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Update for 2019!Chicken posted:National/International Powershift posted:There's also: Given the interest after the Olympics last year, I thought it would be nice to have a little fireside chat thread about curling again.  This can be a game-day thread for your various tournaments, or a place to talk about the mixed night beginner's league you joined with your grandma at the rink down the road. Anything and everything curling related is more than welcome here. The Pinty's grand slam of curling is one of the major league event series up here in Canada. Princess Auto Elite 10 Sept. 26-30, 2018 St. Clair Campus Arena Chatham, Ont. Masters Oct. 23-28, 2018 Rath Eastlink Arena Truro, N.S. Tour Challenge Nov. 6-11, 2018 Tournament CentreThunder Bay, Ont. Boost National Dec. 11-16, 2018 Conception Bay South Arena Conception Bay South, N.L. Meridian Canadian Open Jan. 8-13, 2019 Civic Centre North Battleford, Sask. Players’ Championship April 9-14, 2019 Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic CentreToronto, Ont. Humpty’s Champions Cup April 23-28, 2019 Merlis Belsher Place Saskatoon, Sask. The main men's event (whenever there isn't an Olympics going on somewhere ((and sometimes even when there is))) is the vaunted ~*Brier*~ https://www.curling.ca/2019brier/ March 2-10, 2019  The main even for Ladies is the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. https://www.curling.ca/2019scotties/ February 16-24, 2019  So let's talk about Chess on Ice! I'm playing in two leagues this year, last year was my first time and I caught the fever bad, I've never been into team sports as a participant, but the pacing, the strategy and the tradition just clicked for me. 
Slung Blade fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Oct 22, 2019 |
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Sep 20, 2018 05:07
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| # ? Dec 4, 2023 23:16 |
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Played our first game tonight. Skip was out of town, so as the 'most experienced curler' with one whole year of playing lead (lol) I did it for our team. Got our asses handed to us 13-2, but it was a fun time, and we put up points in the first two ends. I made a couple decent shots, and so did my team, we sent a lot sailing through the house after missing our targets by a few centimeters. With a couple more weeks of target practice we might be ok. Weight judgements were surprisingly decent, aim was a little off but not badly, I need to learn to read the ice better so I can adjust how much ice to give the guys. Anyone else playing in a league this year?
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Sep 25, 2018 05:49
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My club is finally having a Saturday league after years of playing on Sundays and mostly tolerating it. (And then only 6 teams signed up, so it's probably going to be a lovely league, but whatever, I'm one of the coordinators, so I'll figure out something to make it cool.) And in the club's top league, my team finished 3rd last year, so we were exempt from peer seeding and whatnot and should be able to make a run at the championship this year. (Technically, I guess we made a run at it last year, what with finishing in the playoffs for it.) Ice is in, but I haven't been to the club yet. First league match for me is on October 10th, so I have some time. I did get some new shoes (moving up to 1/4" slider!), though, and new hardline covers for my broom. (I keep scratching them up, somehow.) Kind of excited for a new season, but not as much so as in past years. I think I've just been too busy this offseason to be desperate about it or something.
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Sep 26, 2018 19:21
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Any strategy on the 5 rock free guard rule? Our club just adopted it, I'm skipping 3 different teams, leagues start next week, and I haven't thought about it at all since theannouncement that we were adopting it.
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Sep 29, 2018 20:29
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Second night of men's league last night, lost 9-3, but we were in it for 4 ends this time instead of just 2. Nice steady improvement, team is coming together. Plus that's not too bad for a bunch of rookies and one older fellow who hasn't played in 20 years. First night of the Friday late night mixed league was fun, my team barely won that one by a single rock. Five rock rule I think will have strategies developed over the year. I don't have much advice beyond "Build a Wall" and see if you can score behind it. You can get some serious blockage going there.
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Oct 2, 2018 20:27
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Slipped on some debris on the ice a couple weeks back, landed on my elbow and hosed up my shoulder. Rehabbing that has been a bitch but I'm starting to feel normal again. Curling season going pretty well, feeling good about my teams' progression, men's team hasn't had much luck, but we're getting there.
