ESTEVAN - The top men’s curling teams in Saskatchewan came through with an entertaining final for fans on Sunday afternoon, and a first-time provincial champion emerged victorious over a decorated past champion.
Kelly Knapp’s rink, competing out of the Regina Highland Curling Club, edged Steve Laycock 5-4 in the final of the SaskTel Tankard provincial championship at Affinity Place. It also capped a perfect weekend for Knapp, as he went 5-0.
Other members of the Knapp rink were third Brennen Jones, second Mike Armstrong and lead Trent Knapp. The two Knapps are twin brothers.
“Obviously we’re twins, but we’re mainly best friends, and we both put a lot of time into the game,” said Knapp. “We’ve played a little bit on different teams, and it means the world to come together with two of our other best friends and have this kind of success.”
The Knapp brothers been curling together for 23 years, except for a two-year hiatus.
Dustin Kidby is their alternate and Brian McCusker is the coach.
They were the only Regina team entered at provincials, as most of the teams were from Saskatoon.
Laycock, competing out of the Swift Current Curling Club, won the Tankard when it was last held in Estevan in 2018. It was also Laycock’s last appearance at the Tankard, as he spent a few years curling out of B.C. He has represented Saskatchewan seven times at provincials.
While most of the games at this year’s Tankard were high-scoring with lots of rocks in play, this one was relatively low scoring, which kept the play moving quickly. The first two ends were blanked, although there were a number of stones in the house in the first end.
Knapp drew to the back eight-foot ring in the third end to lead 1-0. Laycock scored two in the fourth – an end in which both teams had lots of rocks in the house. Knapp responded with one in the fifth.
Laycock took the lead back with one in the sixth. After a blank end in seven, Knapp scored two in eight to lead 4-3. Laycock came back with one in nine.
Laycock had the lone rock in the house prior to Knapp’s final shot in the 10th end. Knapp successfully pulled off a hit and stick on Laycock’s rock to seal the provincial title.
“It was a well-curled game by both teams, actually,” said Knapp. “There were a couple of misses out there, but for the most part it was pretty clean.”
Knapp had said before he wanted to be a skip so he could throw the last rock.
“I’ve had the chance to make a few big shots before this, but none quite like this of course, but those ones definitely prepared me to settle into the hack and just get into the zone,” said Knapp.
Blanking the first two ends was important, he said, because they cut the 10-end game to eight.
“The turning point was our deuce in the eighth end. The guys played such a good end and then finished off the job there.”
After the game, Knapp thanked the people of Estevan for putting on a great event.
“It was such an incredible Tankard,” he said. “The volunteers were all so nice. Everything was super organized. The ice, the venue, I honestly can’t say [there was] one flaw with the whole week. We’re just so grateful to Estevan.”
The final marked the third meeting of the Tankard between the two teams. Knapp rallied from a 6-2 deficit after five ends to defeat Laycock 9-7 in the A event on Thursday morning.
The other matchup wasn’t close, as Knapp beat Laycock 9-4 in eight ends Saturday night in the battle of the top two seeds in the tournament. Knapp won the A event while Laycock won the B.
“We knew those guys were going to be tough. We had played those guys once this year already and they kicked the crap out of us. That was for sure the best game they played against us tonight, so we had to bring our best, too.”
With the win Saturday night, Knapp advanced directly to Sunday afternoon’s final, while Laycock had to play in the semifinal on Sunday morning, which he won 11-8 over Jason Jacobson, thanks to four in the 10th.
It’s been a strong year for the Knapp rink on the Saskatchewan Curling Tour. They won four times and were a top-ranked team entering provincials.
“We were super comfortable coming here together. There was nothing odd or awkward. We just built a lot of momentum throughout the year, to the point where we’ve won four events here, so why don’t we go win this one as well?”
The Knapp rink will advance to the Tim Hortons Brier national event, which will be held in London, Ont., from March 3-12. They will be looking to win Saskatchewan’s first national curling championship since Rick Folk in 1980.
Knapp said they’re not going for a participation ribbon.
“Obviously there is some incredible teams out there, but maybe in a year where new teams are forming, this is a good year that we can go in. We have experience as a group and we have to handle the nerves like we did tonight,” said Knapp.
