearly present here judging from the school's self imposed penalties they have issued but I question the legitimacy of their internal investigation. An individual(s) are at fault for the mess that's been created, why has the investigation from the NCAA or L'Ville(one of many ways Kentuckians pronounce the great city) not focused on the few that are responsible and discipline those appropriately? By banning the players, the innocent bystanders if you will, all that has been accomplished is that it's been made abundantly clear that the University doesn't care about their students, and as a cop-out at the risk of opening a can of worms that they want to keep secret from the powers at be will sacrifice the good fortunes and entertainment to their student body to save the institutions belittling reputation.
Now, I'll take this a step further and correlate my frustrations with this into something that revolved around a much more sensitive matter that played out at Penn St University regarding the Joe Sandusky sex abuse scandal. Despicable act, not condoning actions of anyone involved here, but similar to Louisville, the Nittany Lions received a post-season ban as a penalty for the university's lack of eptness in how they handled this unbearable longevic, disgusting behavior. A post-season ban for the players in this scenario aswell? The players should've been aided, not punished. I'm not going to spend time parlaying my thoughts how decisions like this put the abused in a more vulnerable life decline because kids knowing the possible price that their OWN friends and OWN school may have to pay will scare them into speaking the truth. This cycle is damaging and needs to stop, and a better hierarchy in handling these kind of sensitive matters needs to be developed because in 2016, particularly with abuse, this should NEVER be tolerated and each individual on this earth must have the confidence to speak up and stop it before it happens to someone else.
Ok, I realize I went a tad off topic with that latest tangent but I feel strongly about that and it's up to the NCAA to alter it's principles. Now getting back to the topic at hand, this is what I would propose to rectify the lose-lose game that currently best describes the players point of view: If a university self imposes, or if the head body imposes any kind of ban on a school for a school violation, allow the players the following. Provide the option, if the player chooses to partake in a immediate transfer. I'm fully aware with the way rules are currently construed it states that a player that elects to transfer will be required to red shirt the following semester. Rules are rules, but provisions can be constituted and this should be one of those exception. A school infraction should translate into immediate transfer availability. Wrapping this back around to Louisville, it's disheartening that fifth year seniors Trey Lewis and Damion Lee won't have the life enriching opportunity of playing in the tournament. You play your whole collegiate athletic careers to reach this pinnacle especially when you have a team like the Cardinals who could've inflicted serious damage on the tournament,
NCAA, in the future, do the right thing. Look after your students!
On February 5th, a dark day, perhaps the darkest day took place in the program's history. A self imposed tournament ban was issued on behalf of the institution. For what you ask, a pre-emptive strike at the expense of a recruiting issue the NCAA is currently investigating. So that's right, to clarify, the school is punishing the players, the kids who have dreamt their entire lives of participating in March Madness due to a mistake or oversight, however you want to slice it, that the athletical department made in attempts to recruit the nations best. How is this justifiable? It's not, it's a travesty and repercussions and pre agreed upon penalties when facing these types of situations need to be arranged so this never happens again.
If an employee steals money from his or her's organization, does head office clamp down and fire it's entire staff? Heck no, they punish the individual who committed the crime. I respect the fact that the University of Louisville is cooperating with the investigation at hand but the way they're admitting or accepting responsibility I view as contradictory. A violation of recruitment rules was clearly present here judging from the school's self imposed penalties they have issued but I question the legitimacy of their internal investigation. An individual(s) are at fault for the mess that's been created, why has the investigation from the NCAA or L'Ville(one of many ways Kentuckians pronounce the great city) not focused on the few that are responsible and discipline those appropriately? By banning the players, the innocent bystanders if you will, all that has been accomplished is that it's been made abundantly clear that the University doesn't care about their students, and as a cop-out at the risk of opening a can of worms that they want to keep secret from the powers at be will sacrifice the good fortunes and entertainment to their student body to save the institutions belittling reputation.
Now, I'll take this a step further and correlate my frustrations with this into something that revolved around a much more sensitive matter that played out at Penn St University regarding the Joe Sandusky sex abuse scandal. Despicable act, not condoning actions of anyone involved here, but similar to Louisville, the Nittany Lions received a post-season ban as a penalty for the university's lack of eptness in how they handled this unbearable longevic, disgusting behavior. A post-season ban for the players in this scenario aswell? The players should've been aided, not punished. I'm not going to spend time parlaying my thoughts how decisions like this put the abused in a more vulnerable life decline because kids knowing the possible price that their OWN friends and OWN school may have to pay will scare them into speaking the truth. This cycle is damaging and needs to stop, and a better hierarchy in handling these kind of sensitive matters needs to be developed because in 2016, particularly with abuse, this should NEVER be tolerated and each individual on this earth must have the confidence to speak up and stop it before it happens to someone else.
Ok, I realize I went a tad off topic with that latest tangent but I feel strongly about that and it's up to the NCAA to alter it's principles. Now getting back to the topic at hand, this is what I would propose to rectify the lose-lose game that currently best describes the players point of view: If a university self imposes, or if the head body imposes any kind of ban on a school for a school violation, allow the players the following. Provide the option, if the player chooses to partake in a immediate transfer. I'm fully aware with the way rules are currently construed it states that a player that elects to transfer will be required to red shirt the following semester. Rules are rules, but provisions can be constituted and this should be one of those exception. A school infraction should translate into immediate transfer availability. Wrapping this back around to Louisville, it's disheartening that fifth year seniors Trey Lewis and Damion Lee won't have the life enriching opportunity of playing in the tournament. You play your whole collegiate athletic careers to reach this pinnacle especially when you have a team like the Cardinals who could've inflicted serious damage on the tournament,
NCAA, in the future, do the right thing. Look after your students!
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Tribulations of the Senators
The hot topic tonight once again, and deservingly so is the play of McJesus himself, Connor McDavid who led the Edmonton Oilers to a triumph over the Ottawa Senators by tallying two assists. He's a prodigy, an unquestionable assertion for a player that barring injuries will be the cornerstone of the Oilers franchise for the next fifteen years. The combination he possesses featuring hands of Pavel Datsyuk with the speed of a Mike Gartner, he's virtually an unstoppable force that will require # 1 defenceman to shadow his whereabouts. All that being said, and I could literally go on and on in my admiration towards Connor, what I want to talk about tonight is the (mis)fortunes of the team on the losing end, that being the Ottawa Senators.
