Team Kevin Martin

Well we headed up to Peace Country Alberta last week to take on the World’s best curler’s in this season’s 3rd of 4 Grand Slams. We expected some harsh -40 degree weather that we have so often seen in the middle of curling season in rural Alberta but to our pleasant surprise we were greeted with above zero temperatures for most of the week!

The hospitality in these smaller towns is always second to none and Dawson Creek did not disappoint. I have always said that I would much rather curl in a small town in the middle of nowhere compared to an event in the hustle and bustle of a major city. It just seems like these small towns welcome the curlers with open arms and the place to be for everybody that weekend is in the local curling arena.

On the ice we started to find some of that winning form that has eluded us at times this season. We put in a solid 3 day training camp in Edmonton before this event and our hard work paid off. After a couple of of squeekers in the round robin portion, we found ourselves at 5 and 0. This brought us up against a tough Edin squad from Sweden. Our pitching staff was well-tuned up for this game as we were able to only give up 1 point and win by a count of 4 to 1. Another defensive battle in the semi’s versus a revamped Gushue team saw us coming out on top by a score of 4 to 3. The final pitted us against long-time rivals Glen Howard and co. from Ontario. A tough pick in the first end from our skipper as he was freezing against 2 Howard stones cost us a early 3 that we could not recover from and ended up losing 6-4.

We are back in action next week already as we will be preparing for our Provincials in Camrose, AB. Should be a battle!

Johnny Mo

Ok, after a long wait our website is now updated and running again!

We have reached the halfway point to our season, and its been another good start for us. We are currently sitting 3rd in the World in CTRS and 2nd in order of Merit.
We have had some great wins this year along with some not so great losses, but as you all know that is why we play sports!

The goal for our team and every other top team in Canada is to qualify for the 2013 Olympic trials in Winnipeg. Over the next 2 seasons 8 teams will qualify for this event.
There was one spot up for grabs this year at the Canada Cup, which was held in Cranbrook BC. We came flying out of the gates and never looked back as we went on to a perfect 7-0 record, and captured the first spot into the Trials in 2013!!! That was our goal this year was to peak for that event, and we are very happy to be back and to have a chance to defend our title.

We have a very exciting new year ahead of us, with lots of events covered by CBC, TSN and Sportsnet as well ! First up is the always fun TSN Skins game being held in Rama on Jan 7-8th and we play our good pals from Alberta team Koe in the Semi Finals. Following that, we are off to tropical Dawson Creek, AB for the 3rd grand slam of the season.

Were looking forward to a great 2nd half of the year and will continue to update you on how the team has been doing, also we will toss in a couple fun things for you as well!

As you know the world is being taking over by social media, and 3 of the 4 of us have joined twitter for all you “Tweeters” out there to keep tabs on your favorite curling team! Follow us at
@leftykenbear, @bennyheebz, and @johnnymocurler.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and great New Years.

Happy Curling,
Team Martin

To all you animal lovers out there, help us help dogs!

Team Martin is heading to Ontario on Tuesday November 23rd to spend some time in the greater Toronto area in support of the Humane Society of Durham Region. In 2008 the shelter suffered a tragic fire which damaged the space beyond repair. Now, almost two years later with plans for a new shelter and a grant from the government, they are almost ready to rebuild but first need to raise $500,000CDN in order to meet the funding requirements.

The guys have partnered with the shelter and the Pedigree Adoption Drive™ campaign to call upon Canadians to help meet this financial goal. They will be in town to help raise awareness for the cause and to help answer phones to accept donations.

Donations to the Humane Society of Durham Region are being accepted at www.humanedurham.com/donations or by calling 1-877-908-2888. Visa and MasterCard are accepted and, as a registered charity, tax receipts will be issues to those who make a donation of $10 or more. For more information, feel free to visit www.mypedigree.ca.