March 20, 2008…The 2008 Canadian senior men’s and women’s curling championships begin Sunday in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
 
Twelve men’s and 12 women’s teams, representing the 10 provinces plus Northern Ontario and Yukon/Northwest Territories, will battle for Canadian titles.   The teams play a round robin, with the first place teams advancing directly to Sunday’s final (March 30) while the second and third place teams meet in semi-finals on Saturday (or Sunday morning, if two or more tiebreakers required).
 
The winning teams will then represent Canada next year at the world seniors, which will be held April 24-May 3, 2009 in Dunedin, New Zealand.   Last year’s Canadian Senior champions, Alberta’s Pat Ryan and Diane Foster, recently (last weekend) won gold medals at the 2008 world seniors in Vierumäki, Finland.
 
Prince Albert has previously hosted several other Canadian championships, including the 1984 and 2005 Canadian mixed, 1987 Canadian juniors and 1972 Canadian senior men’s.
 
Overall, Manitoba has won a leading 10 Canadian senior men’s titles since the championship began in 1965 in Port Arthur, Ontario.   Saskatchewan has won six, the last by Gary Bryden in 1998 in Sault Ste. Marie.
 
The women’s championship has been won by Ontario a leading 10 times, including three of the last four editions, since it began in 1973 in Ottawa.  Saskatchewan also has six women’s crowns to its credit, the last by Nancy Kerr in 2003 in Lethbridge.   The men’s and women’s events were conducted separately until being combined in 1985 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
 
This year’s line-up is an intriguing one.   Among the men’s skips are New Brunswick’s Russ Howard, Manitoba’s Vic Peters, Nova Scotia’s Brian Rafuse, Prince Edward Island’s Ted MacFadyen and Saskatchewan’s Eugene Hritzuk.
 
Howard, a two-time Brier and world champion (1987, 1993) and 2006 Olympic gold medallist, is making his Canadian Seniors debut, as is Peters, who skipped Manitoba to victory in the 1992 Brier and was the 1997 Brier runner-up. 
 
Rafuse and his Bridgewater team just finished competing in the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg, finishing with a 3-8 record, MacFadyen is a Brier and Seniors veteran, while Hritzuk, the 1988 Brier runner-up, finished second at the 2005 Canadian Seniors, then third in 2006.
 
The women’s roster includes Quebec’s Agnès Charette, a three-time Canadian Seniors champion (1997, 1999, 2000) and British Columbia’s Pat Sanders, who won the 1987 Canadian and world women’s titles and the 1985 Canadian mixed.
 
Draw results will be instantly available on the Canadian Curling Association website (www.curling.ca <http://www.curling.ca> ).     For media information or requests during the Seniors, call 306-765-5201 or 306-765-5203.
 
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2008 Canadian Senior Women’s Curling Championship
March 23-30, Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club, Prince Albert, SK
 
TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second, lead)
 
Alberta – Calgary Curling Club, Calgary
Sandy Turner, Linda Wagner, Marilyn Toews, Judy Carr
 
British Columbia – Juan de Fuca Curling Club, Victoria
Pat Sanders, Cheryl Noble, Roselyn Craig, Christine Jurgenson
 
Manitoba – Minnedosa Curling Club, Minnedosa
Jean Garbolinsky, Heather Lewis, Cheryl Orr, Diane Sadler
 
New Brunswick – Beaver Curling Club, Moncton
Maureen McMaster, Shirley Crawford, Pauline Barton, Donna Soucoup
 
Newfoundland and Labrador – Re/Max Centre (St. John’s Curling Club),
St. John’s
Barbara Pinsent, Marian Dawe, Joyce Nichols, Diane Ryan
 
Northern Ontario – Port Arthur Curling Club, Thunder Bay
Barbara Ward, Janice Atkinson, Kathleen Bes, Jan Alexander
 
Northwest Territories/Yukon – Yellowknife Curling Club, Yellowknife, NWT
Gail Daniels, Margaret Begg, Terry Fisher, Marie Coe, Maurice Cormier (coach)
 
Nova Scotia – Glooscap Curling Club, Kentville
Yvonne Martin, Julie Morley, Andrea Saulnier, Audrey Dorey
 
Ontario – Dixie Curling Club, Mississauga
Ann Pearson, Elaine Voisin, Carolyn Edison, Mary Hallett
 
Prince Edward Island – Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club, Summerside
Barbara Currie, Lana Simmons, Jeanette Rivard, Helen MacDonald, Allan Ledgerwood (coach)
 
Quebec –Buckingham Curling Club, Buckingham
Agnès Charette, Lois Baines, Marie Leblanc, Dianne Sullivan
 
Saskatchewan – Wadena Curling Club, Wadena
Delores Syrota, Sylvia Broad, Gloria Leach, Beverly Krasowski
 
2008 Canadian Senior Men’s Curling Championship
March 23-30, Prince Albert Golf & Curling Club, Prince Albert, SK
 
TEAMS (listed in order of skip, third, second, lead)
 
Alberta – Calgary Winter Club, Calgary
Bob Genoway, Lorne Goodman, Fred Pugh, Steve Scrymgeour
 
British Columbia – Sparwood Curling Club, Sparwood
Ken McHargue, Gerry Kent, Glenn Jaeb, Ralph Will
 
Manitoba – Granite Curling Club, Winnipeg
Vic Peters, Doug Harrison, Chris Neufeld, Doug Holmes
 
New Brunswick – Beauséjour Curling Club, Moncton
Russ Howard, Wayne Tallon, Mike Flannery, Martin Mockler
 
Newfoundland and Labrador –Caribou Curling Club, Corner Brook 
Gary Oke, Dennis Byrne, Gerry Boland, Jim Goodyear
 
Northern Ontario – Kenora Curling Club, Kenora
Murray Affleck, Alan Hicks, Brent Taylor, Paul Duggan
 
Nova Scotia – Bridgewater Curling Club, Bridgewater
Brian Rafuse, Curt Palmer, Alan Darragh, Dave Slauenwhite
 
Ontario – Royal Canadian Navy Curling Club, Ottawa
Bruce Delaney, Rick Bachand, Duncan Jamieson, George Mitchell
 
Prince Edward Island – Charlottetown Curling Club, Charlottetown
Ted MacFadyen, Craig Mackie, Sandy Foy, Mike Coady 
 
Quebec – Club de Curling Valleyfield, Valleyfield
John Stewart, Jean-Marc McSween, Denis McSween, Raymond McSween
 
Saskatchewan – Humboldt Curling Club, Humboldt
Eugene Hritzuk, Kevin Kalthoff, Verne Anderson, Dave Folk
 
Yukon/Northwest Territories – Whitehorse Curling Club, Whitehorse, Yukon
Paul Hunter, Craig Tuton, John Yeulet, Pat Molloy
 
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