Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 99

FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2005 17 after skipping Nova Scotia in 2000 (3-8 in Saskatoon) and 2002 (6-5 in Calgary) Flerruning, who skipped his province to victory in the 1999 and 2003 Canadian mixed championships, returns to the Brier for a fourth time. He skipped Nova Scotia in 1998 (5-6 in Winnipeg) and 1999 (7-5 in Edmonton) and played third for Mark Dacey in 2001. Burgess will also be making his fourth Brier appearance, having played second for New Brunswick skip Jim Sullivan in 1990 (finishing runner-up to Ontario's Ed Werenich), third for Nova Scotia's Bruce Lohnes in 1995 and third for Shawn Adams in 2002. Former Canadian and world junior champion Kelly Mittelstadt, who played third for Alberta's Colin Davison in 1994, makes his Brier debut. Nova Scotia has won three Briers, the inaugural one in 1927 (Murray Macneill), 1951 (Don Oyler), along with Dacey's win last year.

ONTARIO Wayne Mddaugh, Graeme McCarrel, Joe Frans, Scott Bailey St. George's Golf and Country Qub, Toronto )r the Brier from all across Canada ozen If fl i Two-time world champion Wayne Middaugh pulled out some last-end magic to edge former teammate Glenn Howard 8-7 in the Ontario provincial final, earning his spot in the 2005 Brier field. Middaugh and his Toronto St. George's Golf and Country dub teammates Graeme McCarrel, Joe Frans and Scott Bailey were trailing bitter rival Howard 7-5 after eight ends in the provincial final. Buthemanageda deuce in the ninth end to tie it, then stole the winning point in the 10th to advance to the Edmonton Brier.

Middaugh had completed the 10-team round robin in first place with an 8-1 mark, but lost the Page Playoff 1 vs. I7 i i 2 game to the second-place Howard foursome. That meant Middaugh had to face another former teammate, Peter Corner, in the semifinal, which he won 9-4, setting up the rubber match with Howard, whom he'd beaten 6-2 in the round robin. It will be Middaugh's seventh Brier appearance but his first since he went 9-4 in Ottawa in 2001, winding up third. He won the 1993 Brier and Worlds as a second for Glenn's brother Russ Howard, then skipped Ontario to victory at the 1998 Brier in Winnipeg.

Middaugh then went on to win the world title in Kamloops. Middaugh, McCarrel and Bailey have been together for 11 years, while Frans joined them two years ago. McCarrel will be making his fourth Brier appearance, after playing second for Paul Savage in 1988 and third for Middaugh in 1998 and 2001. Frans played third for Ontario's John Morris at the 2002 Brier in Calgary, finishing second to Alberta's Randy Ferbey. This will be Bailey's third Brier appearance (1998, 2001), all as a lead.

Ontario has won eight Briers since 1927, the last by Middaugh in 1998. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND Rod MacDonald, Kevin Champion, Phil Gorveatt, Mike Dillon Charlottetown Curling Club "4: Skip Rod MacDonald and his Charlottetown Curling Club team of Kevin Champion, Phil Gorveatt and Mike Dillon, in their first season together, won the Prince Edward Island Labatt Tankard on Feb. 13 in O'Leary, edging clubmate John Likely 7-6 in an extra end. MacDonald, the round-robin leader with a 5-2 record in the eight-team affair, made a hit and stick with his last stone after Likely had taken a deuce in the 10th to force an extra end. Likely had fought his way through to the final from a four-way tie for second, winning a tie-breaker, then the semifinal 9-7 over Robert Shaw, before bowing THE CANADIAN PRESS.

FILE out to MacDonald. This will be the fourth trip to the Brier for MacDonald. He's made an appearance in each of the previous three decades, playing third in 1978, lead in 1981 and third again in 1996, all for P.E.I. skip Peter MacDonald. Champion, Gorveatt and Dillon played third, second and lead, respectively, for Robert Campbell at the 2003 Brier in Halifax.

P.E.I. has never won the Brier since joining the competition in 1936. is snapped last year with a loss to Nova Scotia in the Brier final. Ferbey will be out to avenge that loss this year. QUEBEC A Jean-Michel Menard, Francois Roberge, Eric Sylvain, Maxime Elmaleh Victoria Curling Club, Ste-Foy, and Etchemin Curling dub, St-Romuald Bay's Bryan Burgess 7-4 in the semifinal to earn a rematch with Phillips.

It will be a Tim Hortons Brier debut for all but third Jon Solberg, who skipped YukonNWT to a 3-8 finish at the 2002 Brier in Calgary. Jakubo will be trying to win a fifth Brier for Northern Ontario. Al Hackner won a memorable extra-end final over Alberta's Pat Ryan in 1985 in Moncton while the other victories came in 1982 (Hackner), 1975 (Bill Tetley) and 1950 (Tom Ramsay). NORTHWEST TERRITORIESYUKON Stev Moss, Darcy Moshenko, Rod Pielak, Jim Sosiak Yellowknife Curling Club, Yellowknife Jean-Michel Menard and his team of Francois Roberge, Eric Sylvain and Maxime Elmaleh, in their second year together, went undefeated at the Quebec men's provincial curling championship in Grand-Mere, beating Robert Desjardins 8-4 in the Feb. 13th final.