As a Toronto Maple Leaf fan growing up in the mid to late nineties, I grew up with some classic Senators-Maple Leafs action, and the more thinking I do the most memorable matchups I bore witness to were the Patrick Lalime,Daniel Alfreddson, Wade Redden narrated Senators against the Mats Sundin, Alyn McCauley(had to give a plug to the thoroughbred checking center) and Tomas Kaberle led Leafs in consecutive playoff matchups. The Senators were always blessed with more talented rosters through and through but the kryptonite was the goaltending, usually Patrick Lalime particularly letting out the untimely goal, one goal sticks in my mind when in the opening period in a game seven, Joe Niewendyk let off a weak slap shot from the high hash that trickled through. This became a common occurrence and arguably hampered the Sens from tangible playoff successes around that time frame.
Goaltending was an issue then, but now as we sit through this 2015-2016 campaign, it's the least of their worries. The tandem of Craig Anderson and the "Hamburgler" himself Andrew Hammond are definitely a capable duo but the lack of defensive depth the Sens display doesn't do the numbers of the aforementioned two any justice. A 2.95 GAA for Anderson, the preferred starter of late on behalf of Dave Cameron is nothing to cry home about, but if it wasn't for the defensive woes, could be soooooo much better. So this defensive crisis the Rideau Canal faces, the essence of my entry tonight, what needs to change? It's possible that we first must look at the Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson, the supposed anchor of this group. Karlsson gets a lot of praise from the Canadian media but from my vantage point not much of it is deserved.
So how many of you reading this conclude that Karlsson is a top five defenceman in the NHL? I respect you feel this way but hopefully after reading this tonight you'll be swayed in the correct direction, that he is not and in all reality is the precipus when delving into the shortcomings of the Senators. Let's first talk about his positional play, I play Ball Hockey and in Ball Hockey a rover can be quite useful as offence is the name of the game and backwards skating is not required. What position does Karlsson play? Defence? Could've fooled me. His defensive awareness is virtually non-existent and that was in full display in this evenings tilt against Edmonton. I appreciate he has a high skill level and has the coveted puck skills to be able to jump into the rush but this by all accounts doesn't dismiss the lapses in judgement that usually result a multitude of odd man rushes the other way. I literally lost track tonight on how many odd man rushes the Oilers had. Grant you players such as Hall, Eberle, and McDavid will create scoring chances based off of pure skill, the honus is on Dave Cameron to knock some sense into the captain, remind him that although the offence is welcome, he's a defenceman first and foremost and taking care of his own end is paramount. The "brainfarts" of Karlsson isn't the only thing causing mass panic for General Manager Bryan Murray and fans abound. The dilemma on how to handle the Jared Cowen drama bas been much debated in and around Ottawa. Here's the issue regarding Cowen, yes he was a first round pick back in 2009(9th overall to be exact) but that doesn't make up for a severe fault in his game, a lack of footspeed. I've had this opinion about some other defenceman entering the ranks, such as Luke Schenn or Roman Polak, the game that once was is no longer and the way all three of these gentlemen perform on the ice is no longer condusive to with the way game operates. Cowen has voiced displeasure for not playing often enough in Ottawa, does he have reason to be frustrated? 100% he does but we live in a winning business and the facts are Jared Cowen is an AHL calibre defenceman. Bryan Murray I can guarantee would love to honor his request but because he was such a high draft pick, can't afford to give him away. If I was Jared Cowen's agent, I would advise my client that he should count his blessings, appreciate the fact that he is still up with the big club because it could be worse. There aren't many teams that would employ Jared Cowen in the show, simply put. Jared Cowen was once part of the more memorable Memorial Cup celebrations in which his Spokane Chiefs captain infamously dropped the cup after being awarded it. If they don't straighten out the mindset of Cowen and fix Karlssson's positional alignment I can assure you that their won't be any cups to drop for a long, long time Ottawa.
As a Toronto Maple Leaf fan growing up in the mid to late nineties, I grew up with some classic Senators-Maple Leafs action, and the more thinking I do the most memorable matchups I bore witness to were the Patrick Lalime,Daniel Alfreddson, Wade Redden narrated Senators against the Mats Sundin, Alyn McCauley(had to give a plug to the thoroughbred checking center) and Tomas Kaberle led Leafs in consecutive playoff matchups. The Senators were always blessed with more talented rosters through and through but the kryptonite was the goaltending, usually Patrick Lalime particularly letting out the untimely goal, one goal sticks in my mind when in the opening period in a game seven, Joe Niewendyk let off a weak slap shot from the high hash that trickled through. This became a common occurrence and arguably hampered the Sens from tangible playoff successes around that time frame.
Goaltending was an issue then, but now as we sit through this 2015-2016 campaign, it's the least of their worries. The tandem of Craig Anderson and the "Hamburgler" himself Andrew Hammond are definitely a capable duo but the lack of defensive depth the Sens display doesn't do the numbers of the aforementioned two any justice. A 2.95 GAA for Anderson, the preferred starter of late on behalf of Dave Cameron is nothing to cry home about, but if it wasn't for the defensive woes, could be soooooo much better. So this defensive crisis the Rideau Canal faces, the essence of my entry tonight, what needs to change? It's possible that we first must look at the Swedish defenceman Erik Karlsson, the supposed anchor of this group. Karlsson gets a lot of praise from the Canadian media but from my vantage point not much of it is deserved.
