Photo: Gavin Thompson
Open Master’s - New Field, new champion to be crowned
The open masters division features eight teams of which only one (some old Montrealers) is from the east. BC sends three teams with Republic, from the island, followed by, Grizzle, and Pipe Dream. The Prairies also send three teams with Mangina, Reaper, and Intrepid. The hosts are represented by Carbon and are being chaperoned by Brad Skogman and Darren DiMarco. NSOM (QC) is the sole team from the east and return after a strong bronze performance place last year. Much like the women’s masters division, there is great parity between the teams with plenty of wildcards. NSOM is a safe bet to medal given their history while Republic is also expected to make a strong showing.
Mixed - Hamilton set to host first ever CUC Mixed
For the first time, the Mixed division will be held separately from the other divisions allowing for a larger championship with bids allocated by province rather than region. A total of 20 teams will compete in Hamilton, Ontario from August 18-21. Ontario has a total of eight bids that were decided by an 18 team Regionals. The champion, Crash, defeated Midnight Release 13-10 in the finals making them one of the favourites at nationals. Québec sends six teams following a 10-team regionals with Battleship defeating No In Cut in the finals. Manitoba follows with two teams from Winnipeg: “Pretty Boys and Handsome Girls” and Nonsuch. Finally with one team each: Alberta sends Lit, Saskatchewan sends Bunny Thugs, Nova Scotia sends Anchor, and Newfoundland and Labrador sends Wreckhouse.
The teams most likely to compete for medals are: Crash (ON and 2014 champions), Midnight Release (ON), Bunny Thugs (SK), Battleship (QC), TFT (ON), and Nagano ‘98 (ON). The wildcard with Ontario teams is that many Open and Women’s players that were playing in the US series during regionals will be at nationals on local mixed teams. If those players are a positive influence then the parity between teams will increase leading to some tight battles in the quarters and semis.
Photo: Gavin Thompson
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32