Bill Crewson and his Muskie rink are going to their first all-Ontario showdown, which started this morning in Midland, with the optimistic feeling that anything can happen.
Muskie coach Rob Roy Donaldson admitted they really don’t know what to expect in terms of the level of competition there.
But he does know the Muskie rink, which also includes third Chris Matheson, second Tyler Bell, lead Matt Gushulak, and fifth Joel Perron, is a very good curling team that may surprise some of the bigger schools from southern Ontario.
That’s because the Fort High foursome dominated play at both the NorWOSSA and NWOSSAA playdowns so far.
Crewson also advanced to the junior men’s provincial playdowns in December, and Donaldson said that experience definitely will help them in their quest for all-Ontario gold.
“It’ll be their first time [at OFSAA] but I think the juniors were a great experience for them,” Donaldson noted Monday morning. “They should be a stronger team [than at the juniors].”
Donaldson said part of that improvement has been their work ethic on the ice, where they continually practise certain shots that could occur in a game situation stemming from their wide-open style of game.
“They’re always working on new styles and working on trying to get better at draws,” he added.
Still, Donaldson couldn’t stress enough the importance for the rink to get a win–or even their first good end–out of the way early in order to gain confidence and help relax their nerves.
“Their confidence is at a high right now but it’s going to be interesting because they are going to meet some very good teams,” he noted.
The Muskies opened action this morning against Lambton Central, then had an afternoon game versus North Dundas. They play Pope John Paul in tomorrow’s morning draw and then have a bye until Friday morning when they play E.L. Crossley.
Please see tomorrow’s Daily Bulletin for the latest results.
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