So how many of you reading this conclude that Karlsson is a top five defenceman in the NHL? I respect you feel this way but hopefully after reading this tonight you'll be swayed in the correct direction, that he is not and in all reality is the precipus when delving into the shortcomings of the Senators. Let's first talk about his positional play, I play Ball Hockey and in Ball Hockey a rover can be quite useful as offence is the name of the game and backwards skating is not required. What position does Karlsson play? Defence? Could've fooled me. His defensive awareness is virtually non-existent and that was in full display in this evenings tilt against Edmonton. I appreciate he has a high skill level and has the coveted puck skills to be able to jump into the rush but this by all accounts doesn't dismiss the lapses in judgement that usually result a multitude of odd man rushes the other way. I literally lost track tonight on how many odd man rushes the Oilers had. Grant you players such as Hall, Eberle, and McDavid will create scoring chances based off of pure skill, the honus is on Dave Cameron to knock some sense into the captain, remind him that although the offence is welcome, he's a defenceman first and foremost and taking care of his own end is paramount. The "brainfarts" of Karlsson isn't the only thing causing mass panic for General Manager Bryan Murray and fans abound. The dilemma on how to handle the Jared Cowen drama bas been much debated in and around Ottawa. Here's the issue regarding Cowen, yes he was a first round pick back in 2009(9th overall to be exact) but that doesn't make up for a severe fault in his game, a lack of footspeed. I've had this opinion about some other defenceman entering the ranks, such as Luke Schenn or Roman Polak, the game that once was is no longer and the way all three of these gentlemen perform on the ice is no longer condusive to with the way game operates. Cowen has voiced displeasure for not playing often enough in Ottawa, does he have reason to be frustrated? 100% he does but we live in a winning business and the facts are Jared Cowen is an AHL calibre defenceman. Bryan Murray I can guarantee would love to honor his request but because he was such a high draft pick, can't afford to give him away. If I was Jared Cowen's agent, I would advise my client that he should count his blessings, appreciate the fact that he is still up with the big club because it could be worse. There aren't many teams that would employ Jared Cowen in the show, simply put. Jared Cowen was once part of the more memorable Memorial Cup celebrations in which his Spokane Chiefs captain infamously dropped the cup after being awarded it. If they don't straighten out the mindset of Cowen and fix Karlssson's positional alignment I can assure you that their won't be any cups to drop for a long, long time Ottawa.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Tankard thoughts(draw two)
In draw two of the 2016 Saskatchewan Tankard, I will be providing updates for the featured match this evening involving Kerrobert's Brad Heidt and Regina's Randy Bryden. Enjoy
End one
End two
End three
-Brad Heidt makes a pistol hit and roll to sit two behind in cover. Bryden now the chaser.
-The veteran Heidt drawing upon his experience, once again threw a beautiful hit and roll, rolling off a half tucked Knapp stone behind the guard.
-On Mitch Heidt's first,Heidt elects for the aggressive play ignoring the Bryden half open stone, deciding to draw around and sit two.
-After a Robinson roll-out, the petal to the metal approach continues for the Kerrobert bunch. Making Bryden work to earn their coin.
-Big trouble for Bryden after Robinson attempting a come around, wrecks on the guard. Heidt will look to guard their two shot stones.
-All this complaining of overly conservative play can be thrown out the window, rocks galore here in the third.
-The saving grace for Bryden is that the shot stones of Heidt are behind the tee line thus allowing Randy to tap his rock tight to the four for shot rock.
-Drew Heidt draws in far too deep trying to cut off Bryden's second point, and now Randy has a draw to the four for his second point. This is a classic skip deuce as the Heidt clan was all over Team Bryden before the the team's elder statesmen bailed the crew out. 2-1 Bryden.
End five
End six
End one
-Bryden lead Trent Knapp places the opening rock of the game top four, Brad elects to hit and it's open season for a classic first end blank.
-Interesting to see Brad himself only throw second stones this season, the confidence level he has in sons Mitch and Drew is apparent with that decision.
-One of those ends that smelt like a blank, looked like a blank, but resulted in a score of one in lieu of Drew Heidt sticking on his last.
End two
-Regis Neumeier with two perfect stones to begin the second whilst T.Knapp put up a workable corner and both skips appear ready to gamble.
-Kelly Knapp attempts a hit and roll on a Heidt stone landing fully in the eight foot, but fails to acquire the role.
-Roll out by Mitch Heidt has increased the chances of a second blank, although a corner does exist on the other side of the house.
-Great cross sheet role attempt by Troy Robinson and now the corner guard is definitely in play.
-Judging by Drew's snarky reaction, some sweeping miscommunication prevented their role attempt and now we'll see Randy try what Drew could not accomplish.
-Count me in as one who thought two experienced skips such as Brad and Randy would've encouraged more rocks in play but as it stands a second consecutive blank is staring us in the face but this time a blank is actually made successfully(forgive me for to quote the great Roger Clemens, "misremembering"that Heidt stole for one in the first)
End three
-Brad Heidt makes a pistol hit and roll to sit two behind in cover. Bryden now the chaser.
-The veteran Heidt drawing upon his experience, once again threw a beautiful hit and roll, rolling off a half tucked Knapp stone behind the guard.
-On Mitch Heidt's first,Heidt elects for the aggressive play ignoring the Bryden half open stone, deciding to draw around and sit two.
-After a Robinson roll-out, the petal to the metal approach continues for the Kerrobert bunch. Making Bryden work to earn their coin.
-Big trouble for Bryden after Robinson attempting a come around, wrecks on the guard. Heidt will look to guard their two shot stones.
-All this complaining of overly conservative play can be thrown out the window, rocks galore here in the third.
-The saving grace for Bryden is that the shot stones of Heidt are behind the tee line thus allowing Randy to tap his rock tight to the four for shot rock.
-Drew Heidt draws in far too deep trying to cut off Bryden's second point, and now Randy has a draw to the four for his second point. This is a classic skip deuce as the Heidt clan was all over Team Bryden before the the team's elder statesmen bailed the crew out. 2-1 Bryden.
End four
-After the lead Knapp undercurled on a draw attempt to the four foot, he more than made up for that with a pristine center guard and it has forced Heidt's to get in the runback/peel mode.
-Brad Heidt, using the same principles as last end, is ignoring the hitting game and on Mitch Heidt's first one,played a back eight tap back to ensure the Bryden rock stay in the rings behind the button. This gameplan is refreshing.
-With Bryden lying three all behind the tee, fourth thrower Drew will look to draw around the center guard and their own red top twelve. Brad was very clear in his thought process that by either fully burying the rock or keeping it half open, the jam presents itself for Randy.
-Drew goes deep(common theme of the night), thus allowing Randy to draw right to the pin and the Heidt team is in a world of hurt.
