The Wayne Tallon rink from the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton clinched first place in the round robin on Friday, sending New Brunswick directly to Sunday’s championship game at noon. Tallon, third stone Mike Kennedy, second stone Mike Flannery and lead Wade Blanchard will play the winner of Saturday’s semifinal game between the second- and third-place teams.
“I’m so proud of the way our team has been playing throughout the week, making a lot of great shots,” said Tallon. “When we’ve gotten in trouble, the team has not let down. The way that they have performed is just unbelievable.”
New Brunswick took a five-game winning streak and a 9-1 (won-lost) record into Friday night’s round-robin finale against British Columbia’s Craig Lepine at the Silver Fox Curling and Yacht Club.
“When you go to any national championship, you at least want to get a winning record,” said Tallon. “That was our first goal and once that was taken care of, the playoffs were our second goal.
“When you go to any national championship, you at least want to get a winning record. That was our first goal and once that was taken care of, the playoffs were our second goal. Now, we’ve gone the third step. . . a bye to the final.” - New Brunswick skip Wayne Tallon
“Now, we’ve gone the third step. . . a bye to the final.”
New Brunswick’s 7-4 win over Manitoba’s Bob Sigurdson and P.E.I.’s 8-7 win over Ontario’s Howard Sigurdson in the morning draw clinched top spot for Tallon and Co.
Tallon said two keys for his rink have “been picking up on the ice early” and matching their stones correctly.
“When both of those key issues are taken care of, then it’s just a matter of execution,” added Tallon.
Although New Brunswick has a bye on Saturday, Tallon is hoping the rink will be able to throw some rocks.
“When you are on a roll like this, you just want to keep on playing,” Tallon added. “That will be a key thing to do tomorrow (Saturday).”
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