The team, representing both the Victoria Curling Club in Ste Foy and the Etchemin Curling Club in St-Romuald, had finished the round robin in Section A with a perfect 7-0 record. Menard then defeated unbeaten Section leader Claude Brazeau Jr. 9-2 in the crossover Page Playoff game to advance to the final. Desjardins, runner-up in Section Steve Moss and his Yellowknife Curling Club team of Darcy Moshenko, Rod Pielak and Jim Sosiak celebrated their first year together by winning the NWTYukon Labatt Tankard in Yellowknife on Feb. 13, beating clubmate Peter ODriscoll 5-4 in an extra end.

At the end of the four-team double round-robin, three teams Moss ODriscoll and Chad Cowan of White horse all sported 4-2 records. Moss faced Cowan in the first playoff game, managing a 6-3 win. He carried that momentum into the final, stealing singles in the 10th and 11th ends for the victory. It will be Moss's fifth Brier appearance, but first since going 0-11 in Ot made his way to the final by beating Simon Hebert 9-6, then Brazeau 9-4. But he proved no match for Menard in the final.

Menard, who skipped Quebec to victory in the 2001 Canadian mixed championships in Weyburn, played second for Guy Hemmings at the 2003 Brier, while Roberge, Syhain and Elmaleh played together in the 2000 and 2002 Briers, as skip, second and third, respectively. Roberge went 3-8 in 2002 in Calgary after a third-place finish (9-4) in 2000 in Saskatoon. Menard was also a fifth player for Roberge's team in 2002, playing one game, as second, during the week. Quebec has a single Brier triumph to its name, that by Jim Ursel in 1977 in Montreal. Colourful skip Guy Hemmings has twice been second, however, in losing back-to-back Brier finals in 1998 and 1999 to Ontario's Wayne Middaugh and Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton.

SASKATCHEWAN Pat Simmons, Jeff Sharp, Chris I Iaichert, Ben I Iebert Davidson Curling dub, Davidson tawa in 2001 as skip for the northern representatives. He also skipped in 1992 when his team went 3-8 in Regina, played third for skip Don Strang in 1983 and second for skip Trevor Alexander in 1993. Moshenko makes his second trip to the Brier after playing third for Moss in 2001. Pielak and Sosiak are Brier rookies. YukonNWT has yet to win the Brier since joining the competition in 1975.

Ironically, YukonNWT enjoyed its best result in that first year, with Don Twa skipping the team to an 8-3 record and second place. NOVA SCOTIA Shawn Adams, Paul Hemming, Craig Burgess, Kelly Mittelstadt Mayflower Curling Club, Halifax p1 vm-ST-" i. .4 a 1 Sharpshooter Pat Simmons advanced to the Edmonton Brier in style, executing an angle-raise takeout in an extra end in the Saska tchewan final to edge Daryl Williamson 7-5. Simmons and his young Davidson Curling flub team of Jeff Sharp, Chris Haichert and Ben Hebert will all be making their first trip to the Brier. After four teams finished the nine-team round robin at 5 3, Williamson was awarded first place and a bye to the Saskatchewan provincial final.

Simmons, however, had to fight his way to the final game, first defeating Dale Craig of Saskatoon 6-3, then outlasting Joel Jordison of Moose Jaw 4-3 in the semifinal Trie third time was a charm for Nova Scotia's Shawn Adams, whose third win over defending Brier champion Mark Dacey earned him a provincial tide and a trip to the Edmonton Brier. Adams, now representing the Mayflower Curling Club in Halifax, had won the A and finals of the 16-team triple knockout provincials over Dacey, by scores of 6-4 and 7-5. Dacey, facing an uphill climb to get back to the Brier, took the final 6-3 over Mark Kehoe. All that meant Dacey would have had to defeat Adams twice to retain his tide. He almost did.

Down 6-1 after giving up four to Adams in the fourth end, the Canadian champion fought back with a deuce in the fifth, then steals of In the final, Simmons allowed Williamson a steal of one in the 10th end when he couldn't make a double, before executing the dramatic angle-raise takeout in the extra end for the win. While all four team members are Brier rookies, Haichert curled third for Saskatoon's Steve Laycock when they won the 2003 Canadian and world junior championships. Saskatchewan has won seven Briers, the last bv Rick Folk way back in 1980. Four of those wins came courtesy of Regina's Ernie Richardson, in 1959, 1960, 1962 and 1963. one in the sixth, seventh and eighth ends to tie the contest at six.

But Adams took three in the ninth to seal thedeaL Adams is joined by Paul Hemming at third, Craig Burgess at second and Kelly Mittelstadt at lead in their first season together. Adams, who won the 1993 Canadian junior title, is making his third Brier appearance,.