The final day of competition for the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Curling Championship got started a little earlier then had all week with 4 teams representing their provincial commands having to return to the Golden Ears Curling Club in Maple Ridge, BC for a possible 2 more games. With the team from the Nutana Branch 362 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan taking first place honours after their 5-2 record and on top of the standings it left New Brunswick, BC/Yukon, PEI and Quebec to decide who will be awarded 2nd place. All four teams finished the round robin portion with 4-3 records and were required to playoff to decide 2nd place. As a result of the team draw to the button competition held during the championship practice sessions the Moncton Branch team would curl against the team from Sherbrook and in the other tie breaker would be the team representing the Charlottetown legion branch against the Salmon Arm branch team.

With hammer New Brunswick we’re able to get their 2 points up the on board easily in the first end, Quebec replied with their own easy two points in the 2nd. Both teams had to work a little harder to earn their points from the 3rd end on, as New Brunswick had was forced to take one in the 3rd, but were able to steal one in the fourth. After a Quebec single New Brunswick got their 2 to give them a bit of a cushion and 6-3 lead after 6. Quebec made it close again in getting 2 points of their own in the 7th. After a blanked 8th end the Moncton team restored their 3 point advantage in the 9th and went on to steal a point in 10 to secure the win and the chance to play the winner of the BC/Yukon and PEI.

Before the start of the first tie breaker games the team representing the BC/Yukon command had to dip deep down to the bottom of the spare pool as their 3rd had to head home earlier in the morning. Now with a slightly different team line up then they had for the first 7 round robin games, it would take a bit of time for the Salmon Arm team to adjust while playing against PEI. Both teams were able to get their singles up on the score board quickly in the first and 2nd end. With hammer PEI scored 2 points in the 3rd end, BC scored 2 in the 4th then stole one point in the 5th. The Charlottetown branch team duplicated BC’s efforts in the 6th and 7th ends and took a 2 point lead into the 8th end. BC was forced to take a single in the 8th end, and then they stole a point in 9 to tie the game up. When it was time for PEI skip, Charlie Wilkinson to throw his last stone he didn’t have many options. BC with their last stone had just placed a guard in the top of the 8 ft guarding a rock in the left side of the 4 foot and touching a piece of the button. BC was also had a 3rd counting stone on the tee line in the left side of the 8ft. Not able to throw a double and be shot rock or wanting to try a tough triple. Wilkinson decided to draw through a small opening to get to the button. With great sweeping the PEI front end was able to get the rock within an inch of where they needed to get, it was a great shot with an unfortunate outcome. The steal of one allowed BC to move onto the 2nd time breaker game against New Brunswick.

After a short break and a fresh scrap of the ice, BC/Yukon and the New Brunswick teams returned to the ice to decide 2nd place for the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Curling Championship. Still not having their regular 3rd with them, the BC team was stuck with the same spare they had for their morning tie breaker game. As the games played earlier in the day the first two ends were put on the board quickly with BC and New Brunswick exchanging singles. In the 3rd end the Moncton team had a couple of untimely picks go against them and they gave a steal of one to BC. The 4th end was blanked then BC stole a point in 5th and 6th ends. New Brunswick worked hard to get their two points in the 7th end to get within one point of the team from Salmon Arm. The BC team scored 3 points in 8 to take a 7-3 lead. With lots of rocks in play BC was able to get a rock covered to give New Brunswick skip Barry Lewis a tough raise takeout. The shot didn’t come up as planned and BC stole another single point. That was enough for New Brunswick and the BC team won 8-3. The BC/Yukon Provincial Command represented by the Salmon Arm branch 62 team of skip Gord Duplisse, 3rd Randy Jenkins, 2nd Eric Breitkruez, lead John Danks and 5th (spare) Fred Fox are the 2nd place finishers at the 2009 Legion Dominion Curling Championship.

After a wonderful 6 days of camaraderie, good competition and a heck of a lot of fun, the 2009 Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Curling Championships have now come to a close. With teams from across the country starting to leave Maple Ridge early Friday morning and late into the evening all those involved from the teams, to the volunteers of Maple Ridge Legion branch 88, will be left with fond memories.

With the competition side of the Championship finishing up earlier Thursday afternoon with the 2nd place finisher being decided, the Awards Banquet Thursday evening was the last official function left to take place. It was a nice evening thanks too Kristina’s Kitchen and their terrific meal, great decorations for the tables, good speeches and appreciated thank you’s. All of this was topped off with the award presentations to the team from Saskatchewan as the 2009 Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Curling Champions and to BC/Yukon, the 2nd place finishers.

The teams went upstairs to the Branch lounge and participated in the Karaoke taking place. It was a nice finish to a great week, with lots of heartfelt goodbyes and hopes to see each other again in the future.