-The Bryden draw was evidently too big of a hurdle for Heidt to jump as Bryden stretches his lead to two.
End five
-The prototypical beginning to any curling end, the team without hammer(Bryden) places two rocks on top of one another and Heidt places a corner guard.
-Brad Heidt rolls past the corner allowing Kelly and the Bryden rink to hit and stick and sit two
he;
-At some point the Heidt four has to regain their composure, from my vantage point were outplaying Bryden in the first two ends but have begin to unravel providing a significant edge to the rink from the Callie.
-Heidt with a stone in the eight foot, half wrapped around the center with the Bryden stone back four, some contemplation was given to either throwing a high guard and staggering the red(Heidt) or coming right in. The guard was chosen after much debate.
-After Mitch delivered his stone, the Heidt's now have two promotable stones to access Bryden's back four marker. The more guard attempts now for Randy the hotter the fire he's playing with.
-Brad asking Drew for a double run off nose to promote the reds in the rings to remove the yellow.
-The double run is made partially but they lose the one red they were hoping to keep around which interestingly enough isn't that good for Heidt as with a simple hit on the open red in the back of the eight foot, the force is in play. Can Drew make a pressure draw? This remains to be seen as he;s been a little heavy on a few draws tonight.
-The entire way down it appeared to be a routine draw for Drew but an apparent pick slowed down the draw attempt and has led to ANOTHER steal for the Bryden foursome.
End six
-On Trent Knapp's opening stone, a rock originally pegged for the top four slides to the back twelve.
-Now reeling from a three point deficit, Neumeier has thrown up a second corner guard and then is a disastrous turn of events for Bryden, Kelly Knapp's peel attempt goes wayward and bumps the Heidt rock into the rings.
-The last couple of rocks from Heidt have been an effort to protect the rock Knapp chipped in, Robinson by virtue of the end's developments attempts a double run, gets rid of one.
-With Bryden sitting two, one in the top, the other being in the back of the twelve Brad calls for a come around to the four foot, gets a piece of the eight.
-A freeze to the back rock by Heidt is followed by a freeze on top for Bryden. Randy still lying two.
-Bryden just can't be undone! Drew made a quality draw to the back of the four, but Randy was able to come right on top to get this, steal another point. 5-1 Bryden and due to the wide spread score and inevitable string of peels that will precede the Bryden strategy, I'm going to sign off this game but will come back later if I notice the score tightens.
-Now reeling from a three point deficit, Neumeier has thrown up a second corner guard and then is a disastrous turn of events for Bryden, Kelly Knapp's peel attempt goes wayward and bumps the Heidt rock into the rings.
-The last couple of rocks from Heidt have been an effort to protect the rock Knapp chipped in, Robinson by virtue of the end's developments attempts a double run, gets rid of one.
-With Bryden sitting two, one in the top, the other being in the back of the twelve Brad calls for a come around to the four foot, gets a piece of the eight.
-A freeze to the back rock by Heidt is followed by a freeze on top for Bryden. Randy still lying two.
-Bryden just can't be undone! Drew made a quality draw to the back of the four, but Randy was able to come right on top to get this, steal another point. 5-1 Bryden and due to the wide spread score and inevitable string of peels that will precede the Bryden strategy, I'm going to sign off this game but will come back later if I notice the score tightens.
Tankard thoughts(draw one)
As I mentioned earlier, the plan that I've set in motion is to "live blog" as many of the webcasted draws as I can for the 2016 Saskatchewan Tankard, so in draw one the featured game is between Saskatoon's Jason Jacobson and from the Sutherland Curling Club,Dean Kleiter.
As an aside, I sincerely appreciate those of you who have taken the time to read this as the end goal is to grow this blog, also a hearty shout-out goes out to Curlingzone who have posted the blog on their website. The content won't go away but anytime I can increase exposure, it can only lead to future benefits.
End one
-Warren Jackson doubles off the two rocks in the back of the eight, and we're headed for a blank.
-I may have spoke to soon as Jacobson attempted a corner freeze on a rock Kleiter slightly rolled out on, but unfortunately for Jason he chipped off and the blank is alive and well.
End two
End three
- Jackson, in bail-out mode, makes a wonderful straight back to now lie shot and by saying that the webcast has froze on me. Splendid technology, right!, I'll get it rebooted and see if I can continue on with this match.
-Rebooted the webcast, caught Kleiter's last rock. Had a gimme draw for two in which no mistake was made. Tie ball game after five.
End seven
-Jason is left with very little to work with. Two wide(very wide) corners not of much consequence and a Kleiter stone in the four foot are all the toys in the pantry.
-Facing third stones, Jason is desperately figuring a way to conjure up a blank.No success on the Kalthoff double attempt.
-Jacobson completes the game saving double. Blank looks inevitable.
End eight
-End starts out as one would expect, corner by Jacobson, two rocks in the house for Kleiter.
-Quinn Hersikorn completes his required duties by hitting both Jacobson stones out. Previously to that, Jacobson had looked to push back the Kleiter stones to create a wall at the back of the house. Textbook play there...
-At this rate, with the amount of tap backs tried by the 2015 provincial finalists, he may be facing eight on his last. The house has been painted yellow!
-Warren Jackson is asked to make a three foot runback to sit five. No problemo
-A very nice freeze by Kalthoff to give himself a chance in a game where, say sans the first three ends has been of no help to Jacobson.
-.It's raining freezes in Kindersley, what a beautiful toss by Jason.
-You do that, I'll do one better says Dean and Jason is forced to draw against three on his last.The draw is made, and Kleiter will hold a 6-4 lead with hammer playing nine.
End nine
-Jayden Schwaga with the kiss of death,ie the tick shot and this will likely silence any steal efforts of Jacobson
-DeConick Smith, in line with most teams who trail replaces the recently peeled off guard to retain two guards up high.
-Mistake by Hersikorn on the peel attempt, stuffed it. I surmise he tried to give it a little too much juice.
-With a Kleiter rock touching the twelve and his own stone sitting in the back of the twelve, Jacobson calls for a come around around the Kleiter top twelve placement, fairly well thrown rock.
