Playoff spots getting claimed at New Holland U-20 Championship

As the round-robin draw heads toward its conclusion at the New Holland U-20 Canadian Championship, many the last few games will have playoff implications.  

In many cases, the results won’t have impact on which teams reach the playoffs, but they will definitely impact the order of the top three teams in each pool. 

For Newfoundland and Labrador’s Cailey Locke, it’s time to sit back and watch the chips fall – and then figure out where that puts them. 

“We’re going to enjoy the games tomorrow,” said Locke, whose squad has the final bye in the round-robin draw, finishing with a 6-2 record, good enough for a guaranteed playoff berth.  “Then we’ll figure out where we rank.” 

Locke, Hayley Gushue, Sitaye Penney, and Sarah Thomas finished their pool play with a win over Nova Scotia #1’s Cassidy Blades. The Halifax team had been undefeated, but lost their first in an back-and-forth game, which came down to the last rock in an extra end. 

“That was a wild one,” said Locke, of the 9-8 win which featured a Newfoundland and Labrador score of five, followed by a Nova Scotia score of four. “We had a couple good shots in the third to set up that five, but then got a little lackadaisical in the fourth, and it came back on us. Hopefully we don’t do that again!” 

Nova Scotia was able to tie the game at six in the fifth end, then again tie it at eight in the eighth. Locke, however, made the open hit for the win in the extra end, securing a berth in the playoffs. 

“We were able to pull it out,” Locke. “It just took a bit longer.” 

Both Nova Scotia #1 and Quebec #2’s Jolianne Fortin have secured playoff berths as well, but each team still has another game to play. Depending on those results (and Last Stone Draw scores, if necessary), the rankings in Women’s Pool A will be affected.  

“We have to show a bit of grit here,” said Locke. “We’re playing pretty well, but I think we can dig a bit deeper, hit our numbers a bit better, and keep playing as a team.” 

Meanwhile in Women’s Pool B, Alberta #2’s Sierra Androschuk (6-1) and Manitoba #1’s Sheila Hayward (6-2) have also locked up playoff berths. British Columbia #1’s Erin Fitzgibbon faces a win-and-you’re-in scenario, while a loss could create a potential three-way tie for the last spot. 

The final women’s round-robin draw is scheduled for Friday morning at 10:00 am ET. The men’s playoffs will start at 2:00 pm ET, and the women’s will begin at 6:00 pm ET.  

Scores and schedules can be found at curling.ca/scoreboard while live streaming can be found at Curling Canada’s YouTube channel.