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Oct 22, 2018 22:52
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My team started out the season playing like rear end, but we had one really good game last week. We still got relegated in our league, but we'll be back in the top division if we play like we have recently. I'm definitely starting to get some touch on my delivery with the new slider/more reps/just paying better attention to what I'm doing. (Which is good, because my club is better at icemaking, so I'm pretty consistently too heavy now.) And who's excited about a National 5-and-Under?! (I would be very excited, but I'm a 9th year. I was on the team that won the B at the Dykes in 2014, so if this had been implemented earlier, I guess we'd have been allowed to apply.)
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Dec 3, 2018 20:18
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The Canada Cup starts on Wednesday. Probably the biggest event so far this season. It will be interesting to see all the reformed teams playing at this level, especially Einarson and Carruthers teams. It's on TSN in Canada. Not sure if its available in the US. https://www.tsn.ca/curling-season-heats-up-with-canada-cup-from-estevan-1.1218554 I think I'll be cheering for Epping. I like him and Matt Camm. Getting Laing and Savill was good for them. And I've lived in Ontario for 5 years now. But I'll still be cheering for all the Manitoba teams, especially Darcy Robertson. Also how about Ryan Fry eh?
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Dec 3, 2018 22:36
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Oh poo poo how did I miss this thread?! I'm curling in two leagues this year. Men's league is a new team so after a bit of a slow start it looks like we'll be moving up to the top tier in a few weeks. Mixed is more of a fun league but there's another team that's got a member of the Senior National Australian Men's team (they're all Canadians with dual citizenship!) so there's a lot of variance in skill levels. The five rock rule doesn't change anything if you're down and don't have hammer. It really comes into play when you're down with hammer. You get to throw three rocks before your opponent can take out any guards so you've got options depending on how far down you are, how swingy your ice is, and the skill of your team. One option if you need a few points is to throw two high corner guards and a tight corner guard that you can raise in later. Depending on what your opponent does you can then either start hitting and rolling behind the guards or draw behind them. Another less risky option is to throw the high corner guard and then draw behind the guard. If your opponent freezes onto your draw you can throw back 8 weight and jiggle them around, if your opponent misses the freeze you can throw a tight guard. If your team is up it changes the strategy too. You might have thrown the lead's rocks through the house before but now you have to be a little more careful. I've seen some of the top teams throw one top button and then another top 12 which means the opponent will have to make a double and a nice roll at some point. From a more strategic point of view, it means that you have a decent chance to take 3 if you have hammer. Some of the top teams in the Grand Slam would rather be down 3 with hammer than down 1 without. Canada Cup is pretty good so far. I don't quite get the time rules yet. Do you get 1 full time out, 1 short time out, and the time is per end? I saw that Bottcher went over the time limit and couldn't throw his last rock which I've never seen before. Bottcher is really great although John Epping would be a close second. Team Homan looks a bit off this year, not as bad as at the Olympics but there's something missing there. Einarsson's got to be a little disappointed with the year so far but it is a lot of role changes for the players and I wouldn't write them off yet. Jennifer Jones is some sort of timeless curling god. And Ryan Fry getting drunk as poo poo and kicked out of a bonspiel confirms every suspicion I've had about that team and I hate them all.  Also this was in the last thread but it's really good and you should watch it!
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Dec 8, 2018 02:07
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Ryan Fry getting too drunk at a bonspeil is actually super Canadian. Jacobs still bad though. And Einarson has had a great start to the season. They've won four tour events and have a great record. Carruthers team on the other hand has not had a good start, and they seem to struggle with who is calling the game.
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Dec 9, 2018 17:09
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I guess I was basing my assessment of Einarson on the televised events and you're right that they are doing really well at some of the smaller events. Shouldn't be long until they start doing well at the big events. That semi-final loss to Fleury at the last Grand Slam event must have stung a bit though since Fleury is basically all of Einarson's old team! What are the bonspiel prizes like where you're at? Growing up in Saskatchewan the prizes were really awesome. We won a fishing trip for winning like the H or I event at a big bonspiel way back in the day, won a bunch of gift certificates at Folk's Curling, and I still have a pile of casserole dishes and other miscellaneous house stuff from finishing third in the B event at bonspiels in towns that had one sheet of ice and the bonspiel took a whole week. Now in BC they're pretty much all cash prizes and you have to be top 5 or 6 to make back your entrance fee. I guess I won a growler with some refills in our leagues playoffs last year which is cool.
