CANORA - The 2023 season kicked off on Nov. 1 in Swan River, Man. This year, once again there are eight teams competing for the title, according to a release from Glen Becenko.
One team is new for this season, the Curtis Chernoff foursome from Norquay, sponsored by The Whistle Stop. They are replacing long-time veteran Don Bowes.
“This year marks the 40th year the league has been running, pretty amazing,” said Becenko. “To celebrate there is a special windup event being held along with the finals in Swan River on Dec. 15. There will be more info to come.”
In first draw action the teams were a little rusty but everyone enjoyed getting out on the ice. Draw one saw Swan Valley Chiropractic win over Challoner Farms 7 to 3. W.F. Schnieder and Sons defeated Pattison Ag 8 to 2. The final game of the draw saw Swan Hills hammer NCC Farms 7 to 1. One game was postponed.
In week two, the weather caused the draw to be postponed. This resulted in a doubleheader being played the following week. On Nov. 14, the teams were again in Swan River. All teams were on hand for this draw. Swan Hills Properties easily took down Pioneer Hybrid 7 to 3. The second sheet saw The Whistle Stop take a commanding lead over NCC Farms, who battled back only to fall short 7 to 5. The team of Swan Valley Chiropractic came out strong to overtake Pattison Ag 6 to 3. The best game of the evening was a seesaw battle with W.F. Schniender and Sons coming out on top of Challoner Farms.
The teams now travelled to Kamsack on Nov. 15, “where the ice was prepared for action just hours before. It was pretty good for being green,” observed Becenko. This draw also saw only three games, since one was postponed. On sheet two, it was NCC Farms taking another pounding at the hands of Pioneer Hybrid 11 to 0. The game on sheet three also was a runaway at the hands of Swan Hills Properties over The Whistle Stop 7 to 1.
“The last game kept the crowd glued to their seats,” reported Becenko. “In a tight contest with final rock coming home, after being down by two, Swan Valley Chiropractic was able to grab a three-ender to seal the victory over W.F. Schnieder and Sons."
In week four, the teams travelled to Norquay. The rink there only has three sheets of ice and as luck would have it, one game cancelled, allowing the remaining six teams to all play at once. The draw kicked off at 7:30 p.m. with game one seeing undefeated Swan Hills Properties over winless Pattison Ag 7 to 5. In game two, W.F. Schnieder and Sons easily handled the also winless NCC Farms. In the final game, Challoner Farms got their first win over The Whistle Stop 6 to 2.
The venue then shifted to Canora for week 5.
“The ice also was just recently put in but was a fantastic surface to play on,” reported Becenko. All teams were there for the 7:30 p.m. draw. Swan Hills Properties showed why they are still undefeated, hammering Challoner Farms 6 to 0. The hometown Canora team of Pioneer Hybrid also had a win over W.F. Schnieder and Sons by 6 to 2. In game three we saw The Whistle Stop grab their second win by a 6 to 3 score over Pattison Ag. Looking to turn their season around, NCC Farms played a full eight ends but came up short to undefeated powerhouse Swan Valley Chiropractic by a score of 7 to 3.
With two weeks left in the schedule, the race is heating up to be in the top four teams for the championship round being held in Swan River on Friday, Dec. 15.
The next stop for week six action was in Kamsack on Dec. 5.
Don't count on social media to deliver your local news to you. Keep your news a touch away by bookmarking Canora Courier's homepage at this link.
Bookmark SASKTODAY.ca, Saskatchewan's home page, at this link.
