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Tuesday, December 8
Lappelainan & Burgess Advance to PROVS!
Three weeks after Art Lappalainen from Thunber Bay won the Courtesy Freight Super Spiel West in Thunder Bay at the Port Arthur club, another Thunder Bay rink was gauranteed a spot at the 2010 Dominion Men's Northern Ontario Championships being held in Sudbury February 8-14 as Bryan Burgess and Mike Assad met in the finals of the KIA Motors Super Spiel East at the Soo Curlers club, both teams from Thunder bay. After the dust settled, it was Burgess coming out on top and claiming the second spot at the 2010 Provincials.
Thursday, November 26
Super Spiel East 2009 Official Draw & Updates
Click on this link below to retrieve the official draw for the KIA Motors Super Spiel East. This draw will be updated after every draw. To view line scores, go to www.ontariocurlingtour.com
Handout: Super Spiel East Draw
Wednesday, October 28
Book Rooms for Sault Ste Marie Superspiel Now!
Please book your rooms with the event sponsor Quality Inn. Information is on the poster (link below).
Handout: NOCT/NOCA Superspiel Posters
Tuesday, December 9
Jacobs Wins Superspiel East 2008
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!
Tuesday, November 18
Burgess Wins Very First NOCA/NOCT Superspiel 2008
Congratulations to Team Bryan Burgess from Thunder Bay. Burgess along with Clayton Shaw, Gary Weiss and Pat Beresowski defeated Sault Ste Marie's Al Belec on a last rock deuce to claim the $5,000 first place check and an entry into the 2009 Northern Ontario Men's Championships in Fort Francis February 10-14. More than 150 spectators watched the see-saw battle as it unfolded. The entire event was a hit according to our sources and the teams really enjoyed the format and the great ice. The rest of the scores and results can be seen on this site. The next event is the NOCA/NOCT Superspiel East in Sault Ste Marie Dec 5-8.
Monday, November 10
Gordon & Schwar Win Two in a Row!
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.
Tuesday, December 4
Belec Wins in Haileybury
There has been four different events and four different winner's this season on the NOCT with the latest winner being Al Belec from Sault Ste Marie. Playing with Belec is Rob Brewer, Jamie Broad and Scott Seabrook. Belec narrowly defeated Sudbury's Tracy Horgan in the semi finals before defeating North Bay's Jeff Brown in the final of the Haileybury Finale'. This is the first win for Belec in four year's and the timing couldn't have been better as teams now begin preparing for the play downs. The closing weekend had been made special as Electronic North and NorthernTel Mobility provided a delicious roast beef dinner for all fifteen teams. The $7,100 purse was divided up as follows, Belec $2,100, Brown $1,500, Horgan and Lloyd Bigras $1,000 each and Rob Gordon and Tom Armstrong $750 each. This season's overall NOCT Champion is Haileybury's Rob Gordon with Dave McInness, Steve Burnett and Jerome Landry. Gordon will represent the NOCT next year in Edmonton at the Canada Cup Qualifier. Thanks to the great hosptality in Haileybury and good luck to all competitive teams!
Monday, November 19
Bigras and Horgan Win in North Bay
 |  | | L to R: Andrea, Amanda, Jennifer, Tracy, Lloyd, Claude, Rich, Ivan | |
Although it took 3 years of consistent effort, the hard work finally paid off for Sudbury's Lloyd Bigras and teammates Claude Daoust, Rich Schmidt and Yvan Brule as they defeated JP Lachance from Ottawa in Sunday's final at the Granite club in North Bay 5-2. Bigras went 4-1 in round robin play, winning his division, then crushed NOCT leader Rob Gordon in the semi final 10-3 before eventually winning the North Bay Granite Challenge and the $2,300 winner's check. This is Bigras' first title in 3 years. In the ladies section, Tracy Horgan continued her winning ways as she along with sister Jennifer, Amanda Gates and Andrea Souliere Poland went undefeated the entire weekend to capture the ladies winner's check of $1,200. Horgan won a very close 8-6 final over Maggie Mazzuca and now also leads the NOCT points race. This is Horgan's second win in a row as she captured the Soo Curlers Classic just a couple of weeks ago. The next stop which is the final event of the season takes place in Haileybury November 30 - December 2.
