No surprises when the top five seeds for the Safeway Championship were announced by Curl Manitoba on Friday.
Defending champion Jeff Stoughton, Mike McEwen, Rob Fowler, Sean Grassie and William Lyburn were ranked by their fellow competitors as the favourites for the Provincial Men’s Curling Championship.
While Stoughton is looking for an 11th provincial men’s title, McEwen is still trying to get over the hump and make his first trip to the Brier.
"I feel really good, collectively, with what we’ve done in the last few weeks. I think we’re probably stronger than we were in December," said McEwen, "Whether that translates into winning more games on the ice next week but I think we all feel really good about our chances."
Grassie’s lineup with be a little different than the one that lost to Stoughton in last year’s final, with regular third Corey Chambers out with a knee injury.
"We had a football injury, tore his MCL and meniscus and all that, had surgery about a month ago," said Grassie on Friday, "We had to adjust the lineup a little bit but the team has played fairly well so far this year and we’re looking forward to getting going next week."
Grassie’s regular second Kody Janzen is now playing third with Scott McCamis filling in at second.
The Safeway Championship begins Wednesday at the MTS IcePlex in Winnipeg, the first time it’s been in the provincial capitals since 1995.
"For friends and family, accommodations and just the logistics and it’s so close to home for most our team, it’s just fantastic," said Stoughton third Jon Mead, "It’s long overdue, it’s going to be fun and it’s a great facility. I hope it’s great and I hope a lot of people come out because it’ll be a lot of fun to watch."
In addition to the top five seeds, other teams curling out of the Westman area include Gladstone’s Geoff Trimble, Brandon’s Steve Irwin, Virden’s Graham Freeman, Neepawa’s Kelly Robertson and Minnedosa’s Glenn Parrott.
Safeway Championship Seeds Unveiled
By Bruce Luebke
Jan 24, 2014 | 1:19 PM