-Jackson and Kleiter huddling up with Jacobson sitting two, the runback double from their own guard is called.......and made. Jackson is having a game this afternoon.
-Kleiter lying two, one biting the four, and the other at the back fo the eight. A failed freeze by Jacobson and this contest will conclude. At the surprise of me anyway, he attempts the double, misses and now Kleiter will have a wide open draw for two, just needs paint. Paint is what he got.8-4 Kleiter.
As an aside, I sincerely appreciate those of you who have taken the time to read this as the end goal is to grow this blog, also a hearty shout-out goes out to Curlingzone who have posted the blog on their website. The content won't go away but anytime I can increase exposure, it can only lead to future benefits.
End one
-Great hit and roll behind the corner by Jacobson lead Rory Golanowski,
-Warren Jackson doubles off the two rocks in the back of the eight, and we're headed for a blank.
-I may have spoke to soon as Jacobson attempted a corner freeze on a rock Kleiter slightly rolled out on, but unfortunately for Jason he chipped off and the blank is alive and well.
End two
-Couple corner guards in play and it appears both skips are shading towards a more aggressive mentality.
-Schwaga(Kleiter lead) hits and sticks behind the button, allows a freeze attempt for Jacobson, and the first real missed shot of the game transpires. Advantage Kleiter.
-The miss is reciprocated as Kleiter second Hersikorn's draw attempt slides through the rings.
-Dustin Kalthoff's first rock is a nose hit, leaving Jacobson lying two, one top four, and the second one being back twelve.
-Pistol alert! Warren Jackson hits and rolls and stuffs it behind the centre.
-A double take out, approximately three feet apart is made by Dean and now the Kleiter rink lies two split in the house. Force is in play
-Jacobson showing the form that led him to last year's provincial final by drawing against three by securing his one point and taking the opening lead.
End three
-Kleiter the aggressor, fires up the corner guard and we're off in the third.
-The youth of the Kleiter front end is becoming noticeable as that's the second glaring miss from Hersikorn, this time rolling out on a relatively simple hit and roll.
-The theme of the entire third end has been hit and roll attempts and thusfar none have been made successfully(Kalthoff comes close putting the pressure on Kleiter)
-A hit and roll is finally made! Jacobson with a peach on his first and their rock is completely behind cover edge of eight foot.Decision time for Kleiter.
-Knowing the blank wasn't feasible, Dean attempts to draw around the guard and the rock edge of eight and hangs on for shot rock at the back.
-Draw against two is what the doctor ordered for Kleiter.
-Kleiter elects to hit, but nonetheless the game is now tied up.
End four
-The theme of the entire third end has been hit and roll attempts and thusfar none have been made successfully(Kalthoff comes close putting the pressure on Kleiter)
-A hit and roll is finally made! Jacobson with a peach on his first and their rock is completely behind cover edge of eight foot.Decision time for Kleiter.
-Knowing the blank wasn't feasible, Dean attempts to draw around the guard and the rock edge of eight and hangs on for shot rock at the back.
-Draw against two is what the doctor ordered for Kleiter.
-Kleiter elects to hit, but nonetheless the game is now tied up.
End four
-As the fourth end heats up, Kleiter lies three due to Jacobson attempting a corner and a tick but then DeConinck Smith delivers a beauty, hits and rolls frozen behind the corner guard.
-In an attempt to pick out the frozen rock, they lose everything and the only rock that remains is a Kleiter rock top twelve foot.
-After a couple rock exchanges, the corner guard remains with virtually no action in the house.
-Big mistake by Warren Jackson, noses a rock that was biting in the house leaving Jacobson two guards to work with,
-Interesting end, Jackson's nose hit followed by Kalthoff's rock that slid to the back four has now made for an suspenseful finish.
-Jason attempting a hit and roll to split the house, rolls out and now Kleiter gets a freebie freeze try.
-Keen ice in Kindersley tricking the respective teams in this draw as an overthrow gives Jacobson a chance at two points. To no one's surprise, Jacobson comes through in the clutch and scores his two points.
End five
-A beautiful corner guard and come around is constructed by Shwaga leaving the Kleiter rink in an inviable position.
-Two rocks grouped together at the top of the twelve by Jacobson earlier in the end has been deemed useful as they were able to come around and sit shot rock buried.
-Two rocks grouped together at the top of the twelve by Jacobson earlier in the end has been deemed useful as they were able to come around and sit shot rock buried.
- Jackson, in bail-out mode, makes a wonderful straight back to now lie shot and by saying that the webcast has froze on me. Splendid technology, right!, I'll get it rebooted and see if I can continue on with this match.
-Rebooted the webcast, caught Kleiter's last rock. Had a gimme draw for two in which no mistake was made. Tie ball game after five.
End six
-The sixth end, to enlist a summarization was an end completely controlled by the Kleiter foursome. When Jason went to throw his first, he was facing three and came up a hair short. Kleiter will now look to guard and increase the difficulty of his last.
-The guard is a good one and now Jason is exploring a tap up of his center guard onto his rock in the eight foot to try and score. Maybe 8/10 on a scale of difficulty...
-A lengthy deliberation ensued for the Jacobson group and the bump was the decided upon call. In a shocker, and quite perhaps the TSN turning point in this match, the shot was NOT executed and we have a steal, of three in favour of Kleiter.
End seven
-Left with no other choice, a fuming Jacobson is left to guard, guard, guard....whatever will create offence.
-I would've anticipated a guard/peel/guard/peel game for the next few shots which is exactly what is happening.
-I'll admit, I'm impressed by the mindset of Kleiter going into this match. Even in the seventh end as a Jacobson guard attempt slides deep, conventional wisdom dictates to straight peel up three. Not Dean however. He calls for the hit and roll in front of his own rock top four on behalf of Hersikorn.
-I would've anticipated a guard/peel/guard/peel game for the next few shots which is exactly what is happening.
-I'll admit, I'm impressed by the mindset of Kleiter going into this match. Even in the seventh end as a Jacobson guard attempt slides deep, conventional wisdom dictates to straight peel up three. Not Dean however. He calls for the hit and roll in front of his own rock top four on behalf of Hersikorn.
