Doug McLennan skipped his St. Albert rink to victory at the senior men’s city zone playdowns last weekend at the Ottewell Curling Club.
McLennan, third Wilf Gunderson, second Don Johnston and lead John McKenzie, defeated three teams from the Thistle in the A bracket.
“The boys played well. We’ve still got room for improvement but who doesn’t,” McLennan said.
In the A qualifier McLennan doubled Jeff Rubin 6-3. Tied at two after six ends, McLennan cracked three in seven and the next end stole one point. Rubin counted one in nine and in the last end ran out of rocks.
“We felt we had control throughout the game,” McLennan said.
The top team in the Tuesday night men’s league advanced to the final after beating Randy Detillieux 8-2 in six ends and Rick McKague 9-8 in an extra-end semifinal thriller. After a sloppy start McLennan trailed by four after five ends.
“We had a little conference and reminded everyone that it’s a 10-end game. We got our heads screwed back on and stole the 10th to tie and stole the 11th to win,” McLennan said.
Sixteen teams competed for six berths at northerns next week in Camrose. Provincials are Feb. 15-19 in Lethbridge.
The McLennan foursome is going to their second northerns in three years together as a team. They didn’t curl in the 50-plus playdowns last year because of volunteering conflicts with the Continental Cup of Curling in St. Albert.
“The guys are great. They never get down on themselves or the team. They trust my judgment, which in turn helps my confidence,” McLennan said. “We genuinely have fun on the ice too.”
