'Just the ultimate to play in this': Sask. welcomes Scotland for one of curling's oldest tournaments
'Just the ultimate to play in this': Sask. welcomes Scotland for one of curling's oldest tournaments
Sixteen Scottish curlers and 16 Canadians squared off against each other Friday morning as part of the 2023 Strathcona Cup, a tournament taking place across Canada.
The 32 curlers were led into the Sutherland Curling Club by a bagpiper and flag bearers.
“It means a lot to represent your country. You're very honoured to play,” said Bruce Porteous, one of the Scottish team members.
Porteous's father played in the tournament back in 2003.
“It’s a selection process which is very hard to get through,” he said.
In total there are three Scottish tours each, with 20 players per team – a west, central and east. Players can only compete in the tournament once.
The West tour played its first game in Delta, BC and will end in Winnipeg.
One of the players representing Canada Friday morning was 1980 Men’s World Champion Jim Wilson. For Wilson, the opportunity to play against Scotland brings back some old memories.
“The Scottish team at the time had Barton Henderson, which in talking with some of these guys last night, they knew him, and it was nice to catch up and see how he was doing,” said Wilson.
Wilson has a long list of curling accomplishments, and getting to play in Strathcona Cup is an event he’s wanted to play in for a while.
“I’ve accomplished everything I need to in curling, but this gets right up there,” said Wilson.
On the Scottish side, it has plenty of heavy hitters too. Robert Clark placed 5th at the 1985 world Championship.
“It’s a great honour to play in the Strathcona Cup. My father came to Canada in 1983, and he played in the Strathcona Cup. This is just the ultimate to play in this.”
According to organizers, it is the longest continuously running curling tournament worldwide. Curlers are only eligible to play in the event once in their lifetime.
"It is such a great event to make friends in curling and to make friends across the ocean with Scotland and Canada,” said Western Canada Strathcona Cup host Derek Hay.
The tournament has been around longer than the curling rink it was being played in – dating back to 1903.
Canada won it back in 2018 and is currently leading with only a few games left to be played. It runs on a total points scoring system.
After Saskatoon, the Scotts will head to Winnipeg for their next match.
The Strathcona Cup gets its name from Donald Smith, 1st Baron Lord Strathcona who donated the trophy. The Scottish-born Canadian business man, became a commissioner, governor and principal shareholder of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the person who drilled the last spike for the trans-Canada Railway.
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
A scientist at CAMH says video games have similar addictive features to gambling which cause social isolation of the individual and dependency on the activity.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
The federal Liberals are trending downward on three key measures while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has surpassed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when it comes to the question of who Canadians would prefer now as their prime minister, according to Nanos Research.
A Mass Casualty Commission report that came out on Thursday following a mass shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020 may have a local impact on the RCMP Depot model being phased out.
Riley Jolly detailed several injuries he observed on his son, Emerson Whitby, prior to the 18-month-old’s death, during testimony at Court of King’s Bench in Regina on Thursday.
Two Manitoba hunting outfitters have been fined thousands of dollars and lost their licenses after a four-year investigation revealed numerous violations of the wildlife act.
A judge has acquitted a now-retired priest of forcing himself on a residential school student more than 50 years ago, saying she believes an assault happened but could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt who did it.
A candidate for the United Conservative Party in southern Alberta has resigned after she posted a video claiming children are being exposed to pornography in schools.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has yet to answer direct questions about a growing scandal of her alleged interference with the justice system, but her deputy premier has responded the media about the issue.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has yet to answer direct questions about a growing scandal of her alleged interference with the justice system, but her deputy premier has responded the media about the issue.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
Premier Doug Ford is slamming federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault as a “real piece of work” in the wake of public remarks he made suggesting that Ontario has “no plan to fight climate change.”
Ottawa Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the residence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's national security adviser, the second such incident involving one of his top aides in recent months.
Police have released video of a suspected arsonist who allegedly caused thousands of dollars in smoke and water damage to a building in Vancouver's Chinatown last weekend.
Just a week after Airbnb tightened regulations for Quebec listings following a deadly fire, hosts may already be bending the rules. Airbnb now requires its hosts to provide a six-digit policy number with their listing, obtained when a tourist lodging is registered with the provincial government. But a scroll through the Airbnb website suggests users are falsifying their permit numbers to sneak past the authentication process.
A lawyer for the United States government told Quebec's highest court today that the country should be immune from prosecution for the infamous brainwashing experiments at McGill University from the 1940s to the 1960s.
It's been two weeks since a major fire ripped through a heritage building in the heart of Old Montreal, killing seven people and forever altering the lives of families across the globe. For the families of those who died, the grieving process is only starting.
A 32-year-old man from Campbell River, B.C., has been sentenced to four years in prison for the beating death of a 59-year-old homeless man in October 2020.
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) says designated landing zones should be available for aircraft in harbours following a crash between a floatplane and a water taxi in Tofino in 2021.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
Gun policy comments made by then-RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki in a contentious call to Nova Scotia RCMP officers after the mass shooting in 2020 did not amount to political interference, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) final report concludes.
There are exciting plans for Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown Sudbury. Built in 1927, the former church was sold after its congregation dwindled and will be transformed into a concert hall.
When the store manager at La Noisette Bakery arrived Thursday morning to open the small shop on Oxford Street, she discovered that one of the two large circular windows at the side of their building was shattered.
