SALMON ARM, BC, February 1...It was a good opening day for the ‘Green Machine’ at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Salmon Arm.

The Saskatchewan men and women won both their games to finish with 2-0 marks.    The women’s team, skipped by Brooklyn Lemon of Regina, whipped Nova Scotia (Marie Christianson of Halifax), 11-1 in the afternoon draw, after winning its opener, 7-5 over Prince Edward Island Sunday morning.

With one draw remaining this evening at 7:30 pm, four teams are at 1-0…Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Ontario.  Only Manitoba, skipped by defending Canadian champion Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg, was in action this afternoon, against Newfoundland and Labrador (Erin Porter of St. John’s). 

Behind 6-4 after six ends, Manitoba rallied with three in the seventh, stole one in the eighth then closed out the contest with another steal of four in the ninth for a 12-6 victory.

On the men’s side, Saskatchewan, skipped by Mike Armstrong of Saskatoon, pulled one out of the fire against Nova Scotia (Paul Dexter of St. Andrews), stealing singles in the last three ends to win 9-7.    Earlier in Draw 1, Armstrong defeated the pre-event favourite, Prince Edward Island’s Brett Gallant, 7-6 in an extra end.

Joining Saskatchewan, though, is Northern Ontario, skipped by Dylan Johnston of Thunder Bay.    Johnston whitewashed Yukon (Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse), 8-0 to also move to 2-0, after beating Ontario, 9-7 in the morning.  Three others are at 1-0…Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick, heading into Draw 3.

Tonight’s matchups include Ontario (Rachel Homan of Ottawa) versus New Brunswick (Ashley Howard of Moncton).

-30-