Tuesday, November 6
Gordon & Horgan Win Soo Curlers Classic
|  | | L to R:Rob, Dave, Steve. Jeremey, Andrea, Amanda. Jennifer, Tracy | |
The second tour event of the NOCT Season is in the books and we have two new winners. In the Ladies section, it was an all Sudbury final and as last year's Northern Ontario Junior Champions Tracy Horgan with sister Jennifer, Amanda Gates and Andrea Souliere locked horns with last years Northern Ontario Senior Champions Vicky Barrett, Margaret McLaughlin, Kelly McLellan (subbed in for Lois Henderson Cambell) and Brenda Harrow. After losing to Barrett in round robin play, Horgan took an early lead and cruised to an 8-2 victory giving her the $1,200 winner's check. Barrett took home $800 while Sault Ste Marie's Lindsay Miners won third place and $400.
In the men's side, Haileybury's Rob Gordon along with Dave McInness, Steve Burnett and Jerome Landry were looking for revenge against Sudbury's Tim Phillips, Brad Minogue, Ron Henderson and Lee Toner after losing the round robin match. It all came down to the last rock in the 8th end all tied when Gordon displayed the reasons why he is a two-time Brier rep as he made a port shot that was vitually impossible but by spinning his last stone with the perfect weight, he narrowly missed the high rock and spun off the Phillips stone in the top 4-foot and rolled onto the side of the 4-foot to win the game 5-4. Gordon and company not only won the $2,000 winner's check but leaped into the lead on the NOCT Standings. Phillips took home $1,300 while Thunder Bay's Mike Assad and the Soo's Eric Harnden both redeived $1,000. The entire NOCT standings can viewed here on this site. The team with the most NOCT points at the end of the Haileybury event will get an invite to next year's Canada Cup Qualifier in Edmonton.
Monday, October 22
Matchett & Barrett Win in Sudbury
|  | | L to R, Brenda, Lois, Margaret, Vicky, Dale, Ryan, Jeff, Shawn | |
The "Sudbury Curling Club Open" was an exciting weekend of curling for all 26 teams who competed for more than $12,000 and CTRS points. Eighteen men's teams and eight ladies teams duked it out in round robin and after the smoke cleared on Sunday, only Dale Matchett and Vicky Barrett were left standing with trophy in hand (see pic). For Matchett, this was his very first visit to Sudbury and his first NOCT curling with mates Ryan Werenich, Jeff Gorda and Shawn Kaufman out of the Churchill Curling Club. Team Matchett took home a check for $2,500 for their efforts while local Northern Ontario Senior and Mixed Champion Barrett won the extra end final to take home the winners check in the ladies division for $1,200. Curling with Barrett is Margaret McLaughlin, Lois-Henderson Cambell and Brenda Harrow. The weekend was full of excitement both on and off the ice and Matchett will be sure to let everyone know down south how much fun the NOCT really is. Congratulations to all of the other winners. Results are here on the site under "Sudbury Draw" on the left and thank you to Gerry Guerts and the Ontario Curling Tour for including all NOCT events on the their schedule and for the end to end scoring online.
Thursday, June 21
2009 NOCT Events Schedule
The schedule for the 2009/10 season on the Northern Ontario Curling Tour is listed below. (also available on the OCT site)
NOCT # 1 - Oct. 16-18/09 - Sudbury CC - Winners - Rob Gordon over Mike Assad and Lisa Rouillard over Team Horgan
NOCT # 2 - Oct 30- Nov 1/09 - North Bay Granite CC - Winner - Tim Phillips and Tracy Horgan
" Courtesy Freight Curling Classic" NOCT/NOCA Superspiel WEST - Nov 13-16/09 - Port Arthur CC - Winner - Art Lapilainen
Register @ http://www.majorleaguecurling.com/?q=Stats
" KIA Curling Classic" NOCT/NOCA Superspiel EAST - Dec 4-7/09- Soo Curlers CC - Registration CLOSED
NOTE:
NOCT # 1 Complete, see winners above.
