SAULT STE. MARIE, February 6…The standings were shuffled a bit Wednesday afternoon at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors, after some dramatic results in Draw 11.

First off, in women’s, Northern Ontario (Ashley Miharija of Thunder Bay) lost its first game of the week, a 6-5 squeaker to New Brunswick (Mary Jane McGuire of Fredericton) to fall into a first place tie with idle Manitoba (Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg).
Both teams now boast 6-1 records.

Right behind the top duo are three other teams with 5-2 marks:  Alberta (Maria Bushell of Calgary), Nova Scotia (Danielle Parsons of Halifax) and Saskatchewan (Stephanie McVicar of Saskatoon). 

Alberta upended Prince Edward Island, 10-5, while Saskatchewan pulled out an 8-6 win over Ontario by taking three in the 10th end.  In other games, Newfoundland and Labrador kept Yukon winless, 6-4, while Quebec blasted Northwest Territories, 13-1.  Nova Scotia had a bye.

In men’s, Saskatchewan (Brennen Jones of Regina) now stands alone in first with a 6-1 record, after outbattling co-leader Ontario (Travis Fanset of St. Thomas), 6-5.   Ontario dropped to 5-2 and is now tied with Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, with Prince Edward Island looming in the wings at 5-3.

This afternoon, Alberta (Aaron Sluchinski of Drayton Valley) lost to Prince Edward Island (Brett Gallant of Charlottetown), 7-6, while New Brunswick (Jon Rennie of Rothesay) edged Northern Ontario (Kory Carr of Thunder Bay), 6-5.   The other games saw Quebec (William Dion of Drummondville) keep pace with an 11-2 drubbing of winless Northwest Territories, while Newfoundland and Labrador was an 11-3 winner over Yukon.

Draw 12 is slated for 7:00 pm tonight.

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