The introduction of a skins game at the Oilfields Men?s Bonspiel offered a new wrinkle to a similar result for the host rink from Black Diamond.
The introduction of a skins game at the Oilfields Men?s Bonspiel offered a new wrinkle to a similar result for the host rink from Black Diamond.
?We tried to change it up this year with the numbers we were trying for a more recreational bonspiel,? said Oilfields Curling Club manager Mike Libbus. ?This way it gives everybody a chance to make some money back. We feel that makes it a little more friendly for everybody.?
The 2012 version of the Oilfields Curling Club bonspiel included 12 teams vying to cash in during a skins game in which each ascending end progressively was worth more money. In skins games the onus is on the team with last rock, or the hammer, to score two points while the other team looks to steal. If neither team can reach the desired goal, the skin carries over to the next end.
What results is ice sheets with more granite stone gridlock than rush hour traffic on Deerfoot Trail.
?You?re trying to put a lot of rocks in play,? Libbus said. ?You?re constantly trying to play for freezes and tap-backs and trying to control the four foot.?
Libbus, along with fourth Sean Morris, second Brad MacInnis and lead Peter Keenan, almost mastered the skins play on the weekend. Team Libbus advanced to the B-final, but were up-ended by the veteran Lloyd Hill out of Brooks in the seventh end.
?Really, the key moment was the run back that Lloyd threw in the
seventh,? Libbus said.
?I?ve played Lloyd so many times and you can?t leave him that shot too often. He?s going to make it eventually.?
Libbus dropped the A-final at last year?s Oilfields ?spiel to a Calgary rink.
The Sean O?Connor rink out of the Calgary Curling Club won the A final by taking five of six skins over High River?s Jim Morgan.
?The team played really well, made a lot of shots and set me up a few ends where we were looking pretty good,? O?Connor said of his third Rob Johnson, second Brent Bowel and lead Daniel Bubola.
?In the skins it?s such a fine line. One shot goes differently and the other team is walking away with it.
?We were fortunate enough to get the right one at the right time.?
O?Connor said with skins, most of the conventional game planning goes out the window as ends rather than points are where curlers make hay.
?Skins is always fun, you get lots of rocks in play,? O?Connor said. ?It?s tough to manage the angles and lining them up and trying to figure out when they?re in your favour and when they?re not. The ice was really consistent with lots of curl which makes for good shot making.?
The A-final triumph is the second in a row in Black Diamond for Bubola, who won the Oilfields bonspiel last year as the lead for skip Josh Lambden in what was the first leg of the 2011-12 Foothills Triple Crown of Curling.
The decision to halt the Triple Crown for the 2012-13 season had an affect on the registration for the first men?s bonspiel in the foothills this year, said Libbus. The bonspiel featured 12 teams, four less than last year?s event.
?I feel it?s because we didn?t have the Triple Crown. We will see what happens in High River, but we are looking at possibly running it again next year,? Libbus said. ?I?m not sure what?s happening. It seems like the recreational curler doesn?t want a bonspiel, but we?re going to keep plugging away as much as we can.?
For more information on the Oilfields Curling Club go to www.occcurling.com.
