麻豆社区

Pat Paslawski and his Yukon rink have had their eyes set on the Dominion Curling Club Championship ever since its inception in 2009.

The 47-year-old Whitehorse skip had experienced the national curling showcase that is the Brier in 1999, serving as third for Orest Peech's Yukon rink in Edmonton.

Team Yukon went 0-11 that year and watched from the stands as Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton won his second national men's curling title.

"As club curlers, before Dominions came along, the only thing we could aim for was the Brier,鈥� Paslawski told the Star yesterday from Thunder Bay, Ont. "But at the Brier, we'd just go out and get our butts kicked for seven days in a row.

"We've been trying to get to the Dominions for four years now,鈥濃�坔e explained. "We just want to go out here and have fun.鈥�

The 2013 Dominion Curling Club Championship got underway in Thunder Bay yesterday, with both Yukon rinks scoring wins over their rivals from Northwest Territories.

The men's rink took their match 11-5, while Nicole Baldwin's women's rink won a much closer game 6-5.

The Fort William Curling Club is hosting the event, which runs Nov. 18 to 23.

This morning, the men's team dropped their second game against the defending champions from Alberta by a score of 6-2.

The annual tournament pits the top club curling rinks from every province and territory against one another in a battle for the national crown.

This year, the Yukon is represented by two Whitehorse Curling Club rinks, skipped by Paslawski and Baldwin.

Each rink won the territorial club titles held in Mayo in April.

Paslawski is joined by third Doug Hamilton, second Alexx Peech and lead Trent Derkatch.

The rink curls together locally on Tuesday nights, and then hits the ice again Thursdays with different teams.

Paslawski said he has curled with Hamilton and Derkatch for the past five years, but the closest they came to the Dominion championship was a runner-up finish four years ago in Watson Lake. Adding Peech to the roster last year proved to be a game-changer.

"We were looking for the right guy, and Alexx put our team over the top,鈥� the skip admitted.

Now that they have finally made it to the national stage, Paslawski said they have set a goal of high hopes and low expectations.

"If magic happens, and we get into the playoffs, that would exceed our expectations,鈥濃�坔e said.

"We face both Alberta and Manitoba ... We'll have to curl lights out and see what happens.鈥�

One factor that may play into his team's favour is the ice conditions, Paslawski said. The ice is very fast and has rocks curling a lot, which is similar to the ice in Whitehorse.

Baldwin's rink, meanwhile, includes third Ladene Shaw, second Helen Strong and lead Rhonda Horte. Unlike Paslawski, the 33-year-old Baldwin has been to this show before, finishing 2-4 at the Dominion championship held in Charlottetown in 2010.

Her team edged the Northwest Territories 6-5 in their opening game yesterday, and then went out and beat Alberta 7-3 this afternoon.

Besides two straight wins, the Yukon rink's play has been highlighted by two high-scoring ends, including scoring four in the sixth end versus N.W.T. and starting their game against Alberta by scoring a triple in the first.

"It should've been five,鈥� Baldwin chuckled, when asked about the four-ender against their territorial rivals. "We set up a nice corner guard and took advantage of it. They had a couple of misses, and we capitalized on those.鈥�

Baldwin's rink curls together in both the Tuesday and Thursday night leagues at the Whitehorse club, and hopes their chemistry pays off in Thunder Bay. She said the team formed with the Dominion championship in mind.

"It's always a good feeling representing the Yukon,鈥� she said. "We're just taking it game to game. We want to build a little bit more every game. We just want to make good shots and make them make tough shots.

"When we just go out there and follow our own game plan and complete the shots that we need to, I think that the opponent doesn't really matter.鈥�

Previous Dominion tournaments have been held in Toronto (2009), Charlottetown, P.E.I. (2010), Richmond, B.C. (2011) and Scarborough, Ont. (2012).

Last year, rinks led by Ray Mikkelsen and Jody Smallwood represented the territory at the event.

Next year's tournament is scheduled to take place in Halifax, N.S. The championship is sponsored by The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company.