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Weekend sports wrap: Robertson loses to Nova Scotia in Canadian senior men's curling final

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Published on Saturday, March 29, 2014

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The following is a recap of what transpired in local sports over the weekend . . .

Robertson loses to Nova Scotia in Canadian senior men's curling final; Fowler wins championship

Neepawa's Kelly Robertson and his Team Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ rink dropped a heartbreaker to Nova Scotia's Alan O'Leary 9-8 in the championship final on Saturday afternoon at the Canadian senior men's curling championship in Yellowknife.

The men’s final saw both teams trading deuces in the first two ends, before O’Leary was able to pick up one in the third, then steal a single in the fourth to lead 4-2.

Robertson, the 2011 Canadian seniors champion and 2012 World seniors silver medallist, responded with a deuce in the fifth end to tie the game at four apiece before O’Leary once again took the lead, scoring two in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead.

Robertson once again battled back, scoring a huge three in the seventh for a 7-6 advantage and his first lead of the contest.

After O'Leary was forced to take a single point in the eighth, Robertson was put in the exact same situation in the ninth as the Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ rink took a 8-7 lead coming home.

However it wasn't meant to be for Robertson, as Nova Scotia picked up two in the 10th end to win the championship title.

Robertson advanced to the final after winning the semifinal on Friday over Northern Ontario’s Robbie Gordon 10-8.

Meanwhile, on the women's side, Brandon's Lois Fowler and her Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ foursome won the championship title, defeating Saskatchewan's Lorraine Arguin 5-1 in the final.

Fowler scored three in the eighth end en route to the victory.

It's Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ's first title at the Canadian senior women's championship since Brandon's Mabel Mitchell won the championship in 1983.

Fowler and O’Leary will represent Canada at next year’s World seniors at a site and date still that has yet to be announced by the World Curling Federation.

It was the first time that the City of Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories had hosted a Canadian curling championship.

Robertson named all-star skip

Awards were given out on Saturday at the Canadian Senior Curling Championships in Yellowknife after the championship finals and Robertson wound up getting honoured.

The Neepawa resident was named the second team all-star men's skip.

Robertson wound up curling 80 per cent at the event.


Wheat Kings move on to next round

The Brandon Wheat Kings are off to the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

The Wheat Kings picked up a convincing 5-1 victory Friday night over the visiting Regina Pats in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final at Westman Communications Group Place, sweeping the best-of-seven series.

Jayce Hawryluk, who was released from the hospital earlier in the day, scored once and set up another for the Wheat Kings, who will now meet the defending Eastern Conference champion Edmonton Oil Kings in the next round. The Oil Kings swept the Prince Albert Raiders in their opening round playoff series.

Jesse Gabrielle, Richard Nejezchleb, Ryley Lindgren and John Quenneville scored the other tallies for Brandon in the win.

Friday's win comes two nights after Hawryluk scored three times, including the game winner as the Wheat Kings edged the Pats 5-4 in Game 3. Following the game, the 18-year-old Roblin product was hospitalized when he became lightheaded in the dressing room. After receiving a clean bill of health from doctors, he was released on Friday and was back in the lineup for the series clincher.

Hawryluk leads the club in playoff scoring with five goals and 10 points in four games.

Game 1 and 2 of the series between the Wheat Kings and Oil Kings is scheduled for Thursday night and Saturday afternoon in Edmonton. Games 3 and 4 take place Tuesday, April 8 and Wednesday, April 9.

The rest of the schedule (if necessary) is as follows:
- Friday, April 11 at Edmonton
- Monday, April 14 at Brandon
- Wednesday, April 16 at Edmonton

Lisoway watch: Neepawa's Quintin Lisoway finished the first round series with two assists in four games with the Wheat Kings.


Wheat Kings call up Clague

The Wheat Kings have announced that defenceman Kale Clague will join the club for the balance of the 2014 playoffs.



The 15-year-old is expected to be on the ice for practice on Monday as the Wheat Kings continue preparations for their series with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Clague was a first round draft choice and sixth overall selection of the Wheat Kings in last spring's WHL Bantam Draft.

Clague spent this season with the Baker Hughes Bobcats of the Alberta AAA Midget Hockey League this year. He helped lead the Cats to a first place finish in the Dodge Division with a regular season record of 24-9-2 and a berth in the league's championship final, where they wound up losing to Red Deer in a best-of-five series.

He also helped Team Alberta capture the gold medal at the Western Canadian Challenge Cup in Calgary last October.

Clague, from Lloydminster, Alta., led all defenceman and finished third overall in the AMHL playoff scoring race with two goals and 13 points in 12 games, after finishing second among all blueliners during the regular season with 33 points.


MJHL: Oil Caps season comes to a close

The Dauphin Kings completed their second consecutive sweep on Saturday night in the Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Kings defeated the host Virden Oil Capitals 5-3 on Saturday night in Game 4 of the Sher-Wood Division final, winning the best-of-seven series in four straight games.

Former Neepawa Native Brayden Cuthbert, Brent Wold, Dylan Butler, Hudson Morrison and Dillan McCombie scored for Dauphin in the win.

The Kings have now won eight consecutive MJHL playoff games. Dauphin swept the OCN Blizzard in the first round, not allowing a goal by OCN in the process.

Curtis Oliver, Cole Hamblin and Zach Whitecloud scored for the Oil Capitals in a losing cause.

The Kings will take on the winner of the Addison Division final between the defending league champion Steinbach Pistons and the Winnipeg Blues.

The Pistons defeated the Blues 2-1 on Sunday to remain alive in the series.

The Blues lead the series 3-1.
 

Jets lose to Kings

The Winnipeg Jets lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night in NHL action.

Matt Halischuk and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets (33-33-9), who remain nine points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference and have only seven games remaining on their schedule.

Hawks win MFMHL title

The Pembina Valley Hawks are the Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ Female Midget Hockey League champions.

The Hawks defeated the Westman Wildcats 2-1 in the fifth and deciding game of the championship series on Sunday.

The Hawks will now take on the Weyburn Gold Wings in a best-of-three regional championship April 4-6 with the winner moving on to the 2014 Hockey Canada Esso Cup national female midget championship, April 20-26 in Stoney Creek/Hamilton Ont.


Calvert earns berth to 2015 provincial junior championship

Carberry skip Braden Calvert and his Deer Lodge curling team earned a berth to next year's provincial junior curling championship.

Calvert won the Curl Ë®¹ûÊÓƵ spring berth bonspiel on Sunday, defeating Jordan Smith of Stonewall 6-4 in the final.

In photo: Neepawa's Kelly Robertson with his second team all-star skip award.

Photo by James MacKenzie

In second photo: Members of the Wheat Kings and Pats shake hands after Brandon's win on Friday night at Westman Place.

Photo by Lanny Stewart

With files from Wheat Kings releases