Second Game and Opening Ceremony

Our second game was against Nova Scotia on sheet 1. We had 2nd practice and yellow rocks again (an oddity of the schedule: we have 2nd practice and yellow rocks for our games 1-3 and 1st practice and red rocks for games 4-6). The Nova Scotia team did their draw to the button, but the red "Eye on the Hog" lights came on. It stopped in the back 8-foot but didn't count do to the hog line violation. Kevin did our draw, needing to hit paint. Just to make sure, he covered the pin to secure the hammer for the game.

We put the pressure on right away lying 2 guarded in the top 8-foot with the Nova Scotia team trying run backs until the skip's last rock where he tried a wide draw to the 4-foot. He was a few inches light so Greg had a draw for 3, which he made. Good start! We played a solid 2nd end but the Nova Scotia skip made to great shots for a skip's deuce. Our 3rd event was another good one and Greg made a hit a roll for 4 and we played strong defence from there to win 10-5 after 6 ends. It was a good team game with all 4 of us played better than the morning draw. The ice held up better, although there were still a few picks. We're looking forward to Day 2! Follow the scores at The Dominion Curls. There is also a live video feed of sheet 2 as well.

One nice thing about the schedule is that both the men and women from each province play the same opposition province back-to-back, on the same sheet, with the same rocks. This allows for some provincial teamwork where the men and women can discuss the ice and the rocks between draws.

Here's an interview with Greg. Look closely to see the Movember moustache.

We had our fans out in full force on Tuesday. Greg, Curtis and Kevin's parents are all here watching, and Jordan's Mom is coming on Thursday. In addition, Nathan Small (third for Pat Ferris' team who we played in the Ontario final) was in town skiing and watched as well. It's great hearing all the support from back home as well! Anyone who wants to send an email to the team and have it posted at the club can send it to buttons@thedominion.ca and put Team Ontario Men in the subject line.

Last night was the opening ceremonies and the big team photo. Here's a video:

-Jordan

The "Shoe Incident"!

Yesterday was finally game day here at The Dominion. Our first game was against Nunavut and we had 2nd practice. Just as they were finishing their 1st practice, I walked back to the change room to get my broom and it felt like my gripper had slipped off my slider shoe. I looked down to fix it, only to realize it was a whole lot worse than that. The sole of the shoe had come off!

There was a few chaotic moments as Kevin and I tried to figure out what to do since practice was starting and the game was 5 minutes away. The Dominion volunteers had several ideas (borrow some one's shoe, get it repaired right away, just play with it, get a pair from the pro shop, etc). I was worried about having a shoe to play with at all, but I was also worried about having to use a totally different shoe and slider!

Up stepped Tom McKay (volunteer and member of the spare pool) who has a pair black and white Asham Slams in my size! I tried it on and it fit nicely, and the best part is that I could take off his Velcro sliders and put mine on. All this took 4 minutes and I was on the ice to throw one practice rock and sweep our draw to the button. The shoe fit so well I didn't notice it all game (any missed shots were all me!).

After the game I chatted with ice maker Bill Duck, who I know from back home in Toronto, and he said he's repaired similar problems in the past. So I was off to Rona with our driver Johnathan to get a tube of Shoe Goo and Bill went to work. I played our 2nd game against Nova Scotia with Tom's loaner shoe and he generously offered to let me use it all week if necessary. I'm hoping my shoe is fixed up for today's game but it's great to see so much support from the volunteers! Thanks to Tom and Bill!!

-Jordan

PS: Just so no one thinks poorly of Asham shoes, this pair is well past their best before date. A new pair of shoes will be on my Christmas list this year!

First Game

Squeaked out the first win against Nunavut this morning.  Great group of guys and we had a fantastic game to kick off the week.  I got to throw the draw to the button for hammer (The Dominion asks that each team member throw at least one throughout the week), so after watching my opposing second, Lee,  drop it on the back four, I tossed mine to the back twelve and we go first.  We ended up tied going into the 8th and Balsy made a nice double to close it out.  There were missed shots on both sides, for sure, but everyone's still getting used to the ice.  It was a bit disappointing out there with probably 8-10 picks through the game and a huge drop in speed after the 5 minute 4th end break.  The curl seemed to pick up throughout the game as well which kind of left us playing on a different sheet every end.  Hopefully we start getting used to it and make more and more shots each game.  It'll be nice to see an end come together as opposed to feeling like we're chasing all the time.  Regardless, it's great to start with a win and now I'm anxious to get back out there and go again.  This time maybe we can avoid the pre-game equipment issues and all get out for our 5 minute practice.  Jordan will elaborate on that I'm sure.  We'll see what happens at 4:45 against Nova Scotia.

Game day!

We have our first game this morning at 10:00 am Vancouver time against Nunavut. We then against Nova Scotia at 4:45 pm. I can't wait to get out there! Follow the scores at The Dominion Curls. Our blog also made it into The Dominion Daily newsletter!

Last night was the Opening Banquet at the Richmond Curling Club. We rocked our team pinks! We were seated with the Alberta women's team and the evening was a good time. The format was buffet with each table being called up one-by-one. The last table called won the money cups each team had filled to start. Sure enough, table 21 was last picked... that's us. We decided to buy a round of drinks and donate the rest of the money back to the BC Paraplegic Association. The dinner buffet had a good selection and the speeches were a nice mix of humour and substance (although they were a little long by the end). After the speeches, the place cleared out surprisingly quick and we ended up "closing the place down" (don't worry, it was only 10:30 pm!).

Ontario Men and Alberta Women (L-R: Lead-Skip)

Bring on the games!
-Jordan

Practice and Shoot Out

So we got 45 mintues of practice earlier today on 3 different sheets.  After which we threw our shoot out which will be used to break ties after the round robin.  It was great to get out there and see what it's doing, but we were the last group to practice so it felt like the ice was probably breaking down by the time we got to throw.  There were lots of comments about how fast it was and the 4.5 feet of curl they were getting, but that was not our experience.  We saw it running maybe 24 seconds and were taking just off the 4 foot to get to the button.  I guess we'll see how it is tomorrow morning in our first round robin game against Nunavut.  I'm expecting the faster, swingier stuff though.

Shoot out was disappointing.  9 points out of a possible 20.  Better go win some games now.

-Curtis

First Night at the Cannery

So we arrived in Richmond and made it to the hotel without issue.  We were greeted properly with a few beers on ice and Kevin, true to form, picked up some rum and Pepsi at the airport and we got right into it.  Jordan took off to visit his grandparents-in-law leaving Kevin and I to represent the team at the ice breaker event.  Which also left us the team drink tickets and name tags.  There may or may not be several people who think I'm Jordan Keon and a sloppy drunk.  I was a mess this morning, but breakfast helped and we get to hit the ice this afternoon for some practice which usually cures what breakfast and a shower can't.  Kevin is still moving slowly and I have to leave it at that.  Not sure if I want to go back to bed or hit the bar with Balsy who arrived about an hour ago... I'll let you know later what I decided and whether or not I regret it.

-Curtis

We have arrived

Kevin, Curtis and I arrived yesterday around 1:30 pm. We flew in with the Team Ontario women and the Team Quebec men (Kevin knows their skip). Also on our flight were organizers from next year's Dominion at Scarboro G&CC. We had a smooth flight, got checked into our hotel and were welcomed with a bucket of beer! Last night was the "Ice Breaker" event, which Curtis and Kevin attended (I'm sure Curtis has a few good stories, and Kevin wasn't too happy to be awake for breakfast this morning!). Jordan went to dinner at his wife Catie's aunt and uncle's house in Delta, BC along with her grandparents. Dinner was great and it works really nicely that this event is in the Vancouver area so I could visit.

The weather here is cool (1-10 deg Celsius) and it's supposed to rain the whole week. Typical Vancouver weather! Here's a shot from my hotel room this morning:

Greg arrived this morning after his successful weekend at the WCT Sun Life Classic Bonspiel in Brantford (losing the quarter-finals last night). Today we have team registration at noon, the team meeting at 12:30 pm and our team practice at 2:40 pm. We have our Team Based Draw Scoring System at the end of practice, where we all draw the button and our combined score is used for potential tie-breaker seeding at the end of the week, and for tied draws prior to each game. Tonight we have the Opening Banquet where we'll be dressing in our nice pinks! The games start tomorrow at 10:00 am against Nunavut.

-Jordan