 Alberta's Aaron Sluchinski rink (Photo: Curling Canada) kept their playoff hopes alive with an overtime victory Wednesday morning. By: Cameron Sallaj Sitting 2-3 after five days of competition in Regina, Alberta's Aaron Sluchinski rink of Airdrie sat seventh in the Pool B standings. The team needed to get on a winning streak to make the playoffs, beginning with a battle against Quebec's Julien Tremblay in Draw 13. The Alberta champion squad with Sluchinski, Jeremy Harty, Kerr Drummond and Dylan Webster earned a fast start in their match against the Quebec team, swiping three in the second end. After giving up two in the third, the team regained their three-point lead with a deuce in four, taking a 5-2 lead into the second half of the game. After the break, however, Team Tremblay came out firing. The team, with Jean-Michel Arsenault, Jesse Mullen and Philippe Brassard scored two in the sixth end before taking a steal of one in seven to tie the score at five. Things got better for the Quebec champions in the eighth end when the team stole two to take their first lead of the game. Facing two, Aaron Sluchinski's draw went to the back twelve-foot. After a measure, it was confirmed to be two for the Tremblay rink, giving them a two-point lead with two ends left in regulation play. The Alberta rink fought back in the ninth end with their second three ender of the game thanks to two great shots by skip Sluchinski. After drawing in to sit two on his first, he played a soft weight tap on his second rock to bring three into play, regaining an 8-7 lead headed to ten. With Quebec sitting two on his last, Sluchinski needed a game saving draw to the button to force a difficult shot from Tremblay. He executed the shot to perfection, burying around the center guard to lie one. Still, Julien Tremblay had a tap-shot to score two and the win, but his stone couldn't move Sluchinski's draw far enough, only counting one and sending the game into overtime. In eleven, a double takeout by the Alberta skip on his first left him an open clearing shot for the win on his last which he made. The team from Airdrie counted two in the extra end to take the crucial 10-8 win and improve their record to 3-3. In their final two round robin games, Team Sluchinski faces the Northwest Territories' Jamie Koe and Team Canada's Brad Gushue, both of whom are ahead of them in the standings. Wins in both games could be enough for the team to earn a spot in the championship round. Team Tremblay dropped to 2-4 with the loss and are now eliminated from contention. They close out their round robin against Nova Scotia's Matt Manuel and Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen. Elsewhere in Draw 13, Saskatchewan's McEwen secured the first playoff spot out of Pool B with a 10-2 thrashing of the Northwest Territories. Team Canada downed Prince Edward Island 11-3 while Nunavut recorded their first victory of the event 7-5 over Nova Scotia. Action from the 2024 Montana's Brier continues Wednesday morning at 2:00 PM Central Time. In the featured game, Manitoba's Matt Dunstone looks to bounce back from a loss to Bottcher Tuesday night while Ontario's Scott Howard tries to keep his playoff hopes alive. |
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Brendan Bottcher (photo: Stan Fong) is moving on from now former teammates Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, announced Tuesday.
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