Earlier this month, Fort Frances OPP officer Scott Gobeil participated in the Manitoba provincial police curling playdowns—vying for his 13th trip to the national championships.
This year’s provincial showdown consisted of a four-team round-robin, which was held at the Thistle Curling Club in Winnipeg.
Gobeil and his team (third Kevin Wilson, second Tammy Lapushniuk of the Winnipeg Police Service, and Hugh Fiddler of the Selkirk RCMP detachment) finished the round-robin tied for second place with the Bill Stewart rink.
Gobeil’s team played the Stewart foursome, with the winner going on to meet the Don Nelson squad in the final.
Gobeil jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two ends, but Stewart battled back and both teams were tied 5-5 after 10 ends.
Gobeil made a hit and stick for his point in the extra frame to win the game and advance to the final.
Against Nelson, the final was a tight match until the eighth end, when Nelson scored a three-ender to grab a 7-3 lead. Gobeil mustered one point in the ninth, but then was run out of rocks in the 10th.
The win sends Nelson to the national championship, which is scheduled to take place in Kamloops, B.C. later this month.
While Gobeil resides in Ontario, his team, along with many others, began curling in the Manitoba provincial tournament following a 2004 decision.
At that time, Northern Ontario was divided into two parts and teams from the provincial border to 300 miles east of Thunder Bay were included in the Manitoba playdowns.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
