A Black Diamond rink recovered from a heartbreaking loss in the A final of the southern playdowns to qualify for the Alberta Men’s championships for the first time.
The Oilfields Curling Club based Mike Libbus rink won the B final of the southern playdowns 9-4 over the Bob Genoway rink, Jan. 22 at Calgary’s Inglewood Curling club, to earn a priceless berth to the provincial championships.
“We never expected to go in there and win four straight and qualify,” Libbus said. “It was just exciting to win three in a row and have a chance in the A final. But we’re pretty proud of each other that we regrouped, came out (Sunday) and won both games to qualify in the B (event). I think that speaks volumes for our team.”
Libbus with new skip Matt Blandford alongside second Brad McInnis and lead Peter Keenan had a rollercoaster weekend in Calgary. The Black Diamond rink cruised to a 3-0 record in the A event, setting up a match with the Dean Ross rink on Jan. 21 in the A final with the winner earning an early qualification to the
provincials.
A series of uncharacteristic misses from the Libbus rink opened the door for Ross, a veteran of three provincials, to win the 10-end match by a narrow 6-5 margin.
“When it came down to it we just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” Blandford said of the A final. “We had a lot of opportunities to get multiple point ends and we just gave it right back.”
Ross, who earned his first win in three tries over Blandford, said his team’s superior shot execution led them to victory.
“Matt missed a couple shots for some extra points and we didn’t and that was the difference in the game,” said Ross. “The sixth end I was a little heavy with my first one and Matt was with his and it left us an out and we ended up making a back four foot weight little tap to get two. If he puts that anywhere in front he’s probably stealing one.”
Libbus said recovering from such a narrow loss in the A final was no easy feat.
“It was the toughest day after curling I’ve ever had,” Libbus said. “It was a tough night last night and not experiencing it (before) I didn’t know what to expect (Sunday) and it took us a little while, but once we got on the ice we forgot about (the A final) and just focused.”
Libbus was matched in the B semifinal on Sunday with the Airdrie-based Josh Lambden rink and struggled out of the gate, facing a 4-1 deficit through five ends. They closed out the match by reverting the trend picking up four points in the final three ends to secure a 6-5 victory. In the B final against the Calgary-based Genoway rink, the Black Diamond curlers picked up single points in the first, fourth and fifth ends before exploding for six points in the final two ends of the match. Libbus said his team saved its best performance of the weekend for the B final.
“Everybody played well, we executed well, we played aggressive the way we wanted to and our skip made a great shot in the ninth end with a run back to stick them for four,” he said.
Libbus is in the midst of his second year going through playdowns in pursuit of a provincial berth, but missed out on qualifications at the 2011 Southerns. However, in his second appearance at the qualifying event, Libbus set much more lofty expectations.
“This year was a little different adding Matt Blandford to our team, we really expected to get a (provincial) spot going in there,” said Libbus, whose posted an 8-1 record with his Blandford holding last rock.
Libbus along with McInnis and Keenan have been pushing for a spot in the Alberta men’s championships for two years and to have their hard work come to fruition is especially rewarding, said Libbus.
“It’s like the greatest day right now,” said Libbus in a phone conversation on victory Sunday. “Other than my kids and getting married this has been one of the best days of my life, we’re so excited.”
Libbus will be competing with the likes of 2010 Olympic gold medalist Kevin Martin and 2010 world champion Kevin Koe at the Alberta Men’s, Feb. 8-10 at the Camrose Arena. The provincial berth has not changed the plans for the Libbus in the Triple Crown circuit, as the rink minus Blandford will be participating in the second leg of the series at the Highwood Men’s Bonspiel, Jan. 26-29 in High River. Libbus will be back as the skip for his rink in High River and the foursome will be rounded out by the addition of Okotoks native Taylor Ardiel.
