The last move in Sunday’s chess match crowned Mike Hutchings the king of the St. Albert OK Tire Men’s Bonspiel.
A tricky tap back by Doug McLennan with the hammer in the eighth end missed the mark and Hutchings stole the game-winning point for his third-straight bonspiel title at the St. Albert Curling Club.
“We got lucky on the last one. We made them throw a tough one,” said Hutchings after the entertaining 3-2 decision.
The game-breaking play allowed his Boreal Laser foursome of third Bryan Connell, second Brian McPherson and lead Derek Skarban to pocket $1,055 as the winner of the 32-rink competition.
“To win three in a row is cool, but just to win it for this season as we gear up for zones and playdowns coming up is pretty good as well. We put in a solid weekend and worked through some games where maybe we didn’t play our best,” said Hutchings, who skipped a rink to the 2008 men’s provincials.
An early rock behind coverage by Hutchings in the eighth led to more stones in play than in previous ends.
“We needed to steal so we went in there and guarded it up. They missed a couple of peels and that kept some guards out there,” said the physics teacher and curling coach at Bellerose Composite High School.
McLennan's provincial calibre 50-plus senior rink of third Wilf Gunderson, second Don Johnston and lead John McKenzie blanked the seventh end to set up the last-shot scenario in eight.
“Obviously the last end didn’t go how I would like. You would like to keep it as clean as you can but sometimes if there are a couple of shots here and there you can’t do that,” said McLennan.
His first delivery in eight opened the door for Hutchings to regain shot rock.
“He was a little bit wide on his first shot and that gave us the opportunity to hit and roll in to force him to a more difficult shot,” Hutchings said.
McLennan rolled the dice after Hutchings put a rock close to the button.
“I couldn’t chase him so I had to try the bump and it didn’t curl,” McLennan said. “My first one sort of ticked me off more than anything because it didn’t move at all. If I make the draw even half buried like he ended up, then it’s all different.”
The final was too close to call because of missed opportunities by both teams.
“Neither one of us were really able to capitalize,” said McLennan. “I had two shots for deuces early. He had two shots for deuces and missed them both. I guess we were bound and determined to keep it tight for the fans.”
He blanked the first two ends before counting one in three. The teams then traded singles until seven when the contest really tightened up.
“It was a struggle,” said Hutchings. “We had control the majority of the game, but couldn’t make some key shots and they got to stay in it. We had some chances to open it up and never made it, but we stuck with it and made the one that counted, I guess.”
His Edmonton Super League team advanced to the final after defeating Keith, Watkins, Sherwin and Appleman in the A bracket.
“We got better as the weekend went on,” Hutchings said. “Today we just struggled a little bit with ice and weight but kept with it and kept it close.”
Hutchings iced a different line-up than the team that defeated Russ LeMessurier of Spruce Grove 5-4 with last shot in the 2009 final and Don Palmer of Sherwood Park 5-3 for the 2008 title. Skarban curled for Hutchings two years ago and McPherson played on the first championship-winning rink.
“Every year it gets tougher to win this,” said Hutchings, the 1999 provincial high school champion representing Morinville Community High School.
McLennan gave Hutchings a stiff challenge after sweeping aside Ricioppo, Coverdale, Harper and Guidinger en route to collecting $675 in prize money.
“We played pretty even-up with him. We’re not disappointed by any stretch,” said McLennan.
His St. Albert Tuesday night rink is gearing up for the senior zones in January in pursuit of its second berth at northerns in three years.
The veteran foursome also has their sights set on dethroning the Jamie King rink. The 2011 Tournament of Champions winners have captured the President’s Cup six straight years in the St. Albert men’s club playoffs.
“We’ve already had more games together than in previous years so I’m pretty happy with how we’re going,” McLennan said.
The traditional November bonspiel was the biggest in recent years with a waiting list to fill the 32-team quota. There was no men’s bonspiel last year because of renovations to the front part of the building. The 2009 event featured 22 rinks.
“It was a great spiel. We heard lots of compliments about the new building. The ice was fine. The volunteers were great. It was really buzzing here, which was good to see,” said McLennan, the club’s past president.
HOG LINES: In the B final, Keith walked away with $525 after sliding past Krovantka. Guidinger earned $310 by beating Watkins in the C final. Holmes took home $235 after downing Hoover in the D final.
The winner of four winter tires donated by St. Albert OK Tire was Mike Howes.