NOCT # 2 in North Bay will be a Round Robin with pools format also. A ladies section will open only if there are at least 5 ladies teams registered. Entry fee for this event is $500/team.
NOCT/NOCA Superspiels East & West will be a triple K/O format with the eventual winning team from each spiel advancing directly to the 2010 Northern Ontario Men's Championships in Sudbury. Any team can enter.
It is very important that all participating teams register one month prior to each event by emailing team info to this site or by calling Tim @ (705) 677-7625.
For Superspiel West, register @ http://www.majorleaguecurling.com/?q=Stats
Deadline for payment is (2) full weeks prior to that event.
Send all cheques to the address in the menu on the left of this web page or if using a credit card, call the phone number above. A 4% fee will be added to credit card entries.
Every team must pay a one- time only NOCT Team Fee of $10.00 which will go towards administration, bank and website costs. Please include this payment on your first team entry. A receipt for all entry's and fee's will be available only upon request.
Handout: NOCT/NOCA Superspiel Posters
Friday, December 2
NOCT gets a Plug on Curling Show
The Northern Ontario Curling Tour has not only been a major success story for the north in the past 2 years but has also caught a bit of the media's eye in the curling world and once again, the NOCT gets the spot light. Dean Gemmell, son of Blind River's Alan and Maymar Gemmell, whom ironically compete regularily on the NOCT, started an online curling talk show called "TheCurlingShow.Com" and in a short period of time has received ten's of thousand's of hits and rave reviews. This week's featured interview is with Sudbury's Tim Phillips as Dean and Tim talk about the NOCT and Northern Ontario curling in general. Click on the link above to get to the site, download any or all interviews and sit back and enjoy. I'm sure that you and your family will be pleasantly entertained...especially the Ed Werenich interview!
NOCT Events Qualify for CCA's CTRS
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 positioning for future Canada Cup's and Grand Slam's. 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.
Saturday, October 16
NOCT has a Cup !
Not only are teams on the Northern Ontario Curling Tour competing for cash, NOCT Points and a birth into next years Canada Cup East Spiel, thanks to Labatt, teams will also be fighting to get their names on the 'new' NOCT Cup. Mickey McFadden, a long time employee and famous promoter from Labatt made the donation last week in Sudbury. Along with the NOCT Champions, teams who win any of the 5 tour events will have their names engraved on the prestigous trophy. Organizers of the NOCT would like to thank Mickey and Labatt for their generous donation of this beautiful shiney new cup.
Monday, September 13
New Tour Logo Unveiled
What's a tour without a logo? Thanks to Mark Brown and Dave Cerisano, the NOCT has its very own identity, a new logo. At first glance you'll know its Northern because of the colors Green & Gold and it is as simple as the tour itself and that's the way we wanted it. All NOCT particapating players will receive a crest displaying the new logo and this crest will proudly be worn on the shoulders their team jackets. There will be other items in the near future displaying the logo such as hats, shirts and jackets which will be available for purchase at the North Bay event. All NOCT wear will be provided from our friends at GoldLine.
Monday, January 15
Harnden Makes it Number 3
Al Harnden along with mates Brad Jacobs, Dusty Jakomait and Jamie Broad who filled in for Rob Thomas, went undefeated the entire weekend in Blind River at the Mitchell's IDA Pharmacy Open to capture his third straight NOCT win this season. This impressive run has netted the Harnden foursome over $11,000 as they now head into the NOCA Associations in hopes of a trip to the Tim Horton's Brier in Hamilton March 3-11. Sudbury's Tim Phillips with Ron Henderson, Dion Dumontelle and Doug Hong took home the second place check of $1,300 while local favorite Al Gemmell won $1,200. The rest of the results are on this site under "Blind River Draw". The next event is the NorthernTel NOCT Championships in Haileybury March 23-25. Register your team now by emailing this site.
Monday, December 18
It's a Soo Sweep!