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Dec 9, 2018 20:48
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I am in St Paul. I have never curled. I should fix that.
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Dec 11, 2018 21:57
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I'm skipping for the first time this week, I think. Plan is to call a very, very simple game. Mostly get poo poo in the house and hope for the best.
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Dec 12, 2018 22:29
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My men's team finally won a game the other week. We've been getting way better, losing by one or two instead of getting blown out. Happy with the progress! There's a Grand slam event on this week, caught a little of einarson's game, seems like they're doing ok even if they're not winning all the time.
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Dec 13, 2018 23:55
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Went to a bonspiel this weekend and got destroyed by a team skipped by an 82 year old. He then proceeded to outdrink us afterwards.
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Jan 14, 2019 23:44
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Chicken posted:Went to a bonspiel this weekend and got destroyed by a team skipped by an 82 year old. He then proceeded to outdrink us afterwards. Sounds about right, plenty of those old timers are hardcore. My men's night rink is getting better, my shoulder is loving destroyed from a fall I took on the ice so I'm playing at maybe 50% sweeping capacity, which sucks, but hopefully I can get it fixed and rehab it for next year.
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Jan 17, 2019 23:37
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Anyone else watching the all Star skins games in Banff? This Koe/carruthers game is intense. Ben Hebert is my spirit animal.
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Feb 2, 2019 22:13
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I PVRed the Bottcher / Koe game and watched it instead of the Super Bowl. I don't regret it. Skins is just so different from regular curling and definitely worth watching. All the teams are going full offence all the time and it leads to some crazy shots. Even though Carruthers didn't win a single skin in the game you mentioned it still felt like a fun game. I think Darren Moulding might be my spirit animal. Going up into the stands and grabbing a bag of chips to watch Koe throw his last shot was amazing. Team Einarsson is cool and all but she seems to have some rough times playing her old team. Losing both the Manitoba Scotties and the skins game to Fleury must be a little embarrassing.
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Feb 4, 2019 18:12
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Man this Ellerslie curling club is run by a bunch of whiny bitches. Still though, nice to watch the alberta playdowns when it's -30C outside and just enjoy it.
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Feb 11, 2019 00:19
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Tournament of Hearts starts tomorrow! Hell yeah! Well the wildcard game at least... Teams this year: Pool 1 Ontario - Rachel Homan Manitoba - Tracy Fleury Alberta - Chelsea Carey BC - Sarah Wark Northern Ontario - Krista McCarville Nova Scotia - Jill Brothers Quebec - Gabrielle Lavoie Nunavut - Jenine Bodner Pool 2 Canada - Jennifer Jones Wild Card - Einarson or Scheidegger Saskatchewan - Robyn Silvernagle Prince Edward Island - Suzanne Birt Northwest Territories - Kerry Galusha New Brunswick - Andrea Crawford Yukon - Nicole Baldwin Newfoundland & Labrador - Kelli Sharpe Pool A looks quite a bit more difficult to my eye. Homan, Fleury, and Carey could all conceivably make the final and McCarville and Wark won't be pushovers. Pool B just has Jones and the wild card as credible finalists although I think Silvernagle could be a dark horse contender. She's got Stefanie Lawton as third and could do some real damage. Full disclosure: I curled against her in a junior league way back in the day and she routinely kicked the poo poo out of us so I may be projecting... Either way, I've got a bonspiel this weekend so I'm going to curl, drink, watch curling, and drink some more! Going to be some good times.
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Feb 15, 2019 01:51
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Is there any decent way to watch online?
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Feb 16, 2019 19:27
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it's the motherfuckin scotties sonleftist heap posted:Is there any decent way to watch online? TSN is free if you have a cable sub https://www.tsn.ca/live
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Feb 16, 2019 21:08
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Congratulations to Nunavut on their first ever Scotties' win!
