The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Nipawin Evergreen Curling Classic A phone call to the right place at the right time got Blaine Gogal and his team of Rod Gourlay and Ryan and Trevor Watt into a curlers' dream Ð the recent 2005 Nipawin Evergreen Curling Classic. Luckily Stoughton, Harris and Harcourt pulled out of the classic at the last minute making room for other competitive curlers to try and win this great event. There were five teams out of the ten playing that had qualified for the Olympic trials to represent Canada, so the competition was stiff. However, the Flin Flon team played well, ending up with a record of three and two. Gogal's first game was against the Gushue team from St. John's of Brad Gushue, skip, Mark Nichols, third, Mike Adam, second and Jamie Korab, lead. Gogal lost the game in eight ends, as he said, "It wasn't that we curled that bad, it was just that they curled that much better." In Gogal's second game they took on Derbowka from Yorkton, which had Byran Derbowka, skip, Jeff Hartung, third, Ray Nabe, second and Bob Hartung as lead. Gogal was two up coming home with the hammer after, as Gogal stated, "Trevor made two fantastic shots to set up the end." Game three saw Gogal take on Simmons from Davidson, which had Pat Simmons as skip, Jeff Sharp as third, Chris Haichert as second and Ben Hebert lead. Gogal called it his team's worst game, as they were off the ice in eight ends with their second loss. Then Gogal took on Backmon from Calgary with Jason Backmon as skip, Dan Mick as third Rob Simpson as second and Neil Hart as lead. According to Gogal, "We had control of the game right from the start and we beat them in eight ends." That win put them in the qualifier (for the money prizes) and they played Craig from Saskatoon, with Dale Craig as skip, Greg Kunz as third, Wes Cowlishaw as second and Cory Fleming as lead. This game went to an extra end and Craig had to make a draw to the button to take the game. Unfortunately for the Gogal team, Craig won, putting the Flin Flon team out of further competition. Gogal stated, "I was happy with the way we played. Curling in that kind of competition was unbelievable and probably as close to the Brier as we'll ever get. "After Gushue lost his last game they came back to our hotel and we played Texas hold 'em for a while. It was a great experience." The Gogal team went off to Thompson this past weekend and had their regular third with them in Jim Quinn, who missed the Nipawin Evergreen Curling Classic. Rod Gourlay had stepped in for him. The team lost both games. Since this playdown was a double knockout, that put Gogal out of a chance for the Floater spot for the Brier to be held early next year in Winnipeg. The Extra End runs Wednesdays. Gail can be reached at 687-3344.
