If the 2020 Canadian U18 Curling Championships proceed, in Sudbury, as planned in late April - and that is understandably a huge IF, at the moment - then the host city will be represented to an unprecedented degree, based on results from the NOCA (Northern Ontario Curling Association) provincials last weekend.
While it looked like local teams might secure one, perhaps two, of the four berths that were up for grabs, as play started last week at the Community First Curling Centre in Sault Ste Marie, the dust settled to reveal a complete sweep for the local contingent, with all four of the teams who made their way from Sudbury to the Sault earning a spot at nationals.
And just to prove that it was no fluke, those same four teams also monopolized the top two placements, following round robin play, in both the boys and the girls draw. In the latter, the Idylwylde Golf & Country Club rink of Bella Croisier, Lauren Rajala, Emilie Lovitt and Piper Croisier were considered favourites, going in, having claimed the banner at nationals last year at this time.
Nothing in their performance differed from the pre-event expectations.
Team Croisier would emerge triumphant in seven consecutive preliminary games, before stopping Team Toner (Curl Sudbury) in both the 1-2 page match-up (7-3), and then again, when the teams met in the final (7-5).
The fact that they would face the same Sudbury adversary twice in the playoffs would speak volumes as to just how far the quartet of Mia Toner, Valerie Ouimet, Justine Toner and Emilie Glabb have come in the past few years.
Keep in mind that while much of the opposition at nationals will be preparing to either graduate from high-school this June, or will have just completed their first year of post-secondary studies, the Toner rink will feature three grade nine athletes, and one still in grade eight.
That did not stop them from finishing second only to the Croisier foursome after round robin play, with a record of 5-2, bouncing back from their Saturday setback to that same crew to beat Abby DeJoseph of Cochrane 6-4 in the semis.
On the men's side of the equation, local hopes were much more cautiously optimistic. The Andrew Hong quartet, representing the North Bay Granite Curling Club, was at nationals last year, donning the Northern Ontario colours. But when full round robin play was complete this year at provincials, it was Team Hong looking up at a pair of Sudbury entries in the standings.
Team Branconnier (Samuel Branconnier, Patrik Labrosse, Tyler Smith, Alexander Rheaume, Sebastien Whissell) and Team Rajala (Brendan Rajala, Ian Deschene, Jesse Crozier, Duncan Smith, Scott Mitchell), both wearing the Idylwylde emblem with pride, were sharing top spot, early on, with a mark of 6-1.
Rajala edged Branconnier 5-4, in the 1st/2nd page game, guaranteeing them no worse than a spot at nationals as host team, with Branconnier rejoining them in the final, thanks to an 8-7 thriller over Team Hong. And just for good measure, to continue the trend of nail-biters, Rajala slipped past Branconnier for a second time, this one by the count of 8-7.
"Our goal was just to make it to provincials this year," acknowledged Team Branconnier vice, Patrik Labrosse. "After that, we just wanted to play our best." With that in mind, the squad came up with a twist in their plans, dealing with accommodations in Sault Ste Marie, which appears to have helped.
"We changed it up a little bit for this tournament," explained lead Alex Rheaume. "We usually stay in different rooms at the hotels. For this one, we rented one airbnb and the team stayed together, the parents were separate. We had no connection with the parents at all."
"That translated pretty well on the ice, I think," Rheaume added. "We were always together. If we were mad on the ice, we would be mad off the ice, so we tried not to do that."
Keeping things even keel often falls under the job description of Patrik Labrosse, whose friendship with his skip goes back to their days together, attending the same daycare facility. "Usually, when it is stressful, Sam will put a lot of pressure on himself, because he is the skip," said Labrosse.
"I try to calm him down. I can use our friendship to make jokes. We try and hang out outside of curling. Our curling is a lot, sometimes, and it can get annoying, so we try and do other stuff together."
That chemistry between skip and vice was much more of a moving target for Team Rajala.
It was right around the time of the U18 regionals in Thessalon that the group realized that if they did qualify for provincials, their lineup would be jeopardized, with Duncan Smith and family leaving the country on March 5th or so.
"They had booked this vacation a while back, not thinking that it would eventually interfere with provincials," stated coach Brian Rajala. As talk of a fifth continued, a quality addition landed directly on their lap.
Having already moved to Sudbury as part of the re-juggled Jacob Horgan U21 lineup, but with U18 national experience already under his belt, Scott Mitchell became a near ideal fit. "When you bring in a new player, you want everyone to be on-board," said Rajala.
"What we did not want to do was ruin the relationship within the rest of the team. There was never any argument on bringing Scott aboard." At 18 years of age, the Whitby native would carry a vastly different perspective than any of the four remaining teammates, all either 14 or 15 years old.
With Mitchell tackling the role as skip, Team Rajala will essentially morph over to Team Mitchell by the time that the 2020 Canadians arrive. Either way, their coach is trying to remain grounded with what is still a relatively young team.
"I am not putting too much pressure on them," said Brian Rajala. "If I were to set a goal for them, I would like to see them go 3-3 in the round robin. I wouldn't expect them to win the pool, but I am expecting them to win some games."
"That said, whatever happens, happens. We're just so excited to be there."
And Sudbury should be excited, as well, with no less than four local teams in a field of 28.
