There’s bound to be some tough sledding when you step up to the elite competition in your sport.
Therefore, it wasn’t a huge surprise when wins weren’t coming easy to Black Diamond’s Mike Libbus rink on the World Curling Tour (WCT). However, as each competition passes on the vaunted loop the 2012 provincial qualifiers are increasingly finding their stride on the sheets.
“At the start we weren’t sure if we could compete at that level in the first event and were a little rusty,” said skip Mike Libbus. “In the last two, we’ve lost a lot of close games in the last end. We’re just a few shots away.”
The foursome, who spent last season playing mostly Foothills-based events and playdowns en route to the provincials in Camrose, has improved in each of its three WCT events thus far. The Libbus rink went winless in the Edmonton Shootout in September and, most recently, finished 2-3 at the MNP Charity Classic last weekend in Medicine Hat.
“It’s been really encouraging,” Libbus said. “Our goal this year was to get out and just gain some experience playing top level teams all the time so that when we get to playdowns again hopefully we get to qualify for the provincials again.”
Those expectations have increased since the Black Diamond outfit proved it belonged on the WCT.
“We’ve got out there and seem to be getting better every event,” Libbus said. “We’re setting our goals a little higher now to start qualifying for some events.”
The Black Diamond curlers have two events left on the tour to accomplish the feat.
They’re in central Alberta from Nov. 2-5 for the Red Deer Curling Classic, an event with a purse of $33,000, and are back in the Stampede City for the Calgary Curling Club WCT Bonspiel from Nov. 9 to 11.
The Oilfields Curling Club manager said the ice on the WCT has been comparable to what they’re used to in Black Diamond, but the same can’t be said for their competition.
“You’re playing, I believe, the top teams in the world,” Libbus said. “You’ve got China there, Japan there and I think it’s just making sure you’re consistent and not taking an end off.
“You can’t really afford to be lackadaisical or you will get way behind and it’s hard to comeback.”
The team is also learning to work with one another on the fly.
Libbus, second Brad MacInnis and lead Peter Keenan have welcomed Sean Morris to the team this season following the dissolution of the foursome when former skip Matt Blandford left to form his own team.
Through limited practice sessions prior to the outset of the WCT season the newly formed team is coming together nicely.
“Sean’s been a great fit,” Libbus said. “We’ve gelled well as a team and we all know there’s a lot of potential here on our team to keep working hard and to qualify and make some cash on the events, but (Sean) knows it’s going to take time and has the same goals as us so it’s been real exciting.”
Morris is throwing skip rock for the team after some trials and tribulations from the last two shooters in the team’s first two WCT events.
“We thought the best scenario would be I still call the game and he throws last rock,” Libbus said.
The team will look to improve its working relationship further with increased sessions at the Oilfields sheets in Black Diamond, installed two weeks ago, in preparation for the WCT and the Oilfields Curling Club Men’s Bonspiel, Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.
For more information go to www.occcurling.com.
