It would stand to reason that an Estevan Curling Club rink ought to be one of the first to qualify for the 2018 SaskTel Tankard.
The Tankard will be hosted Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 2018 at Affinity Place, literally a stone's throw from the curling club that Estevan's Brent Gedak rink calls home. Gedak qualified through the SCT Bonspiel in Saskatoon last month by finishing second.
“It takes a lot of pressure on the season leading up to the Tankard,” said Gedak. “We made the final, we were 4-0. The team that beat us (Dale Craig) wasn't registered so we kind of defaulted. But in our second 'spiel, we went to Moose Jaw and we were 5-0 and won the 'spiel...
“It was good to start that way in our first two spiels, being 9-1. We're the first team in. Our focus can go on training instead of playing for our lives trying to get there.”
There's a bonspiel Dec. 1-3 at the Estevan Curling Club where one qualifier will also get a spot at the Tankard. The top four teams from the Canadian Team Ranking System will be in, as well as the top three from the northern and southern playdowns and the top Saskatchewan Curling Tour finisher not already qualified. Events in Wadena and Swift Current make up the rest of the qualifiers.
The SaskTel Tankard winner will go to the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, March 3-11 in Regina.
Gedak and his team of third Clint Dieno, second Derek Owens and lead Shawn Meyer have been doing well so far this bonspiel season.
“I think we're just playing confident,” Gedak said. “We're playing well with a lead and if we're down a couple of points we're able to come back. There's no give-up in our team. We've been together for a few years now so that helps. We're going to get together with our coach Bob Doerr and just keep pushing forward and staying with each other and challenging each other to always be better.”
Once the Tankard time does hit, the major competition is expected to be perpetual juggernaut Steve Laycock, who has won three out of the last four provincial Tankards.
“The field is always tough in Saskatchewan,” said Gedak. “Steve Laycock, and Adam Casey from last year winning. There's always a couple that stand out as favourites. There's 14 other teams that are right there. There's no easy games at the Tankard. You can either go 0-3 and be out right away or you can win three or four in a row and end up making the playoffs. We've done it both ways.”
Last year in Tisdale, Gedak's rink made it to the C semifinal before losing 7-5 to Bruce Korte. In 2016 at Kindersley, the team made it to the Page playoffs where they dropped the 4-3 game 6-4 to the Shaun Meachem rink.
The Jim Packet rink in 1997 was the last Estevan-based rink to win the Tankard.
