There won’t be any foothills curlers competing in High River during the men’s provincial championship in February.
It was up to Black Diamond curler Mike Libbus and his rink to carry the torch for the Foothills region this past weekend, but they came up a few games short.
Libbus and his team of Brad McInnis, Peter Keenan and Scott Meechan won two of five games at the Southern Alberta Playdowns held at Calgary’s Garrison Curling Club from Jan. 14-16. Libbus was knocked out in the C quarterfinal.
“We just seemed to only get hot for a few ends in a row and not a stretch of games,” Libbus said.
The local rink, which plays out of the Oilfields Curling Club in Black Diamond, advanced to the Southerns thanks to their placing in the Men’s District A finals which occurred at their home rink.
Libbus opened the weekend’s action on Friday night with a clash versus the Egger rink out of Brooks.
After notching a two-point end in the first, the Oilfields rink surrendered three-pointers in the fourth and seventh end en route to a 9-4 defeat.
The loss dropped Libbus to the ‘B’ event where he would face a familiar foe. Awaiting his rink would be Team Moch, out of the Medicine Hat Curling Club, who beat Libbus twice during last month’s Districts playdowns.
This time, however, the Oilfields rink would get their revenge with a decisive 8-3 victory.
“I think they might have underestimated us a bit since they beat us in Districts but we played pretty well and beat them so that was good,” Libbus said.
Leading 4-3 heading into the sixth end, Libbus used last rock to score two to go up by three points. He then stole two more in the final two ends to advance.
The suddenly high-flying rink would win their next match as well defeating Brad Culp from High River 8-7 in a squeaker.
Down by one but possessing the hammer, Libbus scored two points in the decisive 10th end to take the victory.
The win would mark Team Libbus’ high point for the playdowns, unfortunately.
A loss to Josh Lambden in the following round, 8-1, would send the Foothills curlers down to the ‘C’ side.
“We just had a hard time getting used to the ice there and struggled early in the game (against Lambden) and gave up a couple of big ends on a couple of bad shots. That cost us,” Libbus said.
Lambden wasn’t an unfamiliar opponent to Libbus. His Calgary Curling Club team happens to be regulars at the Oilfields Curling Club competitions and they also claimed the overall District title last month in Black Diamond.
The end of the line for Libbus’ rink would come on Sunday with a 10-8 loss to Team Funk in the ‘C’ event.
The final game was not without some dramatic moments. Facing the potential for extra ends, Funk was able to manufacture a double takeout to score three in the final end. The three-point swing propelled Funk to a 10-8 victory and dealt the final blow to Libbus’ Provincials hopes.
Libbus lamented his team’s loss of focus in the game’s middle stages, including the third, fourth and fifth ends where his rink surrendered five points.
A loss in the lowest tier meant an exit from competition for Libbus.
Though the Oilfields curlers had already achieved their goal of playing in Southerns, the weekend of competition only made them realize how close they had come to a Provincial berth.
“Once you get there, you realize that you have a real good chance to qualify,” Libbus explained. “We’re a little disappointed the day after that we didn’t qualify but putting everything in perspective… we’re pretty happy.”
Libbus will scarcely have time to lick his wounds from this weekend, as the following month will be an incredibly busy time for the Oilfields Curling Club manager.
Team Libbus will immediately begin preparing for the second leg of the Foothills Men’s Triple Crown at the Highwood Curling Club in High River from Jan. 27-30.
The Oilfields club will be hosting a prestigious event of their own, the Masters Southerns, on Feb. 4-7.
The major highlight on the calendar, however, will be the 2011 Boston Pizza Cup, the Alberta Men’s Provincial Championships, which will take place in High River Feb. 9-13 at the Recplex.
Libbus will be helping out for the event in a variety of ways, though he’ll primarily focus on perfecting the ice for Alberta’s best.
“We’ll be working on ice maintenance and just trying to help wherever we can to make sure the event goes off great,” he explained.
In order to make sure the playing surface is ideal, Libbus will be working with renowned icemaker Jamie Bourassa, who also monitored the ice conditions at this past weekend’s Southerns.
Tickets for the Boston Pizza Cup can be purchased online at www.2011albertamenscurling.ca or by calling 403-649-6286.
