St. Albert rinks skipped by Wade White and Deb Santos sweep into action today against the host province at the senior 50-plus nationals at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside, PEI.
White, third Doug McLennan, second Dan Holowaychuk and lead George Parsons curl against Rod MacDonald of Charlottetown this afternoon.
Santos, third Jackie Rae Greening, second Diana Backer and lead Glenna Rubin play Nola Murphy of Summerside in the morning draw and are tonight they face Catherine Derick of Quebec.
The top three rinks in the 12-team men’s and women’s draws make the playoffs. The finals are next Sunday.
Visit www.curling.ca for schedules and results.
The winners will represent Canada at worlds next year at a site and date to be announced by the World Curling Federation.
Last year Cathy King of Edmonton and Rob Armitage of Red Deer were crowned Canadian champions with victories over Newfoundland/Labrador in the finals.
Last month at the provincial finals at the Granite, Santos knocked off King 7-6 by stealing the extra end and White crushed Brad Hannah, the 2011 provincial champion and national finalist, 9-2 in eight ends.
The opening game for the St. Albert Flyers at the midget 15 provincials is 8:30 p.m. Wednesday against the CCRA Blues at Terwillegar Recreation Centre.
Thursday the North Cup playoff winners in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League play the Sherwood Park Squires at 11:15 a.m. and SSAC Bulldogs at 8:30 p.m. at Terwillegar.
Friday the Flyers skate against the Lethbridge Hurricanes at 11 a.m. and the AC Avalanche at 8:15 p.m. at Terwillegar.
Saturday’s semifinal is 11 a.m. and Sunday’s final is 2 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
Last year the Flyers finished third at provincials.
In league play the Flyers captured the north pennant at 21-6-5, three points less than the 23-5-4 Red Deer Chiefs from the south division for the overall regular-season crown.
The Flyers are 17-1-3 in their last 21 games after repeating as the North Cup playoff champions following a dramatic 4-3 double overtime win over the Squires in Sunday’s tournament final in Camrose.
The Flyers also needed two extra periods to defeat the KC Centennials 4-3 in the semifinals.
The Flyers advanced into the playoffs after one win and two ties in pool A round-robin action.