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The second stop on the Northern Ontario Curling Tour, the Christies RV Classic in Sault Ste Marie was dominated by Soo teams in particular, the men's teams. Al Harnden won his second event in a row with a last end steal over Rick Stewart from Coppercliff to take home the $3,500 check. Harnden with mates Brad Jacobs, Dusty Jakomait and Rob Thomas have now eceeded $8,000 in winnings this season and are by far the hottest team in the North. Eric Harnden and Dan Lemieux also cashed in with 3rd and fourth place checks of $2,000 each while Rob Gordon and Tim Phillips qualified with $1,600 each. In the ladies section, Kelly McLellan also from the Soo Curlers defeated Sudbury's Janice Vettoretti in the last rock final and took home the winner's check of $1,800. Curling with McLellan was Lindsay Miners, Chris Fortin and Debra Cappellani. Vettoretti won $1,000 while Copper Cliff's MoniqUE sCHLER TOOK HOME $700. The next tour stop is in Blind River January 12-14/07 while the tour championship is scheduled for March 23-25 in Haileybury.
Monday, October 30
Harnden & Frantz Win RockCC Classic
The Sault Ste Marie foursome of skip Al Harnden, Brad Jacobs, Dusty Jakomait and Rob Thomas were just too much for Sudbury's Tim Phillips, Ron Henderson, Dion Dumontelle and Doug Hong capturing the NOCT's first event of the season, the Rock Culing Company Classic. The game was a see-saw battle from the start but a 4 -ender in the 5th and a 5-ender in the 8th put the nail in the coffin. Harnden takes home $2,800 while Phillips won $1,950. Eric Harnden and Al Belec both from the Soo ended up taking home $1,300 each. In the Ladies section, Coniston's Arynn Frantz, Melanie Patry, Nicole Dubuc and Natalie Beauchamp survived a 3rd place shoot-out Saturday night, beat Copper Cliff's Monique Schler in the semi final and defeated Vicky Barrett, Margaret McLaughlin, Brenda Harrow and Roma Lundgren form the Idylwylde in the all Sudbury final. Frantz took home a cheque for $1,400 while Barrett won $900 and Schler pocketed $600. The next event is scheduled for December 8-10 in Sault Ste Marie.
Chandler Wins Again!
It was three weeks ago when Sudbury's Jordan Chandler along with lil' brother Kyle, Andrew Brekon and Tom Cull won the NorthernTel Mobility Classic in Haileybury and now again, they they have won the fourth stop on the tour and their second in a row, the Christies RV Classic in Sault Ste Marie. After squeaking out a steal in the eighth end against Steve Decary from North Bay in the quarter final, Chandler nipped Brad Jacobs from the Soo in the semi final and then fate would have it, they stole the final end again, this time against Eric Harnden from Sault Ste Marie. Chandler takes home another $2,000 and the NOCT Cup and also takes the lead in the NOCT Standings . The next event takes place in Blind River February 3-5/06 while the top 16 point earners will travel back to Sault Ste Marie for the NOCT Championships March 17-19/06.
Chandler Wins NorthernTel Mobility Open
|  | | NorthernTel Mobility Champs |
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Sudbury's Jordan Chandler, Kyle Chandler, Andrew Breckon and Tom Cull needed all 8 ends Sunday afternoon to defeat last year's defending champion and the home town favorite on home ice in Haileybury, Rob Gordon 6-4. Chandler's winning streak began on Saturday nights do or die round robin game against Llyod Bigras then Sunday mornings last rock quarter final win against Sudbury's Tim Phillips, semi final win against Al Belec from Sault Ste Marie before edging past Haileybury's Rob Gordon.Gordon along with Dave McInness, Steve Burnett and Jerome Landry not only won last season's NOCT Championship but on home ice one full year ago, captured the NorthernTel Mobility Open. Other qualifers included Lance Loach from New Liskeard, Al Gemmell from Blind River and Chris Johnson and Jamie Morphet from Sudbury. Many thanks go out to the supporting sponsors, volunteers and curling fans in Colbalt-Haileybury. The next event on the NOCT begins Friday December 9, the Christies RV Classic in Sault Ste Marie at the Soo Curlers Curling Club.
Jeffries Wins in North Bay
Willie Jeffries along with Spencer Cooper, Mark Rodgers and Nic Aubin went undefeated the entire weekend to claim the Northern Ontario Curling Tour's second stop of the season the "Labatt Classic". After going 5-0 in round robin action, Jeffries easily defeated Englehart's Brian Fawcett in the quarter finals, edged out Sault Ste Marie's Dan Lemieux in the semi's and squeaked out a last rock victory over John McLelland from North Bay to take home $2,500 in cash and the NOCT Cup. Jeffries, who curls out of the Rideau Curling Club in Ottawa, entered the tour for the first time and according to the fun times the team had while staying in North Bay, it won't be their last visit. Other teams that qualified on the weekend were Lloyd Bigras and Tim Phillips from Sudbury and Eric Harnden from Sault Ste Marie. To view the complete list of winners, click on "North Bay Draw" and to see the complete NOCT Standings, click on that heading.
Johnson wins First Tour Event
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Sudbury's Chris Johnson along with mates TJ McDermid, Don Thiverge and Tom Leonard jumped out to an early lead against Jamie Morphet also from Sudbury, and held on to claim the NOCT's first of five stops, the "Rock Curling Company Classic". The weekend went off without a hitch as all 18 teams sacrificed part of their Thanksgiving weekend to shake off the rust a little in order to get ready for the busy season ahead. For the first time in the short history of the NOCT, a ladies team qualified by winning the Wild Card shoot out. Sudbury's Vickey Barrett went 3-2 in her division and was forced to put it all on the line in the shoot out and on the line it was. With a total team distance of only 40 3/8", she claimed wild card spot # 1 while Tim Phillips claimed the second wild card. Other qualifiers were Joe Scharf from Thunder Bay who became the only team to go 5-0 for the weekend, Dan Lemieux from Sault Ste Marie and John McLelland skipped by Luc Oiumet. Although the number of teams dropped mainly because of the Thanksgiving weekend, organizers feel that the weekend was still a success and getting Northern Ontario teams to start earlier in the season as many other Provinces do is going to be a battle. The next tour stop is in North Bay as 30 teams will compete in the "Labatt Classic" October 27-29/05.
Thanks for the Memories NOCT
If a picture is worth a 1000 words than this one says it all as the Northern Ontario Curling Tour 2005 comes to an end. Rob Gordon, Steve Burnett, Larry Carr, Jerome Landry, Tim Phillips, Ron Henderson, Dion Dumontelle and Doug Hong along with the NOCT Trophy and a collection of our sponsors finest beverages. This picture was taken about an hour following the final game of the NOCT Championship at the Copper Cliff Curling Club. Enjoy your summer and we'll see you in October at the Rock Curling Company Classic in Sudbury.
Wednesday, April 13
Gordon is NOCT CHAMPION 2004/05
Rob Gordon along with Steve Burnett, Larry Carr and Jerome Landry from Haileybury, went through the field at the 2005 NOCT "Performance Brush" Championships in Copper Cliff like a hot knife through butter as they went undefeated to capture the NOCT Championship. Gordon has had a spectaculer season winning more than $13,000 in cash and prizes on the NOCT which included wins in Sudbury at the "Rock Curling Company Classic" and again in his home club at the "NorthernTel Mobility Classic". Gordon is presently the only mutiple winner on the new tour, the NOCT Points Leader and he looks forward to competing on the NOCT next season. The Championship weekend was a fun-filled and exciting way to end a perfect season for all of the curlers who attended. A very special thanks goes out to the Copper Cliff Curling Club, Performance Brush and Asham Curling Supplies for their support.
Monday, March 14
Gordon Captures Cup at Home
|  | | NorthenTel Mobility Champs |
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Haileybury's Rob Gordon, Brian Fawcett, Steve Brunett and Jerome Landry captured their second tour win of the season at the NorthernTel Mobility Classic in Haileybury by easily defeating Sudbury's Tim Phillips, Ron Henderson, Dion Dumontelle and Doug Hong 11-3 in the final. Presenting the team with their cheque and the NOCT Cup was Norma Hughes Howard from NorthernTel Mobility. En route to winning the event final, Gordon completely shut out both North Bay's Jeff Brown in the quarters and Providence Bay's Jordan Chandler in the semi and are now the number one team on the NOCT with a whopping 11,200 points. Gordon's first win was back in December when they captured the "Rock Curling Company Classic" in Sudbury.