-Jason is left with very little to work with. Two wide(very wide) corners not of much consequence and a Kleiter stone in the four foot are all the toys in the pantry.
-Facing third stones, Jason is desperately figuring a way to conjure up a blank.No success on the Kalthoff double attempt.
-Jacobson completes the game saving double. Blank looks inevitable.
End eight
-End starts out as one would expect, corner by Jacobson, two rocks in the house for Kleiter.
-Quinn Hersikorn completes his required duties by hitting both Jacobson stones out. Previously to that, Jacobson had looked to push back the Kleiter stones to create a wall at the back of the house. Textbook play there...
-At this rate, with the amount of tap backs tried by the 2015 provincial finalists, he may be facing eight on his last. The house has been painted yellow!
-Warren Jackson is asked to make a three foot runback to sit five. No problemo
-A very nice freeze by Kalthoff to give himself a chance in a game where, say sans the first three ends has been of no help to Jacobson.
-.It's raining freezes in Kindersley, what a beautiful toss by Jason.
-You do that, I'll do one better says Dean and Jason is forced to draw against three on his last.The draw is made, and Kleiter will hold a 6-4 lead with hammer playing nine.
End nine
-Jayden Schwaga with the kiss of death,ie the tick shot and this will likely silence any steal efforts of Jacobson
-DeConick Smith, in line with most teams who trail replaces the recently peeled off guard to retain two guards up high.
-Mistake by Hersikorn on the peel attempt, stuffed it. I surmise he tried to give it a little too much juice.
-With a Kleiter rock touching the twelve and his own stone sitting in the back of the twelve, Jacobson calls for a come around around the Kleiter top twelve placement, fairly well thrown rock.
-Jackson and Kleiter huddling up with Jacobson sitting two, the runback double from their own guard is called.......and made. Jackson is having a game this afternoon.
-Kleiter lying two, one biting the four, and the other at the back fo the eight. A failed freeze by Jacobson and this contest will conclude. At the surprise of me anyway, he attempts the double, misses and now Kleiter will have a wide open draw for two, just needs paint. Paint is what he got.8-4 Kleiter.
That concludes the coverage for the Kleiter-Jacobson tilt. I may or may not, leaning towards likely not providing live updates for the evening draw but will be back up and at er for draws tomorrow.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Tankard thoughts
If you haven't been able to pick up the assertion by now that I'm a curling "super fan" if you will, maybe not quite rivalling the legend that is the great Thomas Arbuckle but any reader will understand that I spend more time than most focusing on the great sport on ice, then it's clear you haven't spent the appropriate time divulging through my entries. Having curled essentially my entire life, I've picked up a few things here and there pertaining to the Saskatchewan curling scene and intend to 'live blog' the games on CurlSask that I'm able to tune into. Before the 2016 edition consummates on Wednesday, I will share my thoughts on each team and how I perceive their chances heading into the event. Will begin in descending order. Enjoy!
16.Darren Camm-Props for qualifying out of the "B" event at the open Northern Championships. The key of to any thoughts of success for the Camm foursome will be the reliance of leadership from team second Mark Steckler.Steckler, along with being part of the 2010 Saskatchewan Travellers curling championship winning team he also can embark upon valuable accolades from being a 2002 Tankard finalist playing alongside John Carlos. The game has transitioned leaps and bounds from 2002 thus Steckler and company will be in tough to win a game at this year's event.
15.Randy Bryden-You're probably asking yourselves, why would a team who has received such a high seed for the event be ranked so low in my rankings? Well, it's quite simple and that reason is it's their lack of competitive playing schedule throughout the tour season. All four individuals are quality curlers and given a better tuned lead-up to the event, their's no way I would ever consider providing such a negative ranking but the lack of scheduling doesn't lie. Ranked too high and opponents will salivate at the chance of playing this rink.
14.Dean Kleiter- Dean no longer has Bruce Korte to bail them out which could and will become problematic. Shwaga, the lead doesn't really have much mens experience to lean upon. Some may scribe that this is a transition period for Kleiter as when his son, hot shot junior Rylan enters the men's ranks, Dean and Rylan will team up and reinvigorate the exuberance needed to compete at a high level.
13.Shawn Joyce-Not me that's come to this conclusion but from the amount of reading I do, its no secret that Shawn Joyce is not the most well liked skip amongst the Saskatchewan competitive scene. Personality issues or not, that's not what amounts to stockpiling the 'W' column. I actually am of the opinion that the team Joyce has compiled behind him is very solid and will provide fits for some teams. The fact of the matter is that third Michael Carss has himself led a team to the Tankard on a couple of occasions and just a premonition, even though conventional wisdom would say a winless record is probable, a win or two wouldn't surprise me.
12.Brent Gedak-Not to pump my own muscles but the lead of Brent Gedak would be the one participant in the event that I've actually beat, granted in junior and granted in a meaningless game but like the old adage goes, "it's only the win that counts". To stray away from recollecting useless tidbits from my past I'm just not convinced that this foursome has enough to make a run. The loss of Catlin Schneider to the Meacheam rink can't be overstated as that's a ginormous blow to a team that was already on the peripheral of being a fringe competitive team.
11.Jason Ackerman-This was a tough one to prognosticate. Jason Ackerman is unquestionably considered one of the best hitters in this province but aside from his prowess in a recent mixed provincial championships, what has he done at the men's level to be given higher praise? Lead Mike Armstrong has been to a Brier, 2012 to be exact but the others on this squad have never ran deep in an event of this magnitude. One of those teams due to the pristine hitting abilities that qualifying for the playoffs wouldn't surprise me but neither would accumulating a 1-3 record.
10. William Coutts-Coutts as the sixteen seed and faced with the ineviable task of battling Steve Laycock in the opener is pure and utter hogwash. Do the voters, that being the fellow curlers forget that it was the Coutts brothers who not only together triumphed to a Saskatchewan Junior title but also had reaps of success playing with Al Schick? The automatic loss in the opener won't be assisting their cause any but in order to contend with the so called top teams, a strategical tactic Coutts has employed essentially his entire skipping career of playing very conservatively must be scrapped. Thenmore you muck it up, the better chance the underdog has.
