Jones forms new team

The Canadian Press says the great masticator has picked up a new team and is looking forward to competing next season.

I predict that she will play her old team early in the season and there will be a line brawl.

Colleen Jones forms new curling team

Colleen Jones
Canadian Press
4/27/2006 12:19:52 PM
HALIFAX (CP) - Colleen Jones is
ready for a new challenge after winning six Canadian curling championships and two world titles.
Jones said Thursday she has formed a new team that
includes a former teammate, Kay Zinck, who will play third, Mary Mattatall at second and lead Monica Moriarty, who is Jones' sister.
Jones and her former team of Kim Kelly, Mary-Anne Arsenault and Nancy Delahunt, who won five Canadian titles together in a six-year span, ended their relationship last month.
Kelly, Arsenault and Delahunt have joined skip Laine Peters.
Jones, 46, said she needs a change and is excited about competing next year.

Morris joins Martin

Wow! This has the makings for one heck of an exciting team! It's going to be interesting to see how they come together. Even with Bartlett and Walchuk ailing, Martin was a power. Now, with younger, healthier talents on the ice with him, he could be scary.

I think the Olympics have had a huge effect on when teams decide to pull the plug or reform in order to fulfill the four-year plan and try for the Great Big Berth.

Here's the original story that appeared in the Calgary Herald this morning:

Super skips join forces
Martin, Morris going for
granite gold in 2010

Allen Cameron, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Two of the great money players of the past few years are joining forces for the next curling season, but their eyes are firmly focused on a trip to Vancouver in just less than four years.

Edmonton's Kevin Martin is breaking up one of the most successful lineups in the country to hook up with Calgary's John Morris, who's been no slouch on the cash circuit himself since moving to Alberta in 2003.

The new foursome, which will play out of Edmonton, will be rounded out by second Marc Kennedy -- who played the same position for Morris -- and lead Ben Hebert. Hebert is moving to Calgary this summer after a solid run with Pat Simmons, including back-to-back Saskatchewan men's titles.

Martin and Morris, who'll be stepping down to play third for a man he considers the "best pure rock-thrower in the game," broke the news to their respective teams Monday night. Martin is leaving behind longtimeteammates Don Walchuk, Carter Rycroft and Don Bartlett, while Morris is cutting ties with Kevin Koe and Paul Moffatt.

"There's no negative there, but it's about 2010," said Martin, a two-time Brier champ and 2002 Olympic silver medallist, of the breakup with a team that had been together since 1999; he'd curled with Bartlett since 1989 and Walchuk since 1995.

"I'm 39, I'm not young either, but I think it's just something that had to be done. We're going to walk away having no problem at all."
"We came close in a lot of 'spiels; it's just that big 'W' seemed elusive for us," added Morris, whose Calgary team was one of the country's top money-winners since forming in 2003, but never managed to finish better than third at the provincial championship. "It wasn't a decision you could make overnight because it's a big decision in your life and curling career. But, after looking at all the factors, and trying to be a part of the best team out there, this was a good decision for me."

Morris said the split with Koe was amicable, while Moffatt had already indicated he was leaving Calgary to move back to Ontario.

It's expected Koe will put together a new team with Edmonton's Blake MacDonald, with Rycroft suddenly a leading candidate to join the same squad.

But they will have to make big strides in a hurry to keep pace with the two-headed monster of Alberta curling -- an improved Martin team and Randy Ferbey's long-time wrecking crew from Edmonton.

And, while Ferbey has enjoyed the lion's share of headlines in recent seasons, Martin believes his new team -- particularly with the additionof two-world junior champ Morris -- has the potential to be the king of the granite hill.

"Oh, there's an unlimited amount of talent," said Martin. "As far as John goes, it's just straight talent. He's probably the most talented guy to come out of juniors in the last 15 years. To be able to do what he's done at his age, to be in the top five in the world the last three seasons with a not-very-experienced team, that's pretty amazing.

"These guys are going to be in their upper 20s when it comes to the 2010 Olympics, so they'll be right in their prime."
"My goal is the same as the other guys'," added Morris.
"We want to be the best team in the world, and I feel that, since I've come out of junior, I've been in the top five, but never exactly No. 1. I think this lineup gives us a really good shot at being the best out there. It's pretty exciting. I'm still pretty young at 27, and I feel pretty comfortable stepping down to the third position."

acameron@theherald.canwest.com

© The Calgary Herald 2006

Miracle on Ice II

There we were, curling when it was 24 C outside on a splendid Saturday afternoon... playing towards what could have been a nice way to finish off an otherwise forgettable season.

First, a little background. I joined Team Sigurdson midway through the year when Al Bernier retired. I played during the city zones and watched as they came to within a game of returning to the Safeway Selects for a third consecutive year. This after my regular team went on hiatus as careers interrupted curling, as they often do.

So, after several "exciting" league games and club championship playoffs, we found ourselves in the City Club Champions Championships at the Charleswood Curling Club last week.

The boys - Bob Sigurdson, Darren Oryniak and Chris Girling - were not as "into it" as I was, considering their breadth of experience at the Selects. Well, Darren was still into it. He's always "on" like I am when it comes to curling, regardless of the event. Having said that, Bob and Chris were not dogging it during this competition, as we all worked hard to try to bring the title back to the Granite.

We started off by beating my old nemesis from West St. Paul: Brian Cox. What were the odds of drawing that team? After takin' care o' bidness 7-1, we won a couple of more games and found ourselves up against Dean Zammit from West Kildonan in the A-side qualifier. He utilized the "less-than-a-single-revolution" technique to perfection and made several WTF shots to beat us with his last rock.

Luckily, we somehow drew him again after winning the B-qualifier game and beat him with a solid, consistent effort over 10 ends in the semi-final. I'm still a little quesy over the chest hair... but that's a story for another day.

In the final, we ran up against Andrew Atkinson of St. Vital, who was on fire. Literally, I believe there were flames eminating from orificies as he slid.

He made two draws against potential fours to save the game, and then won it in dramatic fashion with a long angle-raise takeout in the tenth end to take three.

The ice was straighter than Yvan Cournoyer's stick, but the draw times were very consistent. Kudos to the icemaker for pulling that feat off in summer conditions.

After all was said and done, I was sitting with my family upstairs at the 'Wood, sipping on a Fort Garry Draft, holding my newly acquired "Finalist" badge (see inset photo) and wondering where it went wrong. As the Atkinson team accepted the giant trophy and the applause from the gathered throng, I gazed up at the Safeway Select Championship banners covering the walls, testament to the greatness of Team Stoughton over the years, and I vowed to be playing for one of THOSE next season.

Calling all curlers!

Now that I am officially a Winnipeg regional director with the MCA, I am very interested to hear what Manitoba curlers have to say.

Send me your top three issues facing Winnipeg curlers so I can take your feedback to the rest of the directors at our next meeting.

It could be competitive curling issues, or problems facing curling clubs or recreational leagues.

My goal is to take a robust collection of your best ideas to the MCA and begin working on solutions leading into next season.

Drop me an email to get the process rolling.

Cheers!

Jon Mead to retire

Jon Mead is leaving curling at the end of this season! He leaves the game as the greatest third, and he will be sorely missed.
Photo courtesy Ted Richards

Steve Gould confirms on CZ:

Jon is playing out the rest of the season in both Victoria and Calgary... He will be greatly missed by us, but I respect his decision to step back, I'm sure that we have not heard the last from Jon Mead.... He is a talented curler and more importantly a great person.