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Feb 17, 2019 08:30
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Jones getting crushed by PEI and it's great.
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Feb 18, 2019 14:45
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Powershift posted:Jones getting crushed by PEI and it's great. New Brunswick is doing well against Jones as well, I hope this continues. Jones is a great curler but I want to see someone else win for once.
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Feb 19, 2019 00:25
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Jones gets really mean when she's down, and cleans house to defend way too early when she's up. If she's up by 3 at the half, the game is over. Crawford is nailing every single shot in this game.
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Feb 19, 2019 01:37
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Yeah they just put the stats up, Jones is only curling 50%, JFC.
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Feb 19, 2019 02:01
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The whole team is curling pretty badly. Jones could easily be 0-4. Northwest Territories are playing messy as hell games. It's awesome to get the update and see like 13 guards. They're also winning a pile of games and will almost definitely get into the championship pool and have a good chance of making the playoffs. Cool to see.
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Feb 19, 2019 18:19
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I'm not so sure about NWT. They have a tough match today with the wild card, and then in the cross-over they have to play Alberta, Ontario and at least one other strong experienced team (Fleury or McCarville, maybe both). The B pool is weak this year, and made even weaker by Jones playing so poorly. Two not great teams are going to make the crossover pool, and then probably get destroyed 3 or 4 games in a row.
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Feb 19, 2019 18:30
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Keep in mind that your record in the first round robin gets carried over to the second. If NWT stays at one loss in the weak pool they could be a game up on everybody else in the next pool. I don't expect Galusha to be hoisting the trophy or anything but it's cool to see them do well and I hope they get some televised games because they would be fun to watch. Also those dumb commercials with Vic and the guy who doesn't know anything about curling make me laugh every time.
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Feb 19, 2019 19:11
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The NB PEI game ahs been wild. NB keeps giving up huge scores but gets them right back.
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Feb 19, 2019 21:35
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Down goes Jones We could be getting an Alberta vs Alberta final.
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Feb 22, 2019 21:21
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So ESPN forgot to stream the current draw of the Scotties, huh.
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Feb 23, 2019 01:51
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Would have liked to see Saskatchewan in the final but it should be a good one either way. Apparently at your first Scotties you get a necklace and then at your second one you get a diamond to put in it. I don't know if that keeps going, but Kerry Galusha might have the glitziest piece of jewelry in NWT.
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Feb 24, 2019 19:22
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This is a very boring game that Rachel Homan is going to win.
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Feb 24, 2019 23:32
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Going to extra ends! Way more exciting game now.
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Feb 25, 2019 00:55
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holy poo poo, she loving blew it!Chicken posted:This is a very boring game that Rachel Homan is going to win. lol
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Feb 25, 2019 01:09
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Chicken posted:Going to extra ends! Way more exciting game now. Yeah holy poo poo this is tense 
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Feb 25, 2019 01:10
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I really thought Homan would play the double instead of the draw. Especially when she had just missed a similar draw the end before. Kudos to Carey for not giving up. Played a close to perfect game from the fifth end on.
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Feb 25, 2019 01:35
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| # ? Dec 4, 2023 23:16 |
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Brier time! Pool A: Alberta - Kevin Koe Canada - Brad Gushue Ontario - Scott McDonald Nova Scotia - Stuart Thompson BC - Jim Cotter New Brunswick - Terry Odishaw NWT - Jamie Koe Nunavut - Dave St. Louis Pool B Northern Ontario - Brad Jacobs  WILD CARD - winner of Bottcher/EppingManitoba - Mike McEwen Saskatchewan - Kirk Muyres Quebec - Martin Crête NL - Andrew Symonds PEI - John Likely Yukon - Jon Solberg Hopefully they manage to keep Ryan Fry and Jamie Koe away from the Brier Patch. Bottcher and Epping are both good and fun to watch so it's a bit of a shame they won't both be in it. I'll be cheering for whoever wins that game. Wouldn't mind if Gushue wins again because he's just such a happy looking guy. I hope Kevin Koe loses even though Ben Hebert is a national treasure.
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Mar 1, 2019 02:40
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