9.Brad Heidt-Team Grumpy(oops did I say that out loud?) is the prime definition of a middle of the pack team. Truthfully, having never met the man I have no idea whether the adjective of grumpy aptly fits Brad but it's the perception he gives off on some of the webcasts has me thinking this way. A family rink, as sons Mitch and Drew are on board will have the casual observer rooting for the Kerrobert bunch but as I discussed earlier, this isn't a bad team nor an overly great team. They'll win two to three games, a penchant that has been attached to Brad the last few tankards.
8.Ryan Deis-If you tuned into the Canadian Juniors on TSN this past weekend, you'll have noticed Manitoba employing Kyle Doering at second. This is noteworthy because as a skip he led his group to a bronze medal finish at the 2012 Canadian Juniors. The knock on your pride agreeing to demote to second stones after having so much success as a skipper is unmeasurable. Not quite to the same degree but third Scott Manners after skipping the 2012 Saskatchewan entry at the Brier which included Deis and the aforementioned Armstrong has now dropped to third. It's hard to say why the change was made as you can't top what they accomplished but credit to Scott for putting the needs of the team ahead of his own.
7.Bruce Korte-I'm not necessarily sold on the chances of this rink, but results speak for themselves that and Bruce is backed by a much better team than he's had in recent years. Out is Dean Kleiter and brother Roger, in is Matt Lang and the Marsh brothers. A comfortable opponent in the first draw should increase the confidence level of these four going forward but color me surprised if by the end of Saturday this rink has a game to look forward to.
6.Scott Bitz-A small change was put in motion this off-season, replacing long time lead Dean Hicke with Derek Ryan. They torched through the Open Southern qualifier held in Speedy Creek(Swift Current) and are riding red hot coming into Klipper land. Loud......obnoxious....whatever adjective you want to use when describing third Jeff Sharp is your own prerogative but it can't be denied he is a sharp shooter(forgive the pun) and is the backbone in determining the chances of the Scot Bitz which I happen to think are quite good.
5.Jeff Hartung-Similarily to Brad Heidt, this foursome prides itself in keeping it close to home. Son Kody, who fires last bricks and other son Tyler along with Jeff make this 3/4 full of Hartungs. To be honest, my expectations were extremely low prior to what I saw at the 2014 tankard. During the event I was proved wrong in a massive way as Kody showed poise and perserverance well beyond his years. They even had the all mighty Steve Laycock at the ropes before faltering late in the game. We can chalk it up to a learning experience and lessons like this build character and better the chances of a deep run here in Kindersley. This rink will surprise, count on it.
4.Josh Heidt-Matt Ryback,a remnant of the former Kevin Marsh rink was brought in to play second for the youngest Heidt(too good for Dad?) and drastically improves the sweeping facet as Ryback is notoriously good sweeper, combining that with the excellent shot making escapades of Josh,not many will have them as high as I do but I'm firmly entrenched in the belief that we could be looking at Steve Laycock's finalist. That is if Josh Heidt doesn't go all Matt Dunstone on us and consistently look for the hero shot, a reputation he has built up.
3.Jason Jacobson-It's the story of Jason Jacobson that really, for me anyway puts the game of curling in perspective. The man fought and defeated cancer and is back out on the pebble competing at an even higher level. The 2015 Tankard finalist added Carl DeConick Smith, someone from my perspesctive was probably a top three curler in Saskatchewan when he had his own team but never had a team around him. No longer can that excuse be used because with the back-end of Jacobson and Kalthoff having a great season on tour, anything but a semi-final appearance could be construed as a failure.
2.Shaun Meachem-As a wise man who's far more connected to the curling circles then I am once told me, "The Meachem rink is far and away the second best team in this province" and well....I tend to agree. The recipe for success is a tasty one as in each position they have elite shot makers. Aaron Shutra who was the long time lead for Marsh I would classify as top three in this event, same goes for second stones when assessing the plight of two time Saskatchewan junior champion Brady Scharback and then a back-end who maybe lacks the notoriety of the front end but like most back ends, will be quintessential in the prospects of their chances. Can Catlin Schneider and Shaun Meachem hang with the big boys? Absolutely, but what happens when they need to stand side by side with Giants,ie Laycock....scary proposition.
1.Steve Laycock-To put it mildly, I give the Philadelphia 76'ers of the NBA a better chance of righting the ship and coming back to win the championship then I do of Steve Laycock not winning the tankard. Might as well have already booked the flights to Ottawa as they more than hold their own on the World Curling tour and nobody else in this province comes to close to the calibre they're privy to on a monthly basis. Lock it in, Laycock wins.
16.Darren Camm-Props for qualifying out of the "B" event at the open Northern Championships. The key of to any thoughts of success for the Camm foursome will be the reliance of leadership from team second Mark Steckler.Steckler, along with being part of the 2010 Saskatchewan Travellers curling championship winning team he also can embark upon valuable accolades from being a 2002 Tankard finalist playing alongside John Carlos. The game has transitioned leaps and bounds from 2002 thus Steckler and company will be in tough to win a game at this year's event.
15.Randy Bryden-You're probably asking yourselves, why would a team who has received such a high seed for the event be ranked so low in my rankings? Well, it's quite simple and that reason is it's their lack of competitive playing schedule throughout the tour season. All four individuals are quality curlers and given a better tuned lead-up to the event, their's no way I would ever consider providing such a negative ranking but the lack of scheduling doesn't lie. Ranked too high and opponents will salivate at the chance of playing this rink.
14.Dean Kleiter- Dean no longer has Bruce Korte to bail them out which could and will become problematic. Shwaga, the lead doesn't really have much mens experience to lean upon. Some may scribe that this is a transition period for Kleiter as when his son, hot shot junior Rylan enters the men's ranks, Dean and Rylan will team up and reinvigorate the exuberance needed to compete at a high level.
13.Shawn Joyce-Not me that's come to this conclusion but from the amount of reading I do, its no secret that Shawn Joyce is not the most well liked skip amongst the Saskatchewan competitive scene. Personality issues or not, that's not what amounts to stockpiling the 'W' column. I actually am of the opinion that the team Joyce has compiled behind him is very solid and will provide fits for some teams. The fact of the matter is that third Michael Carss has himself led a team to the Tankard on a couple of occasions and just a premonition, even though conventional wisdom would say a winless record is probable, a win or two wouldn't surprise me.
