Draw Seventeen

Emotions were running high in this draw, with lots of playoff implications and nearly a full crowd in attendance. And the curlers did not disappoint. NWT lost their final game, but were given a rousing ovation on their way out in recognition of their participation—they ended with 2 wins.

The games stayed on pace with each other, meaning that all three of the remaining games were in the 10^th at the same time, and they were all very close. Canada and AB had a wild game on the far sheet, with lots of nerves getting to them. Jenn drew up light at one point despite screaming at Jill and Georgina and waving for Cathy to come help: but Cathy was timing the rocks and didn’t come. Jennifer took off her coat after giving up yet another steal to Alberta, then Cathy King had troubles left her a tap for three or even four but Jenn missed it and only scored 2. She looked absolutely sick after missing that shot, as well she should have, it was poorly thought-out. Lori Armitstead had a fabulous double in the 9^th that made the crowd roar, and I thought that Canada might lose. Jenn was very indecisive all game and didn’t quite deserve to win, but King was just as up-and-down and ultimately Canada outplayed AB in the 10^th to prevent a steal and shut the door on Alberta’s playoff hopes.

Quebec had a must-win game, and a series of small mistakes and poor form by the Nova Scotians—coupled with a well-played game by Bélisle—gave them the win. Some guy shouted out “Colleen Jones I love you!” to the delight of the crowd (and her evident amusement). Quebec stuck around to watch the other two games: they needed Canada or Newfoundland to win and both those games were ending at around the same time. Three NS girls did too (but not Colleen): a win by Newfoundland meant they would end up in the 3-4 game, not the 1-2. On our sheet, steady play by Ontario and a Scharf’s cool hand gave them the win over Newfoundland: suddenly, they had to be in a tie-breaker with Quebec, when they could have finished 2^nd. Good for me, as one extra game was promised! The final end was edge-of-your-seat exciting, and a great shot by Scharf on her second last met with huge applause from all (including an exuberant Kim Kelly). With way under a minute left on the time clock, Heather Strong sauntered down, started her shot and then reset herself in the hack… I wanted to scream when she did that, she had 14 seconds left on the clock! The crowd groaned in trepidation. But then she fired a pistol down the ice—Newfoundland threw huge weight all week—and made a terrific double takeout. But Scharf made a fairly easy nose hit for the win.

The atmosphere all night was fantastic and the boisterous crowd was really into all the games. We did the wave, to the bemusement (and possible annoyance) of the curlers. There’s something absolutely hilarious about the wave… why do we so enjoy it? Marcel Rocque was there, and Marcel—after a particularly good shot by Raylene—shouted out “That’s my WIFE!” The crowd tittered.

I went home very edgy, not being able to wait until the next day but still so sad that my stack of tickets was dwindling: only 5 left out of that big stack I’d started with.