February 25, 2008…An incredible field, including Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, fresh from winning the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, is set to contest the sixth edition of the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, February 27-March 2 at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops.
Twenty of the best men’s and women’s teams in the country will compete, with the winning teams each receiving $25,000, but, even more importantly, qualifying as members of Team North America (vs Team World) for the 2008 Continental Cup in Camrose, Alberta, December 18-21, earning berths into the 2009 Canada Cup as defending champions and becoming part of the pool of 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams eligible for the 2009 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials.
The women’s line-up is headed by defending ‘Cup’ champion Jennifer Jones, who won her second Canadian women’s curling championship by defeating Calgary’s Shannon Kleibrink, 6-4 in Sunday’s final in Regina. The win by Jones also cemented a spot in the 2009 Trials (site and date to be announced), as the first of four teams to earn direct berths, rather than just becoming eligible for the pre-Trials event. Jones qualified by winning three of the specified events…the 2007 Players’ Championship, 2007 Strauss Canada Cup and the 2008 Hearts.
Kleibrink, the 2006 Olympic bronze medallist, will also compete this week, as will Kelowna’s Kelly Scott, the 2007 Canadian and world champion. If Scott wins the Strauss Canada Cup, which is being presented once again by Aquafina, she, too, will earn a berth directly into the Trials, after capturing the Canadian and world women’s titles last year.
The other women’s teams are skipped by Calgary’s Cheryl Bernard and Heather Rankin, Edmonton’s Cathy King and Kristie Moore, Stefanie Lawton and Sherry Anderson of Saskatoon and Janet Harvey of Winnipeg. Kleibrink and King are also previous Strauss Canada Cup winners, in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
The men’s field consists of reigning world champion Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ontario, Edmonton’s Kevin Martin, Randy Ferbey and Kevin Koe, 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Pat Simmons of Davidson, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg’s former world champions Jeff Stoughton and Kerry Burtnyk, along with Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers.
Five teams - Burtnyk, Gushue, Howard, Martin and Simmons - will also compete in the upcoming Tim Hortons Brier, March 8-16 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
A ‘Cup’ win by Howard will give his team a berth directly into the Trials as well, since he won last year’s Tim Hortons Brier and Ford World Men’s.
Record six-time Brier winner and four-time world champion Ferbey has won three Strauss Canada Cups, including last year, while 2002 Olympic silver medallist and two-time Brier winner Martin has taken the other two.
The Cup teams are seeded into two five-team groups and play a round robin within the group plus a crossover game against an opponent in the other group. The top two in each pool then advance to a crossover Page Playoff system, whereby the group winners meet in one game (winner to final, loser to semi-final), while the group runners-up meet in another game (winner to semi-final, loser eliminated).
In women’s, Pool A consists of Jones, Bernard, Anderson, King and Harvey, while Pool B has Kleibrink, Scott, Lawton, Rankin and Moore. In men’s, Pool C has Martin, Koe, Stoughton, Simmons and McEwen, while Pool D lists Howard, Ferbey, Burtnyk, Gushue and Carruthers.
CBC-TV will televise the 1 vs 1 Page Playoff games on Saturday, March 1 and the women’s and men’s finals on Sunday, March 2, in a special five-hour telecast. CurlTV (www.curltv.com <http://www.curltv.com> ) is also providing event coverage to its subscribers.
In addition to first place being worth $25,000, the second place finishers get $15,000, third place receives $10,000 while fourth place teams earn $5,000. Each round robin victory is also worth $800.
Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-374-9200 or 1-888-226-2288, online at ticketmaster.ca or at the Interior Savings Centre box office.
The Strauss Canada Cup (http://seasonofchampions.ca/2008canadacup/index.asp <http://seasonofchampions.ca/2008canadacup/index.asp> ) is the fourth of six events in the 2007-08 Season of Champions in Canada. The 2007 Continental Cup, held in Medicine Hat, Alberta in December was the first, followed by the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Sault Ste. Marie, February 3-10 and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Regina, February 16-24. Following the Strauss Canada Cup are the Tim Hortons Brier, March 8-16 in Winnipeg and Ford World Women’s, March 22-30 in Vernon, British Columbia.
This is the last year for the Strauss Canada Cup in Kamloops. Next year, the ‘Cup’ moves to Yorkton, Saskatchewan, March 18-22.
Draw results are instantly available at www.curling.ca <http://www.curling.ca> .
Attached are the rosters and draw.
2008 Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, February 27-March 2
Interior Savings Centre, Kamloops, BC
MEN'S TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second and lead)
Team Burtnyk - Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Kerry Burtnyk, Dan Kammerlock, Richard Daneault, Rob Meakin
Team Carruthers - Beausejour Curling Club, Beausejour, Manitoba
Reid Carruthers, Jason Gunnlaugson, Justin Richter, Tyler Forrest
Team Ferbey - Granite Curling Club, Edmonton, Alberta
Randy Ferbey (third stones), David Nedohin (fourth stones), Scott Pfeifer, Marcel Rocque
Team Gushue - Bally Haly Golf & Curling Club, St. John’s, Newfoundland
Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Chris Schille, David Noftall
Team Howard - Coldwater & District Curling Club, Coldwater, Ontario
Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing, Craig Savill
Team Koe - Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
Kevin Koe (third stones), Blake MacDonald (fourth stones), Carter Rycroft, Nolan Thiessen
Team Martin - Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Ben Hebert
Team McEwen - Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Mike McEwen, B.J. Neufeld, Matt Wozniak, Denni Neufeld
Team Simmons - Davidson Curling Club, Davidson, Saskatchewan
Pat Simmons, Jeff Sharp, Gerry Adam, Steve Laycock
Team Stoughton - Charleswood Curling Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jeff Stoughton, Ryan Fry, Rob Fowler, Steve Gould
2008 Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, February 27-March 2
Interior Savings Centre, Kamloops, BC
WOMEN'S TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second and lead)
Team Anderson - CN Curling Club, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Sherry Anderson, Kim Hodson, Heather Walsh, Donna Gignac
Team Bernard - Calgary Curling Club and Calgary Winter Club, Calgary, Alberta
Cheryl Bernard, Susan O’Connor, Carolyn Darbyshire, Cori Bartel
Team Harvey - Fort Rouge Curling Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Janet Harvey, Cherie-Ann Loder, Kristin Loder, Carey Kirby
Team Jones - St. Vital Curling Club, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jennifer Jones, Cathy Overton-Clapham, Jill Officer, Dawn Askin
Team King - Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
Cathy King, Lori Olson, Raylene Rocque, Tracy Bush
Team Kleibrink - Calgary Winter Club, Calgary, Alberta
Shannon Kleibrink, Amy Nixon, Bronwen Saunders, Chelsey Bell
Team Lawton - CN Curling Club, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Stefanie Lawton, Marliese Kasner, Sherri Singler, Lana Vey
Team Moore - Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, Alberta
Kristie Moore (third rocks), Heather Nedohin (fourth rocks), Beth Iskiw, Pam Appelman
Team Rankin - Calgary Winter Club, Calgary, Alberta
Heather Rankin, Deanna Doig, Heather Moulding, Kyla MacLachlan
Team Scott - Kelowna Curling Club, Kelowna, British Columbia
Kelly Scott, Jeanna Schraeder, Sasha Carter, Renee Simons
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