A new champion was crowned in mixed curling Sunday night after the Wilf Gunderson rink dethroned the long-time St. Albert playoff winners.
The team of destiny rocked the Doug McLennan foursome in back-to-back thumpings to capture the President's Cup and a berth in the Edmonton and area Tournament of Champions at the Crestwood.
"Good for us," Gunderson said with a smile, after the third game in a row for his line-up of third Shelley Williams, second Dan Magotiaux and lead Sandy Sadoway at the St. Albert Curling Club. "It's been a long day. Kudos to our team. They really came to play today."
The road to glory started in the B final, a two-point decision against Frank Lane, followed by the rematch of Saturday's A-final against McLennan, the four-time defending champion and 2010 Tournament of Champions winner.
"Anytime you're playing the reigning champion you've got to be the underdogs," Gunderson said of the showdown with McLennan that attracted vocal cheering sections of fan support for both teams in the Hec Gervais Lounge. "Maybe the pressure was on him more than us."
In the A-B final, after McLennan counted four in two to jump ahead 4-3, Gunderson scored one in three and stole the next three ends to lead 7-4. McLennan blanked the next end and in eight Gunderson ran him out of rocks to force the tiebreaker.
In the winner-take-all match, Gunderson broke open the tight contest with a steal of two in five to make it 6-2. McLennan eventually tapped out in seven before Gunderson could throw his last rock while lying one and leading 6-3.
"We always feel we can win when we go out there and it finally came together today," Gunderson said. "We had them on their guard and kept the pressure on."
Super shooters
His Friday league team (8-4-1) made more Brier-calibre shots against McLennan than Kevin Martin did on TSN. Sadoway, subbing for Marlis Gunderson, was steady in the hack. Magotiaux was the king of the doubles and a tireless sweeper alongside Sadoway at front end. Williams didn't miss a shot and was instrumental in setting the stage for Gunderson to work his magic with skip rocks.
"We got some critical draws and hit-and-rolls. We put rocks in play and they weren't getting the hits-and-rolls that they needed. We were peeling when we had to and staying when we wanted to," Gunderson said. "Normally we don't play a big hitting game but today they were peeling and hitting like never before."
In both losses McLennan, third Alison Howes, second Colin Jenkyns and lead Lauren Jenkyns scored points in only three ends. A good chunk of Gunderson's points were steals.
"They missed virtually nothing. They got every lucky little roll too," McLennan said. "The ice was really straight and we throw a little different than they do and they were getting to some spots that we couldn't get to."
McLennan couldn't recall the last time his Thursday league rink (11-2-1) had lost two in a row.
"We were flat, obviously," he said of the rink's sixth straight appearance in the club final.
Five-ender
In Saturday's A final, McLennan pulled off a difficult double in seven to score five against Gunderson. The game-breaking shot erased a three-point deficit as McLennan regained the lead at 10-8.
"It was one of those kind of games where he was always on top of us," McLennan said. "We were a little flat and they were playing really well."
The seesaw affair left McLennan scrambling to stay in contention.
"He makes an absolute pistol on the first end, sort of an angle into a crotch, and scores three. We scored four in the second end on some really nice shots. In the fourth end I tried a pretty easy shot for two and it picks and the handle goes dead and rubs against one of his in the 12 foot and pushes it in for two so he steals two. Instead of me getting two, he is now up three again [at 7-4]."
After Gunderson was a tad heavy with the hammer for two in six and settled for one, the next end was littered with rocks inside and outside the rings. Gunderson was poised to steal when McLennan snuck a rock past a guard and knocked out two rocks positioned in the middle to count five. In the next end he ran Gunderson out of rocks.
"It was do or die. We had our gloves off ready to play [Sunday] in the B," McLennan said. "I had to throw a bullet pretty much and paper the thing and then it's got to stick so we were lucky that we got it."
Despite being rattled by the loss, Gunderson's crew shook off the five-ender and went back to work more determined Sunday.
"You learn from it. We didn't want to do the same thing, or make the same mistakes, I guess," Gunderson said of the decision not to peel rocks away and keep the house clean in the fateful seventh. "We talked about it and said, 'Well, it's done, let's carry on.' It's just one of those things."
Playoff run
The next day Gunderson needed a double with his last shot in eight to run Lane's Thursday league team (10-3-1) out of rocks in the B final.
"It was a very good game. We played really well and we seemed to carry that over into the games against Doug," Gunderson said.
The A-B tilt started off like the A final, with a three-ender by Gunderson in the first and a four in two by McLennan. Ironically, Gunderson was also up by three after six but this time he blanked the seventh instead of giving up five.
"We broke the pattern," Gunderson said.
In the tiebreaker, both teams played it squeaky clean for the most part. Gunderson struck first in one and McLennan replied with a deuce in two. Gunderson regained the lead with two in three, then stole four before sealing the deal with two more in five.
"It was the steals that did it for us," Gunderson said. "In the fifth end when we stole two, we had a lot of rocks in play so Doug tried to cut us down. He only hit the one out and I think he was trying for two. That was critical for the deuce and steal."
The club championship was the third for Gunderson in mixed. His first game in the Tournament of Champions was Tuesday against the Crestwood, but the score was unavailable at press time.
"Wilf will be a great rep," said McLennan, the St. Albert club president. "It's probably a good thing for the club to have another representative. The mixed leagues here are really strong and robust with lots of good teams."
