John Graham, Director of Public Affairs & Government Relations, Safeway Operations, Sobey’s Inc. has been made an Honourary Life Member of CurlManitoba. CurlManitoba President Kim Warburton made the presentation prior to the Safeway Championship final game Sunday afternoon in Brandon. Warburton cited Graham’s 20+ year career as CurlManitoba’s primary contact with Safeway/Sobey’s, his support for the sport of curling, and his leadership in helping CurlManitoba grow its provincial men’s championship event, the Safeway Championship (formerly the Safeway Select) from a provincial event into one of the world’s premier curling championship events. Graham briefly expressed his appreciation for the honour and then, typical of a man who doesn’t want the spotlight shined upon him, he turned the spotlight back to the competing Carruthers and McEwen teams as they prepared for their Safeway Championship final game showdown.
Top seed Mike McEwen and #3 Reid Carruthers have advanced to the final four championship round of the Safeway Championship with wins on the morning draw at Westman Communications Group Place. McEwen was finally pushed to ten ends but came away with an 8-5 win over Jared Kolomaya while Carruthers was an 8-end winner 7-3 over Team Dunstone/Jason Gunnlaugson. On the B-Side of the playoff round, Jeff Stoughton beat Kelly Marnoch 9-3. Stoughton will play Kolomaya at 2pm today. And Braden Calvert’s remarkable run continued. Second Lucas Van Den Bosch made a draw to the button behind cover and that rock held up to give the Canadian Junior Champions a steal coming home for a 6-5 win over Travis Bale/Evan Martin. That sets up a Calvert-Team Dunstone match for a spot in the championship round. The McEwen-Carruthers game will be featured on Sportsnet One tonight at 7pm with Rob Faulds, Jennifer Jones and Ray Turnbull describing the play. ******************************* . The Sportsnet broadcast schedule will be as follows: February 7th 7pm local/8pm ET – Sportsnet One February 8th 9am local/10am ET Semifinal – Sportsnet One (bonus coverage on Sportsnet East/Ontario 11am – 12:30pm ET) – February 8th 2:30pm local/3:30pm ET Final – Sportsnet West (for viewers in MB), East, Ontario 9
The 2015 Safeway Championship Awards & More All-Star Team was introduced before the evening Championship Round draw at Westman Communications Group Place at Brandon’s Keystone Centre. Recognizing a dominant performance which has given them a perfect 5-0 record going into the Saturday evening Championship Round, the members of the Manitoba Curling Media Association have selected all four members of Team McEwen as the Safeway Championship Awards & More All-Stars. It is the first time skip Mike McEwen has been named to the All-Star Team at the Safeway Championship. Third BJ Neufeld is recognized as an All-Star for the second time. Second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld were named All-Stars for the fourth time. Pictured are Kevin Olszewski, Mike McEwen, BJ Neufeld, Matt Wozniak, Denni Neufeld, Craig Baker *************************** The Pat Spiring Memorial Award is presented annually to a Safeway Championship competitor who, in the opinion of his fellow competitors, exemplifies excellence combined with competitive spirit, love of the game, and respect for the spirit and traditions of curling. To receive the 2015 recognition, the curlers have selected Kelly Robertson-Neepawa. Robertson was also a co-recipient of the inaugural award in 2014, with Brandon’s Allan Lyburn. ******************* On behalf of CurlManitoba and Selkirk Curling Club President Andy Rowney, CurlManitoba Executive Director Craig Baker has announced plans are being finalized for the 2016 Safeway Championship to played at the Selkirk Recreation Centre Complex. An agreement in principle has been reached between CurlManitoba and Selkirk Curling Club. As the agreement is finalized, details including the date will be announced.