Peters looks to get into Manitoba Open groove

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This article was published 19/01/2017 (2654 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Daley Peters foursome has struggled to find consistency this season, but the East St. Paul skip figures the time is now to let the good times roll.

Peters is competing in the Manitoba Open bonspiel, a five-day curling bonanza featuring more than 300 teams, hosted by 14 clubs in and around Winnipeg.

The annual celebration of gliding granite — the fourth as the Manitoba Open but the 129th for the January classic formerly known as the MCA Bonspiel — began Thursday night and culminates with event finals Monday.

It’s the last chance for competitive teams to earn spots at the 2017 Viterra provincial men’s curling championship next month in Portage la Prairie.

Three berths in the championship are on the line at the Open.

Peters, flanked by third Corey Chambers, second Kody Janzen and lead Stu Shiells, already has a berth sewn up, that’s not the issue. The 32-year-old shot-caller said now’s the time for his team to generate some momentum prior to making the 85-kilometre trip west Feb. 8-12.

“We want to get the ship steered in the right direction,” he said Thursday night at the Fort Garry Curling Club. “We’ve been kind of up and down all year, so we’re looking to play a nice, consistent 10 games or so here at the bonspiel. That would be good for us.

“We’d like to get on a bit of a run, and, even if we don’t win it, go deep into the weekend and play a lot of games and play well. That’s important for us.”

The competitive full bonspiel has attracted 252 teams, while another 56 are participating in the half-bonspiel.

Most call Manitoba home, although entries this year have come from as far away as Brazil, Hollywood, Calif., and Wisconsin.

It truly is an open spiel, with men and women of all ages curling (men’s teams competing for berths must meet all provincial eligibility requirements).

Victory came easily for Peters on opening night as his quartet hammered Kevin Light of Fort Garry 9-3 in the Asham main event. There was, however, some family business to attend to beforehand.

Daley Peters, the son of the late Vic Peters — one of the greatest curlers Manitoba has ever produced — and others members of the Peters family joined forces to deliver the ceremonial first rock at the opening ceremonies.

Vic Peters, a three-time Manitoba curling champion who won the national Brier title in 1992, lost his battle with cancer last May.

He was a fixture at the bonspiel for years, and he also worked as the icemaker at Fort Garry, so the time and place to host his family were, indeed, appropriate.

Jacob Leafloor, the grandson of Vic and Deb Peters who turns seven next week, mustered up all his might to launch the stone, two sweepers, Uncle Daley and Auntie Liz (Fyfe), shepherded it down the ice, while the youngster’s mom, Kasandra Leafloor, held the broom.

Wouldn’t you know it? The kid covered the nail hole (with a little help from some nifty broom-handling by Auntie Liz).

Daley said it was a moment Vic’s loved ones won’t soon forget.

“Pretty cool, pretty cool,” he said. “Jake was so gung-ho to throw. It’s a special thing, for sure.

“(Working at Fort Garry) was more than a job to him, that’s for sure. Me and him put the ice in every year, so it was a second home for us in the winter. We spent a lot of time here, and so he’s probably missed here as much as anywhere else.”

It wasn’t the first time Daley Peters helped inaugurate the Open.

Twelve years ago, he had just wrapped up a second consecutive Manitoba junior men’s title and was asked to toss out the ceremonial stone.

His 29-year-old sister, Liz Fyfe, owns a Manitoba title, too, but hers was procured less than a year ago. She’s the second on Kerri Einarson’s reigning Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women’s championship team, set to defend its title Jan. 24-29 at Winnipeg’s Eric Coy Arena in Charleswood.

Like father, like daughter, she said.

“I owe him everything. I got all of my competitive drive from him,” Fyfe said.

“I’ve had some amazing experiences and met amazing people because of the sport. It all came from him originally, so I owe it all to him.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell