Rafuse upsets top seeds to win N.S. Tankard

BY JOHN DECOSTE

jdecoste@theadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

The Brian Rafuse rink from Bridgewater played giant-killers in winning the 2008 Alexander Keith’s Tankard provincial men’s curling championship Sunday, Feb. 10 at the Wolfville Curling Club.

Rafuse and teammates Curt Palmer of Coldbrook, Alan Darragh and Dave Slauenwhite, seeded seventh entering the tournament, scored a pair in the 10th and final end to edge top-seed Shawn Adams of Mayflower 4-3.

Adams, a three-time champion, and teammates Paul Flemming, Craig Burgess of Berwick and Kelly Mittelstadt were provincial runners-up for a second straight year.

A total of 16 teams began play Wednesday, Feb. 6 in a modified triple-knockout format. The Rafuse rink split its first two games then won four straight, the last a 6-4 decision over Adams to win the ‘B’ draw and advance directly to the 1-2 Page playoff game.

His opponent was Scott Saunders, the second seed, who had edged Adams 8-7 in an extra end in a thrilling ‘A’ draw final between two teams undefeated at 3-0 to that point.

Adams fought his way to the playoffs through the sudden-death ‘C’ draw, finally claiming his playoff berth with a 7-2 win over Chris Sutherland.

In the Page playoffs, Rafuse topped the previously undefeated Saunders rink 4-3 in the 1-2 game to advance directly to Sunday’s final while Adams defeated Doug MacKenzie, the other ‘C’ draw winner, by a 10-5 score in the 3-4 game.

Adams punched his ticket to the final by edging Saunders 7-6, also in an extra end in a mirror image of their meeting in the ‘A’ draw final. In a low-scoring final, Adams took a 3-2 lead into the 10th, but Rafuse and his team weren’t to be denied.

With the win, Rafuse, Palmer, Darragh and Slauenwhite will represent Nova Scotia at the Tim Horton’s Brier March 8-15 in Winnipeg.

For Palmer, who was also mate on the 2006 provincial championship team skipped by Mark Kehoe, it will be his second trip to the Brier in as many years and third overall.

Rafuse, Palmer and Slauenwhite, along with Glen Josephson, the alternate on this year’s team, combined to win the provincial Tankard title in 1996.

Kehoe, the defending provincial champion who calls Falmouth home, finished with four wins and three defeats, losing to Adams in the ‘B’ semi-finals and being eliminated by MacKenzie in the ‘C’ semi-finals.