Mitch Calvert
Former Muskie curler Mike Badiuk’s whirlwind week as lead for Dylan Johnston’s Thunder Bay rink at the M&M Meat Shops Canadian junior curling championships came to a disappointing end Sunday evening with a heart-breaking 7-6 loss to P.E.I’s Brett Gallant in the final.
“Obviously it wasn’t the end to the week that we wanted,” the 19-year-old reflected from the Johnston home in Thunder Bay where he lives.
“We look forward to getting back there next year and taking another shot at it,” he added.
Despite falling short in Sunday’s final, the Northern Ontario rink had a memorable week in Salmon Arm, B.C., finishing the round-robin tied for first at 9-3.
They had beaten Gallant 9-8 in an extra end in their first meeting to earn a bye to the final, but Gallant was able to exact revenge when it mattered most.
Northern Ontario jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one end after Gallant jammed on his own rock, leaving an easy shot for Johnston to put up the three-spot.
Badiuk said the early lead actually worked against their team, however.
“I think it put more pressure on us,” he suggested. “[Defending leads] is kind of our weakness as a team.
“We are more of a second-half team, I think, we usually come out a little flat,” he admitted. “But as the game goes on, we pick it up and win a lot of games late.”
Gallant got one back in the second, but a double take-out by Johnston prevented it from being more than that. Northern Ontario then extended their lead in the fourth, but Gallant took deuces in both the fourth and sixth ends to knot the score.
Johnston’s single in the eighth put him up by one, but after blanking the ninth, Gallant secured himself the hammer for the final end and it paid off—needing just to roll his final stone into the rings to score two and take the win.
Johnston raised eyebrows with his eccentric dyed hair in the Northern Ontario colours, and Badiuk said that exemplifies the calming demeanour Johnston brings to the rink every day.
“He’s really laid back, he doesn’t get frustrated or too excited about anything, so it’s good to have him out there,” Badiuk lauded.
Badiuk said he’s welcoming the break from competitive curling for a while, but he and the Johnston team expect to do more bonspiels before the season wraps up, including one in Duluth in a couple of weeks.
