Goodbye CCL, Hello Twin Cities!

Our 9-2 loss to Paul Hunt Jr. in the second round of the Capital Curling League playoffs meant we were unable to duplicate our great run of a year ago when we reached the semi-finals.

After a 7-6 win over Peter Richardson in the preliminaries, we faced a rink that had lost just three times all season. One of those losses was to us by a 9-6 scoreline.

But the 9-2 scoreline on Sunday was rather harsh as I felt we more than matched the regular season champions for the first four ends. We stole the first end and gave up two in the second but played a good third end only to pick up a single because of a Hunt double takeout.

There were chances to steal in four but they converted a take-out to go ahead 4-2. We were still confident we could battle back but it went downhill from that point. I don't think we made a single good shot in the fifth but just gave up one.

The sixth was more of the same only this time we paid the price. Peter missed a hit and roll attempt for one and Hunt stole four to put us out of our misery. It was disappointing but I think they will win the playoffs so the sting won't be as bad.

With the CCL season all but done, we now focus our attention to the Twin Cities Bonspiel, which gets started on Saturday at the five local rinks in the Halifax Regional Municipality. For those that do not know they are CFB Halifax, Halifax Curling Club, Mayflower, Dartmouth and Lakeshore.

We feel confident that we can match our successful run down in Meteghan where we reached the last eight. This is a 64 team field, sort of like the NCAA Basketball, but the level of competition will be a notch higher so we know we have to have our A game our we could be done early.

A 2-7 record in the last two years of the Twin Cities is not very good but our style of play has been known to throw several teams off so we think this is actually an advantage. It also doesn't hurt that 95% of the time you won't face somebody from your own club and believe me after facing the same teams 2 and 3 times a year we hope this doesn't happen.

To be honest, I get excited for bonspiels more than league play, the Thursday league has no playoffs and usually the CCL is done by now but because of the holidays falling on Sunday the year has been extended, I would also compare the Twin Cities to the English FA Cup in Soccer.

Some of you may be scratching your head wondering what I am talking about but the FA Cup is a tournament open to all amateur and professional clubs in the country. While the Twin Cities accepts just the first 64 teams the background of those involved is very different which we can't say for a Provincial Playdown or National Championship.

You will see established competitive teams that play in a super-league or the cash circuit, mixed teams, junior teams or average league teams like us involved in the Twin Cities, but just like the FA Cup it gives the little guy the opportunity to knock off a big scalp.

Do these 'little' teams honestly believe they can win the whole thing? Probably not. But for one weekend a year they can say they stepped on the ice with an established quartet of seasoned curlers and gave their best. And if they were to win or even compete with one of the big teams they could always look back and say how they held their own and how they look forward to doing it again next year.

The draw comes out Wednesday and I can hardly wait!

Cheers,
Terry
http://www.curlingrocks.com/team/rajuncadiens/

The playoffs are here!

The Capital Curling League playoffs are less than 24 hours away as we prepare for our first round match against Peter Richardson.

We finished with the same record during the regular season but we were awarded eighth place because we won the head-to-head match-up two games to zero. Wins of 11-2 and 8-3 were recorded but we expect a much tougher test tomorrow.

Going back a week ago and I thought the win over Sandy Chisholm was one of our better efforts of the season and it showed good character after the tough defeat to Darren MacInnis the week before when we blew a 6-2 lead and lost 7-6.

Chisholm took two in the opening end but we played very well and I thought if we kept that standard the rest of the way we would win but I didn't think it would be so convincing. Seven unanswered points sent us on our way and the teams traded singles over the last three ends to make the final 8-4 to the good guys.

It has been a rather inconsistent season but we have gone 4-2-1 [really it should be 5-1-1] in the last seven games after a 3-8 start and again I feel we are peaking at the right time. It was also a blessing that we avoided MacInnis in the opening round as we have yet to win against them in four attempts.

Paul Hunt Jr won the regular season title with a 14-3-2 record and it was much deserved while Chisholm, Jamie Mills and Stu Slaunwhite received the other first round byes. The Slaunwhite rink was the only ones to finish in the top four for the second consecutive year.

As I have stated before I think we can go deep in the post-season just like we did a year ago when we knocked out George Lilly 10-2 in the opening round and then surprised the second-seeded Slaunwhite 7-5 in the quarter-finals before bowing to Gary Welsh in the semis.

Not many people are talking about us but ever since our trip to Meteghan we feel we can beat anybody and except for a poor effort against Welsh a few weeks back, our Sunday league form is among the best at the moment.

Tomorrow also is a special day as it is our 100th match as a team and our record is 39-50-10 after the first 99 which is not overly great but we're not big headed and think we can win any purple hearts...some gold star patches would do!

Make no mistake the game faces will be on from the time we hit the ice...hopefully we can get the job done and say we're in the hat for the quarter-finals.

Cheers,
Terry
http://www.curlingrocks.com/team/rajuncadiens/