Kapuskasing's Glen Leggassie jumped from 23rd to 16th and has earned a spot in the NOCT Championships after winning $750 and Jordan Chandler also moved up to 8th place with his $750 win. Other $500 qualifiers included Darryl Rowlandson from Englehart, Chris Johnson from Sudbury, Jeff Brown from North Bay and Mike Assad from Thunder Bay. The top 16 teams will compete in the "Performance Brush" NOCT Championships in Copper Cliff April 1-3 for $10,000 in cash with the eventual winner also receiving a spot in the Canada Cup East spiel next December in Ottawa and 4 specially designed for the NOCT Asham leather jackets. Tickets are available for this exciting show down by calling the club at (705) 682-4861. Thanks to all of the volunteers of the Colbalt Haileybury club, the fans and especially to the sponsors for another successful tour event.
Phillips Wins JCD Homehardware Open
Hard work and persistance has finally paid off for Tim Phillips, Ron Henderson, Dion Dumontelle and Doug Hong from the Sudbury curling club as they defeated Haileybury's Rob Gordon in the final of the JCD Homehardware Open in Englehart February 4-6 to take home the $2,500 winners cheque. Phillips defeated North Bay's Jeff Brown in quarter final action and squeeked out an exciting win over New Liskeard's Jeff McKnight in the semi final before battling with Gordon. Gordon takes home $1,500 while McKnight and Sayer pocketed $1,000 each for their efforts. Other qualifiers include Sudbury's Jamie Morphet (skipped by Matt Dumontelle), Chris Johnson (skipped by Rick Stewart) and Claude Daoust along with Jeff Brown. These four teams took home $750 each. Congratulations to Steve Chenier and his committee for putting on a wonderful event at the Englehart curling club.
Monday, December 6
Gordon Gets Gold
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The third stop of the Northern Ontario Curling Tour, "The Rock Curling Company Classic" at the Sudbury Curling Club became the scene of one of the most entertaining curling games ever witnessed and again another exciting shoot-out scenerio. After the round robin was completed, there were four, 4-1 teams shooting out for the three wild card spots and one of the most unlikely things happened. Sudbury's Dawn Schwar along with Margaret McLaughlin, Shannon Roy and Janice Vettoretti became the fourth team to go to 4-1 as they defeated Jamie Morphet in their last RR game. This was to be the first time ever that a ladies team would qualify in a Northern Ontario Curling Tour event or was it? After all four teams completed their shoot-outs, the total distance from the button was calculated, MacEwan (115"), Gordon (126"), McLelland (135") and Schwar (143"). That's right, only 28" seperated the four teams and Schwar missed qualifying by 8". Although Schwar was a little discouraged, she has now jumped into 14 place in the NOCT Point Standings because of her 4 RR wins and looks forward to the next events. The final game between Haileybury's Rob Gordon and Sudbury's Mike Jakubo entertained the 70+ curling fans on Sunday as just about every shot imaginable was executed by both teams. The game started a bit slow as the first two ends were blanked but then the teams started to trade singles. The tempo and excitement was building with every shot and then in the 9th end, the ultimate display of shot making occured. The game was tied and Jakubo had the hammer and was sitting one beside the button behind a mess of stones until Gordon's vice Brian Fawcett tapped one of his stones up to remove the Jakubo stone and sat three. Jakubo's vice Jon Solberg then came back with a spectacular raise triple to lay three, followed by Gordon's across the house double and wick to the top of the button on top of Jakubo's stone. Jakubo attempted a fine raise pick but the stone over curled and Gordon stole one. In the 10th end, Jakubo had to draw through a narrow port and hit the 4-foot on his last shot to force an extra end, and again, no problem. The Gordon foursome of Rob Gordon, Brian Fawcett, Steve Burnett and Jerome Landry kept the extra end clean and prevailed over Mike Jakubo, Jon Solberg, Luc Ouimet and Lee Toner who have now been to three finals in a row on the NOCT and continue to lead the NOCT Points with a whopping 9600. The weekend was a smashing success according to the teams, fans and host club. The weekend money winners were Rob Gordon ($4,000), Mike Jakubo ($2,000), Greg McLellan ($1,500), Al Belec ($1,500) and Sandy MacEwan, John McLelland, Mike Assad and Tim Phillips $1,000 each. The next tour stop is in February at the Englehart Curling Club.
