Just before lunchtime on Friday morning, B.C. skip Tyler Tardi was resigning himself to the knowledge that his reign as Canadian junior men鈥檚 champion was minutes way from ending.
Northern Ontario skip Tanner Horgan was about to throw a fairly routine draw to the four-foot for a win in the final round-robin game of the 2018 New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships for both teams, a result that would eliminate Tardi鈥檚 team from 黑马磁力/New Westminster from a playoff berth.
Instead, Horgan was just light; Tardi鈥檚 team 鈥� vice-skip Sterling Middleton of Burnaby, second (and brother) Jordan Tardi of Cloverdale, lead Zac Curtis of Coquitlam, and coach/dad Paul Tardi 鈥� stole the win, and then won a tiebreaker game later Friday.
Saturday night at Ar茅na de Grand-M猫re, the ride continued as Tardi made a hit for two in the 10th end to beat Manitoba鈥檚 JT Ryan 9-8 in the men鈥檚 semifinal.
And with the win B.C. heads into the gold-medal game Sunday at 6 p.m. (all times Eastern) against none other than the same Northern Ontario team, which could have kicked Tardi and Co. to the curb on Friday.
鈥淎fter what happened in the game against Tanner, with how lucky we were getting, yeah, I definitely believe there鈥檚 some destiny,鈥� said the 19-year-old Tardi, also of Cloverdale, whose team won gold at the 2017 Canadian Juniors in Victoria.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get that lucky and not having something going for you. I don鈥檛 know; something鈥檚 clicking for us. But I鈥檓 glad it is. We keep on fighting; we know that it鈥檚 been one more loss and we鈥檙e out for the last five or so games. We鈥檝e just been plugging it in and going as hard as we can.鈥�
Nothing came easily on Saturday against a Manitoba team that was all class in defeat, as players took the time to shake hands with and thank the event umpires as they left the ice.
After blanking the first two ends, B.C. opened the scoring with three in the third end, and added a fifth-end deuce to make it 5-2 at the intermission.
But Ryan鈥檚 team from Winnipeg 鈥� vice-skip Jacques Gauthier (a cousin to the Tardi brothers), second Colin Kurz, lead Brendan Bilawka and coach John Lund 鈥� rallied back to tie it with three in the sixth, and took its first lead with a stolen point in the seventh.
The teams then traded deuces in the eighth and ninth ends, before Tardi executed the hit for the win in the 10th.
鈥淩eal disappointing, yeah; it sucks,鈥� said Ryan, 20.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e such a great team and we spotted them the early three, but we were able to battle back and take the lead, and it was in our hands. We talked before the 10th end that we weren鈥檛 happy with the force (to hold B.C. to one and take hammer into the extra end). We wanted to go for it (steal for the win); we executed what we wanted, I just couldn鈥檛 make my last one.
鈥淚f you told us at the beginning of the year that we would be getting bronze at the nationals, we鈥檇 be very happy. Right now it sucks, but we鈥檙e happy with how we handled it.鈥�
Both teams in the men鈥檚 final have played for gold at this event; Tardi last year, while Horgan鈥檚 team from Sudbury lost the 2016 final to Matt Dunstone at Stratford, Ont.
Additionally, Horgan鈥檚 younger brother and vice-skip Jacob skipped Northern Ontario to gold at the 2017 Canadian Under-18 Championships (where, by the way, Tardi and Middleton combined with two other teammates to win a bronze medal).
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just as experienced with that kind of thing, so I wouldn鈥檛 necessarily say there鈥檚 any kind of advantage,鈥� said Tardi. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a great team; we鈥檙e just going to have to play the best we can and hopefully come out with the result we鈥檙e looking for.鈥�
The women鈥檚 gold-medal game is set for 1 p.m., and will feature Nova Scotia鈥檚 Kaitlyn Jones (Halifax) taking on home-province hopeful Laurie St-Georges (Laval-sur-le-Lac). Nova Scotia will be looking for its second Canadian title in three years after Mary Fay鈥檚 triumph two years ago in Stratford, Ont. Three members of the current Nova Scotia team 鈥� vice-skip Kristin Clarke, second Karlee Burgess and coach Andrew Atherton were part of the 2016 team that went on to win gold at the World Junior Championship.
Quebec, meanwhile, will be looking for its first Canadian junior women鈥檚 title since Marie-France Larouche prevailed in 1999 at Kelowna, B.C. 鈥� the only previous Quebec victory in the women鈥檚 event.
鈥� Stay tuned to the print and online edition of the 黑马磁力 Advance for the results
