Team Hemmings Blogs
Practice is Over, The Real Thing Starts Tomorrow
Sunday, February 08, 2009 at 11:58 PM
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All 20 teams had a chance to practice today at the Salaberry Arena in Valleyfield as the Quebec Men’s Provincial Curling Championship is set to start on Monday.
Team Hemmings was without skip Guy Hemmings for their scheduled practice time of 2PM as Guy returned from the Canadian Junior Championship having fulfilled commitments at the event which took place in Salmon Arm BC this past week. Guy is the Chairman of the 2010 Canadian Junior Championship which is to take place in his hometown of Sorel QC.
The arena is an intimate one which can hold 1200 spectators so the building will feel more full than usual. Ice conditions were great with upwards of four feet of curl and good speed.
The stage is set for a good provincial event with the Host Committee having done what seems to be a great job in planning and coordinating the pre-tournament logistics and with the ice crew, headed by Jean Francois Morand, having provided quality ice conditions to start the event.
So, may the best team win.
Debate Begins Over 2010 Quebec Men’s Provincial Format
Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:32 AM
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Will the 2010 Quebec Men’s Provincial Have a Different Look?
Take a good look at the 2009 Quebec Men’s Provincial because many believe that next year’s edition will look much different.
With the 2009 Women’s Provincial having already been reduced to 10 teams from the previous 16, many believe that the Men’s could look the same reducing its field in half from 20 teams to 10. For some, the changes couldn’t have come too soon while others are of the belief that this will only further alienate competitive curlers from continuing their pursuit of the province’s biggest prize.
There is certain to be substantial debate over changes to a sport that has always resisted the temptation to modify its playdown and provincial championship format. Although no formats have been formally announced, many believe that it is inevitable that Curling Quebec will soon announce changes that will not only alter the Provincial Championship format but even more importantly the playdown process that produces the teams that participate in the Provincial Championship.
The days of 12 regions having their own direct entry into the Provincial may soon be a thing of the past. But if this is the case, certainly logic and common sense should prevail rewarding the Provincial with teams that are not only worthy but who are there for all of the right reasons.
So take it all in now. Teams that have qualified in this edition of the Quebec Men’s Provincial Championship may have to revisit their road to next year’s event.
Let the debate begin.
Here is an interesting article posted by Bob Weeks on January 16, 2009 discussing the same topic and how it applies to the future of the Ontario playdowns:
The No. 1 Consideration for Change to Ontario’s Playdown System
Hot Skips Too Much For Team Hemmings in Brockville
Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 8:09 PM
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In the first bonspiel where all four of our team members were on the ice together, the team faced a number of hot skips in Brockville. In our first game, John Epping (Team Middaugh) skipped Wayne Tuck’s team and posted some great numbers in leading his team to victory. Ice conditions made the first day’s games interesting to say the least with a number of upsets on both the men’s and women’s side of the draw.
The team played a better game in our second match against Ian Robertson where we needed an extra end to finally get past another team whose skip played well until making a questionable call in the sixth end when trying a difficult double to blank the end instead of drawing for a single point. The decision proved to be the turning point in the game.
Shawn Adams of Nova Scotia was in mid-season form in our third game of the round-robin. He made everything he called and more. An attempted hit and roll high side turned out to be a low side double that turned a potential multi-point end for Team Hemmings into an Adams steal. However, the Nova Scotians were the better team on this night and were worthy of the victory.
Needing a win in our fourth game, we faced Mike Harris (0-3) whose team played like many teams play when there is no hope of making the playoffs. Team Hemmings quickly got out to a large lead before giving back a sloppy 3-ender to let Harris back in the game. Leading by 2 with 2 ends remaining, we eventually ran the Harris rink out of stones and kept our playoff hopes alive, although barely.
Perhaps the hottest skip we played in Brockville was Willie Jeffries. In our fifth and final round-robin game, Jeffries was nothing less than great. On many occasions, we had steals or multiple point ends grasped away from us by some brilliant shot-making by the Ottawa skip. Despite his heroics, we were able to tie the game in the seventh with a deuce. However, Jeffries would make a last shot takeout to give his team the victory. Regardless of the outcome of our game, our fate had already been determined when both Wayne Tuck and Shawn Adams won their final round-robin games to clinch the 2 playoff spots in our pool.
Congratulations to Team Larouche (Champion) and Team Belisle (Finalist) on the women’s side and to Ted Butler (Semi-finalist) on the men’s side.
Changes to the Women’s Provincials
Tuesday, September 09, 2008 at 12:01 PM
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Finally the walls have come down and Curling Quebec has been allowed to move forward on modifying the women’s provincial and playdown process. According to the Curling Quebec website, the provincial will be comprised of 10 teams with no regional representation requirements.
For years teams had to qualify in men’s and women’s play through regional playdowns that were under the supervision of the regional associations. Regions qualified teams out of their areas through a playdown process that the regional association chose and that they controlled. The playdown format used may have been a double knockout, a triple knockout, round robin or any other that they deemed appropriate. In recent years, we have seen many curlers raise issues regarding their regional playdowns and their frustration over what they considered a process that was less than fair. Curling Quebec’s hands were tied in many instances since the regional playdown was not directly under their jurisdiction yet it was Curling Quebec that was left to field the complaints from disgruntled curlers.
By moving away from regional playdowns and toward a provincial qualification system that incorporates a point system and 2 Super Regional Qualifiers, Curling Quebec can now truly administer the qualification process that, although may still not be perfect, ensures that the same rules apply across the province.
