The Drayden Insurance Stick Bonspiel will bring together 24 teams Friday and Saturday at the St. Albert Curling Club.
Draw times for the two-person stick event are 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. The majority of the teams are male and some are mixed.
Teams from Stony Plain, Barrhead, Westlock, Edmonton and St. Albert are competing in the stakes bonspiel, which is basically a round robin format. Each team starts with the same $32 stake. If you win, you take half your opponent’s stake. If you lose, you lose half you stake.
Each team is guaranteed three games each day and the goal is for everybody to leave with some money in their pockets.
The team to beat is Milt McDougall, 77, and Bob McKenzie, 68, of St. Albert. The 2014 Alberta Sturling Championship winners represented St. Albert at the recent provincials in Wainwright and reached the playoff round where they lost their only game of the tournament.
The St. Albert duo are also gearing up for their fifth appearance at the Canadian Stick Curling Championships and nationals are the March 21 to 23 in Vernon.
Stick curling in St. Albert in the Friday league has grown from 28 teams three years ago to 60 last year and this season there are 72, plus 30 spares.
The oldest stick curler is 89-year-old Mel Younker, who turns 90 next month. Younker also curls in the 50-plus mixed league in St. Albert.
The Gazette will profile Younker’s longevity in the sport in Saturday’s edition.
A house full of curlers with St. Albert connections are competing at the northern Alberta men’s and women’s seniors (50-plus) playdowns, starting Thursday afternoon at the Ottewell.
Four of the curlers are in select company on the St. Albert Curling Club’s wall of fame in the Friendly Giant Lounge: Don McKenzie, second for Bob Genoway of the Saville; Jackie Rae Greening, St. Albert club president and third for Deb Santos of the Saville; Dan Holowaychuk, second for Wade White of the Saville; and skip Cathy King of the Saville.
Representing the St. Albert club is the Glen Hansen rink of third Doug McLennan, second Don Bartlett and lead George Parsons and the Teri Tralnberg rink of third Karen Stephen, second Tana Martin and lead Theresa Parsons.
Aimee Branting and Maureen Forbes are playing third and second, respectively for Cathy Craig of Jasper Place and Diana Backer is skipping a Sherwood Park rink.
The Hansen foursome are the defending provincial champions and fourth-place finishers at the 2015 nationals. They also qualified for the Boston Pizza Cup men’s provincials, Feb. 10 to 14 in Camrose, as the B-event winners at northerns.
In 2013, McLennan, Holowaychuk and Parsons were provincial champions and national bronze medallists curling with White and Greening and Backer were provincial champions and national silver medallists with Santos.
The men’s finals are 2:30 p.m. Friday in A, 7 p.m. Saturday in B and 6 p.m. Sunday in C. The women’s finals are 2 p.m. Saturday in A and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in B and 6 p.m. in C.
Visit www.northernalbertacurling.com for draw times and results.
Provincials are Feb. 17 to 21 at Coaldale, nationals are March 28 to April 2 in Digby, N.S. and worlds are April 16 to 23 in Karlstad, Sweden.
