Congratulations to Brad Jacobs, EJ Harnden, Ryan Harnden and Caleb Flaxey for winning the KIA Curling Classic, NOCA/NOCT Superspiel East in Sault Ste Marie. It was an all Soo final as Al Belec made his second final appearance in a row. Belec with mates Rob Brewer, Greg McLellan and Scott Seabrook jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three ends but it was all Jacobs for the rest of the game as they cruised to a 7-4 victory to take home the $4,250 winners check. Belec pocketed another $2,650 for his efforts. Jacobs will now join tean Burgess (West winner) in the 2009 Northrn Ontario Curling Championships in Fort Franicis early February. Many tanks goes out to Ian Fisher and his staff at the Soo Curlers club for putting on a great weekend for the 24-teams and also to Ray House from KIA Motors International for his generous support in the North!

PS Did anyone get the licence plate of that truck that hit Tim, Mike and Ian Saturday night?...Ouch!

The 2008/09 NOCT season has already begun and already a couple of teams have made a major impact in the curling world and to their bank accounts. Rob Gordon who is the all time money leader on the NOCT just added to his impressive run over the past 4 seasons. Gordon  along with Dave McInnes, Jerome Landry and Steve Burnett defeated Al Belec from Sault Ste Marie in the Sudbury CC Classic final that ran from Oct 17-19 at the Subury Curling Club. In the ladies section, Sudbury's Dawn Schwar and her newly revamped squad of Sandra Henderson, Janice Vettoretti and Jan Constante defeated Senior ladies champions Vickey Barrett's team in the final.

The second stop on the NOCT was the North Bay Granite Challenge from Oct 31 - Nov 2 and again these two teams took home the winners check's. Gordon won over Matt Dumontelle in the men's final while Schwar repeated her win against Vickey Barrett once again. Gordon now sits at over $5,100 and Scwar has $2,000 after only two events. 

The schedule for the 2008/09 season on the Northern Ontario Curling Tour is listed below. (also available on the OCT site)

NOCT # 1 - Oct. 17-19/08 - Sudbury CC - Winner - Rob Gordon/Dawn Schwar 

NOCT # 2 - Oct 31- Nov 2/08 - North Bay Granite CC - Winner - Rob Gordon/Dawn Schwar 

" Courtesy Freight Curling Classic" NOCT/NOCA Superspiel WEST - Nov 14-17/08 - Port Arthur CC - Winner - Bryan Burgess  

Results here @ http://www.majorleaguecurling.com/?q=Stats 

" KIA Curling Classic" NOCT/NOCA Superspiel EAST - Dec 5-8/08 - Soo Curlers CC - Winner - Brad Jacobs

NOCT # 3 - Jan 9-11/09 - Coniston CC - Winner - Tim Phillips/Vicky Barrett 

The Northern Ontario Curling Tour events (men only) will qualify for CTRS (Canadian Team Ranking System). Teams must register before the deadline on the CCA website in order to collect valuable points towards a possible entry into the Canada Cup Qualifier Spiel being held in Edmonton December 2008. There is a great explanation and the standings on their site. You can register your team by clicking on this link above or the CCA Logo. 

This season's NOCT Championship team will automatically receive an invite into next year's Canada Cup Qualifier. This year's NOCT Champion will be decided by total # of points earned in the (4) NOCT Events only (see NOCT Standings in menu). It is very important to enter into all four events to increase your teams chances. For a more detailed explanation of the importance of CTRS Points, log onto the CCA site.