Monday, November 15
Salo Steals Asham Slam
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The crowd was buzzing after yesterday's final in the Asam Slam in Sault Ste Marie as Sudbury's Mike Jakubo's last rock slid 1 inch to deep allowing Thunder Bays John Salo to steal a duece and seal the victory. Salo along with mates Brian Adams Jr.,Jonah Dupuis and Justin McCarville were in a bit of trouble after Salo gave up a steal of 1 in the eight to go down 2 and hit and rolled out in the ninth for his duece, scoring only the one. Coming home 1 up with the hammer and keeping the front open from gaurds, it very much looked as if Jakubo along with Jon Solberg, Luc Ouimet and Lee Toner were about to double their North Bay win and pocket another $4,000. Salo on his last brick attempted a front house split and exicuted it perfectly but both stones were only full 12 foot. Lucky for him, they were sitting so that Jakubo could not hit either stone on the nose and get shot so he attempted to out draw the two stones. Everything looked good until the sweepers backed right off the sliding rock at the hogline and fearfully watched as it slid to the very back of the 12 foot, 1 inch farther than Salo's two counters, hence the steal of two. This was Salo's first visit on the new tour and according to the boys, it won't be their last. Jakubo remains the NOCT Point leader after two events and Salo has now pulled into second place. The rest of the results can be viewed on this site. Congratulations to all of the curlers and to the organizing committee of the Asham Slam for putting on an exciting and very well talked about tour event.
Friday, October 29
Do You Measure Up?
After watching 12 teams perform a team shoot-out in North Bay for points, it was obvious that the point system may create even more ties so the NOCT organizing committe have decided to eliminate the possibility of ties during a team shoot-out by means of a measuring device. Now, teams involved in tie-breaker shoot-outs will now have each rock measured from the pin to the inside of the rock. The total distance of all four rocks will be that teams total. This system is used in all CCA shoot-outs and is accurate to the 1/100 of an inch or to the nearest millimeter. Debbie Fortin, a long time curler, official and daughter of well known coach and promoter Bill Groom, was kind enough to loan 4 of the measuring devices to the NOCT for the purpose of deciding our tie-breakers. Curlers and fans will see first hand at the 'Asham Slam' in Sault Ste Marie November 12-14, exactly how well they work.
Monday, October 25
Jakubo Wins the Labatt Classic
Sudbury's Mike Jakubo, Jon Solberg, Luc Ouimet and Lee Toner didn't miss a beat this past weekend as they quietly got the job done and took home the Tour's first event championship. Jakubo controlled the final game against Al Harnden, Eric Harnden, Dusty Jakomait and Rob Thomas from the Soo, after jumping out to an early lead. Harnden and company tried to make it close but ran out of gas and gave up a crucial duece in the seventh. The final score was 7-6. Jakubo knocked off Jordan Chandler in the quarter finals in a real close match while disposing of last years Northern Ontario Champions, Rob Gordon in 9 ends in the semi-final match. Jakubo, who curls out of the Copper Cliff Curling Club, added a hefty $4,000 to their team bank account while Harnden took home $2,000. Other winners were Gordon and Phillips with $1,500 and Burgess, Chandler, McClelland and Belec won $1,000 each. All of the results, scores and NOCT Standings are on this site.
Monday, August 30
NOCT & CCA Strike a Deal
The news just gets better. The CCA's tireless promoter Dan Lamereaux has announced that the NOCT Championship team will qualify to go to the Canada Cup East Championships every season. This years winning team will get to compete against some of the best teams in the country for a whole lotta cash and a chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials. " We are trying to include as many legitimate regional tours as possible to allow everyone access to the bigger events like the Canada Cup," said Dan. Congratulations Northern Ontario!
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