Thunder Bay's Team Trevor Bonot (photo: Curling Canada) opens their season at the Hack 2 House Alberta Curling Series Major in Beaumont. Bonot opens play against Andrew Hodgson of Red Deer today at 7 pm Mountain Time, in the opening event of the Alberta Curling Series season. The Alberta Curling Series is a collection of 10 men's, women's and mixed doubles events throughout the fall tour season hosted by the Beaumont Curling Club and streamed by Curling Stadium to Youtube. Bonot, with Mike McCarville, Jordan Potts and Kurtis Byrd, finished 74th on the World Curling Team Rankings last season, posting a 39-18 record. Bonot played mainly on a regional schedule, adding one major event with the Western Showdown in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, ahead of the playdown schedule. "Last season was amazing for us; we accomplished a lifelong dream of earning that purple heart," said Bonot in preparation for their first event. Their big breakthrough came last January in Little Current on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario where Bonot surprised Tanner Horgan in the Final of the Northern Ontario Tankard. Bonot advanced to the Montana's Brier in Regina, where they posted a 5-3 record, finishing fourth and just missing out on the playoffs by one game. "Competing at the Brier the way we did helped give us a belief in ourselves that we can play with the best." "But we know that last year is past, and we can't stay living in that moment, " continued Bonot. "We are looking at this year as a time to work hard, grow as a team, and hopefully improve as much as possible." "We have really changed our approach, but we are playing more and earlier." Last season's first event was the St. Paul Cash Spiel in Minnesota in early October. "We still plan to do the work at home like we always have but getting more big games is important for us." "We would really like to get back to that provincial final and play well." The Northern Ontario Tankard goes January 21-26 at the Port Arthur Curling Centre in Thunder Bay. "The Brier is the ultimate goal for the season, but we aren't getting ahead of ourselves." |