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So playdowns are not that far away for both men and women. I thought i'd create this thread to discuss our thoughts leading up to them and then also during them. also thought i would dicuss how i see things going in:

MEN:

Alberta - obvious favorites are bottcher and koe, bottcher probably a tiny bit more so. sluchinski will be a tricky little dark horse not o be overlooked. other teams to look out for would be king and virtue. neither one have qualified for it yet but i would be shocked if they dint. king has been one of the top teams in alberta for a while. virtue, no matter how his cash season goes always seems to raise his level for provincials. lets remember he's made 3 provincial finals in a row and should be good for at least final 4 in alberta this year. final 4 i think will be bottcher, koe, virtue and king or sluchinski

British Columbia - Cotter is the clear favorite now that he seems to be hitting his stride. Sean Geall and Brent Pierce should, as they always seem to be be his biggest threats.

Saskatchewan -Layock i t mse favoite he with no real opposition in his way if his level stays as high as it has been this season. Josh heidt, jeff hartung and kevin marsh are probably the teams with the best chances of knocking him off if his level comes down a bit.

Manitoba - again Mcewen a HUGE favorite here but he has been for about the last 3 years and fallen at the final hurdle every time. There are a lot of very good teams here though that could be tricky for him. daley peters, jeff stoughton, william lyburn, reid carruthers, steve irwin sean grassie and the young and fearless matt dunstone. hard to say who the final 4 will be but ill go with mcewen, carruthers, irwin and stoughton.

Ontario - Glenn would be considered fave but he's been up and down this year and richard hart has not been as good as he was, although thats to be expected. I think John epping has a great chance at finally getting that elusive ontario title this year. kean has been off kilter all season so its doubtful they get to provincials but they should be in contention as well if they get there. maybe rumfeldt, frans and balsdon (is he still curling?) and maybe a dark horse like homan will be also contend. young guns like walker who did respectably last year will also be interesting to follow.

Northern Ontario - Its the Brad Jacobs show here. the only thing stopping him from winning is a rachel homan in the 2012 ontario scotties like last rock mistake.

Quebec - Jean-michel menard should get out of here but the usual suspects in ferland and lemay will not be easy

nova scotia - hard to say. jamie danbrook has done quite well and mark dacey always is a factor here.

new brunswick - grattan would be fave but hsnt done great this season. could be wide open. could be odishaw or perhaps a young team getting their first crown

prince edward island - adam casey is the massive favorite here. assuming he doesnt get tired or lose form he should get out no problem.there's a couple veterans though that have a lot of experience like mcdonald that will be tough

new foundland - much like northern ontario this should be just a formality. gushue can walk through the field and the only thing stopping him is a bad last game or last rock mistake. colin thomas has been runner up to him the last 2 yars and will probably be his opponent in the final again


WOMEN:

British Columbia - kelly scott doesnt have that bye out of the province anymore but should still be a factor. knezevic and van osch have been off form all season but could always raise their games here and will be a factor if they do. i have no idea if corynn brown plans to try and compete here but she's beaten a fair number of these teams already and it might be interesting to see how she does. shimizu could be a factor but she wont be a leader. sivertson is probably the biggest threat to kelly at the moment

Alberta - its going to be a very tough province this year. sweeting is favorite but nedohin and carey will be tough to get by and , who knows..maybe kleibrink can discover some magic and win 1 last provincial crown? scheidegger would be the dark horse

Saskatchewan - lawton will be favorite but , as she will just be coming back to action will be rusty as hell.this might be a chance for trish paulsen, a young and talented rink to break though. eberle and englot and shumay will also contend.

Manitoba - jenniffer jones would surprise a lot of people if she didnt win this. The usual suspects will try to stop her though and by that i mean Thurston, spencer and maybe harvey. Look to see if einarson can repeat last year's performance

Quebec - Lauren Mann has had a silently respectable season. should be favorites but in the absence of larouche or belisle quebec is, in all honesty wide open.

Ontario - sherry middaugh will be favorited as always but whether or not she has the energy to actually win remains to be seen. flaxey, hastings and auld will be her biggest tests

northern ontario - this is all up for tracy horgan to win. kendra lilly will probably ber her biggest threat

Prince edward island - no idea.birt seems like a safe bet or maybe o'rourke

nova scotia - arsenault is the safe bet here and with smith out i cant see anyone stopping her if she plays well.

new brunswick - will crawford get a team together in time? maybe but with no practice time together this should see someone new get through. im calling robichaud

new found land - hard to call. heather strong..if she's still curling. but this , like quebec is honestly completely wide open. heather is not as strong as she once was. devereaux maybe to get out again

Last edited by misty1 on 12-14-14 at 12:17PM

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no respect intended to the northern territories but i just dont know any teams but the koe siblings and koltun competing to get out. so couln=t write about them. i would suspect both koe siblings will be present this year unless sarah koltun has to compete against kerry again in which case she could get to the scotties again

Last edited by misty1 on 12-14-14 at 12:07PM

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Koltun would not be a shock as she just has to win Yukon! Galusha will likely win NWT and then we'll have to see if both polar teams can qualify for the main draw.

While it's true McEwen has been the favourite for a few years, this team has found a totally new gear this year. Their on-ice communication is so focused, confident, and positive. McEwen is a strong, confident leader and the brushers are communicating as well as Dawn McEwen/Jill Officer at their best. Stoughton's had a rough season, I'd expect McEwen-Carruthers in the final.

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quote:

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Originally posted by doubletakeout
Koltun would not be a shock as she just has to win Yukon! Galusha will likely win NWT and then we'll have to see if both polar teams can qualify for the main draw.

While it's true McEwen has been the favourite for a few years, this team has found a totally new gear this year. Their on-ice communication is so focused, confident, and positive. McEwen is a strong, confident leader and the brushers are communicating as well as Dawn McEwen/Jill Officer at their best. Stoughton's had a rough season, I'd expect McEwen-Carruthers in the final.

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one Huge shock already has saw rumfeldt fail to get out of zones which, if im correct means he's out all together. i know there is a back door event to provincials but i think thats only for teams that lose in regionals

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I think JJ's going to have an easier ride than some are predicting here. Has she lost to any MB teams yet this year? Of course it is curling, and anything can happen, but she's walked over Thurston in at least 3 important (qualifier or playoff) games this year and I can't recall her losing to McDonald yet...

ML, if you truly think Stoughton is motivated by trying to stomp on others' dreams, we're not watching the same dude.

I'd love to see Epping make it out of Ontario. Nothing against Howard!

I'd give Koe the edge over Bottcher in an Alberta final. Of course Koe's season hasn't come together yet, but those guys have all been to the big show many times before and won't be daunted by the pressure of the moment.

Ontario men and Alberta women have got to be the most competitive fields this year, no?

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quote:

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Originally posted by misty1
one Huge shock already has saw rumfeldt fail to get out of zones which, if im correct means he's out all together. i know there is a back door event to provincials but i think thats only for teams that lose in regionals

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quote:

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Originally posted by Gerry


Anyone can enter Challenge Round.

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quote:

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Originally posted by doubletakeout
I think JJ's going to have an easier ride than some are predicting here. Has she lost to any MB teams yet this year? Of course it is curling, and anything can happen, but she's walked over Thurston in at least 3 important (qualifier or playoff) games this year and I can't recall her losing to McDonald yet...

ML, if you truly think Stoughton is motivated by trying to stomp on others' dreams, we're not watching the same dude.

I'd love to see Epping make it out of Ontario. Nothing against Howard!

I'd give Koe the edge over Bottcher in an Alberta final. Of course Koe's season hasn't come together yet, but those guys have all been to the big show many times before and won't be daunted by the pressure of the moment.

Ontario men and Alberta women have got to be the most competitive fields this year, no?

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quote:

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Originally posted by Gerry


Anyone can enter Challenge Round.

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Looks like Wayne Middaugh has come out of retirement & is skipping Corner's team Corner seems to have booted off Maus and replaced him at second...

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thought i would revive this since playdown time is here.

we all know whats going on in ontario. glenn is on his 1 last leg literally. even if he gets through im doubting he'd win anyway.Ontario would be wide open if he fails to get through but epping and kean would be labeled as favorites along with balsdon.

ladies side all the teams we expected got through regionals/zones. middaugh, flaxey and hastings should comprise 3 of the final 4.

in Alberta the favorites are koe and bottcher on the mens side but dark horses are sluchinski and, if they get through virtue and king. I'd label virtue as the number 3 fave if he qualifies simply because the man has made a provincial final 3 years in a row and finished 4th the year before that.. throw out form as far as virtue is concerned , when this part of the season rolls around he knows how to raise his game.and he's looking good in southerns right now, having outscored his first 2 opponents 13-3

womens wide is the tightest of any provincial playdown on the womens side. nedohin, carey, sweeting and kleibrink all have chances to win. sweeting is the favorite of course

in northern ontario the women have reached a final. lilly v.s horgan as expected. lilly had horgan on the edge of her rope in the round robin and leads the H2H so this should be a tight final. go with horgan but wouldnt surprise if lilly got through

in quebec menard is in the final and hasnt lost a game yet. predict ferland will get back to him for a 3rd try

lauren mann, the womens favorite is in the final and will be favorite . will play either perron or mastine. mann is 1-1 against both. still think mann will get through and quebec should have a strong rep at the scotties

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also forgot to mention that gerry galusha will rep the north west territories and try and win a spot through relegation. Sarah koltun also will be going back.

robert smallwood will rep yukon on the mens side. dont know of them . No word from jamie koe , i would have though the mens playdowns for north west territories would be done as well but i suspect he will be there.

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Congrats to team horgan on being the first northern ontario reps at the scotties. Feel bad for the lilly rink though. Had a bad pick in 9 when 2 looked pretty close to a sure thing and maybe it would have changed how things went in 10 if that hadnt happened

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new found land - hard to call. heather strong..if she's still curling. but this , like quebec is honestly completely wide open. heather is not as strong as she once was. devereaux maybe to get out again [/B][/QUOTE]

For 1: Newfoundland. (One word, shocking, I know) Heather is gonna get out again, even without sister Laura this year. She's a one woman show and she'll win the final today with her team of rec leaguers. Devereaux's team that was at the scotties broke up after last season. They're now slipped by Marie Christianson, Who were favorited but Marie struggled big time and they finished 2-2. Shelley Nichols' team is solid but Shelley didn't play this year thus the inexperience of Kelli Turpin skipping didn't hold up. Devereaux (now Cutris) finished 0-4. With sister Julie and two fresh faces out of juniors they just simply didnt perform well enough. Stacie can't throw last rock. So Guzzwell will play Strong today and I'm expecting Guzzwell to keep it close before Heather blows it open late in the game.

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you called it. a late steal seals the win for heather. congrats to her and the team

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quote:

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Originally posted by blyde76
new found land - hard to call. heather strong..if she's still curling. but this , like quebec is honestly completely wide open. heather is not as strong as she once was. devereaux maybe to get out again

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so scotties teams confirmed so far:

Northern ontario - Tracy Horgan
NorthWest Territories - Kerry Galusha
Yukon - Sarah Koltun
NewFoundland - Heather Strong
Canada - Rachel Homan
Quebec - Lauren Mann

The northern teams seemed to be done their playdowns so anyone with info on the team for Nunavut would be appreciated here

Last edited by misty1 on 01-18-15 at 12:03PM

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Updated my post above with Canada and team Quebec. congrats to Lauren Mann

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Pretty major upset in Nova Scotia too. Jamie Danbrook, who's had a pretty good season with his team fails to qualify for provincials. Thought they might be one of the favorites this year

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Menard cruises through the final and will get back to the brier for quebec

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quote:

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Originally posted by Manitoba Legend


I kinda knew Menard was virtually a lock.

Biggest disparity between the top team an the next group of any province!

I'd say the next biggest disparity is womens curling in Ontario. ie. Homan and the next group!

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Two-team race in Penetangueshene so far with Sherry Middaugh and Julie Hastings at 5-and-0 and two-game lead on the field. They meet in the final draw...

In Lacombe, Crystal Webster with an early steal of one on Chelsea Carey in what should be an interesting match...
(Scoreboard corrected -- game now 1-1).

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im not sure if im seeing this right but there are only 2 teams entered into the newfoundland provincial championship this year. That is basically a disaster since, in every previous year they have been able to get at least 5 or 6 teams to enter. what happened here?

the women had the usual number of teams

i dont even see any of the younger teams recently out of juniors here. and where is colin thomas? runner up the last 2 years

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misty1 - have a look at where the NFLD Tankard is being held. Labrador City is a long, expensive way to travel to get beat by Gushue. Gotta believe that has a lot to do with it.

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