12.Brent Gedak-Not to pump my own muscles but the lead of Brent Gedak would be the one participant in the event that I've actually beat, granted in junior and granted in a meaningless game but like the old adage goes, "it's only the win that counts". To stray away from recollecting useless tidbits from my past I'm just not convinced that this foursome has enough to make a run. The loss of Catlin Schneider to the Meacheam rink can't be overstated as that's a ginormous blow to a team that was already on the peripheral of being a fringe competitive team.
11.Jason Ackerman-This was a tough one to prognosticate. Jason Ackerman is unquestionably considered one of the best hitters in this province but aside from his prowess in a recent mixed provincial championships, what has he done at the men's level to be given higher praise? Lead Mike Armstrong has been to a Brier, 2012 to be exact but the others on this squad have never ran deep in an event of this magnitude. One of those teams due to the pristine hitting abilities that qualifying for the playoffs wouldn't surprise me but neither would accumulating a 1-3 record.
10. William Coutts-Coutts as the sixteen seed and faced with the ineviable task of battling Steve Laycock in the opener is pure and utter hogwash. Do the voters, that being the fellow curlers forget that it was the Coutts brothers who not only together triumphed to a Saskatchewan Junior title but also had reaps of success playing with Al Schick? The automatic loss in the opener won't be assisting their cause any but in order to contend with the so called top teams, a strategical tactic Coutts has employed essentially his entire skipping career of playing very conservatively must be scrapped. Thenmore you muck it up, the better chance the underdog has.
9.Brad Heidt-Team Grumpy(oops did I say that out loud?) is the prime definition of a middle of the pack team. Truthfully, having never met the man I have no idea whether the adjective of grumpy aptly fits Brad but it's the perception he gives off on some of the webcasts has me thinking this way. A family rink, as sons Mitch and Drew are on board will have the casual observer rooting for the Kerrobert bunch but as I discussed earlier, this isn't a bad team nor an overly great team. They'll win two to three games, a penchant that has been attached to Brad the last few tankards.
8.Ryan Deis-If you tuned into the Canadian Juniors on TSN this past weekend, you'll have noticed Manitoba employing Kyle Doering at second. This is noteworthy because as a skip he led his group to a bronze medal finish at the 2012 Canadian Juniors. The knock on your pride agreeing to demote to second stones after having so much success as a skipper is unmeasurable. Not quite to the same degree but third Scott Manners after skipping the 2012 Saskatchewan entry at the Brier which included Deis and the aforementioned Armstrong has now dropped to third. It's hard to say why the change was made as you can't top what they accomplished but credit to Scott for putting the needs of the team ahead of his own.
7.Bruce Korte-I'm not necessarily sold on the chances of this rink, but results speak for themselves that and Bruce is backed by a much better team than he's had in recent years. Out is Dean Kleiter and brother Roger, in is Matt Lang and the Marsh brothers. A comfortable opponent in the first draw should increase the confidence level of these four going forward but color me surprised if by the end of Saturday this rink has a game to look forward to.
6.Scott Bitz-A small change was put in motion this off-season, replacing long time lead Dean Hicke with Derek Ryan. They torched through the Open Southern qualifier held in Speedy Creek(Swift Current) and are riding red hot coming into Klipper land. Loud......obnoxious....whatever adjective you want to use when describing third Jeff Sharp is your own prerogative but it can't be denied he is a sharp shooter(forgive the pun) and is the backbone in determining the chances of the Scot Bitz which I happen to think are quite good.
5.Jeff Hartung-Similarily to Brad Heidt, this foursome prides itself in keeping it close to home. Son Kody, who fires last bricks and other son Tyler along with Jeff make this 3/4 full of Hartungs. To be honest, my expectations were extremely low prior to what I saw at the 2014 tankard. During the event I was proved wrong in a massive way as Kody showed poise and perserverance well beyond his years. They even had the all mighty Steve Laycock at the ropes before faltering late in the game. We can chalk it up to a learning experience and lessons like this build character and better the chances of a deep run here in Kindersley. This rink will surprise, count on it.
4.Josh Heidt-Matt Ryback,a remnant of the former Kevin Marsh rink was brought in to play second for the youngest Heidt(too good for Dad?) and drastically improves the sweeping facet as Ryback is notoriously good sweeper, combining that with the excellent shot making escapades of Josh,not many will have them as high as I do but I'm firmly entrenched in the belief that we could be looking at Steve Laycock's finalist. That is if Josh Heidt doesn't go all Matt Dunstone on us and consistently look for the hero shot, a reputation he has built up.
3.Jason Jacobson-It's the story of Jason Jacobson that really, for me anyway puts the game of curling in perspective. The man fought and defeated cancer and is back out on the pebble competing at an even higher level. The 2015 Tankard finalist added Carl DeConick Smith, someone from my perspesctive was probably a top three curler in Saskatchewan when he had his own team but never had a team around him. No longer can that excuse be used because with the back-end of Jacobson and Kalthoff having a great season on tour, anything but a semi-final appearance could be construed as a failure.
2.Shaun Meachem-As a wise man who's far more connected to the curling circles then I am once told me, "The Meachem rink is far and away the second best team in this province" and well....I tend to agree. The recipe for success is a tasty one as in each position they have elite shot makers. Aaron Shutra who was the long time lead for Marsh I would classify as top three in this event, same goes for second stones when assessing the plight of two time Saskatchewan junior champion Brady Scharback and then a back-end who maybe lacks the notoriety of the front end but like most back ends, will be quintessential in the prospects of their chances. Can Catlin Schneider and Shaun Meachem hang with the big boys? Absolutely, but what happens when they need to stand side by side with Giants,ie Laycock....scary proposition.
1.Steve Laycock-To put it mildly, I give the Philadelphia 76'ers of the NBA a better chance of righting the ship and coming back to win the championship then I do of Steve Laycock not winning the tankard. Might as well have already booked the flights to Ottawa as they more than hold their own on the World Curling tour and nobody else in this province comes to close to the calibre they're privy to on a monthly basis. Lock it in, Laycock wins.
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