A local curler didn't have much luck at the provincial Tankard last week.
Aaron Gaudreau of Pilger, curling with his brother Derek Gaudreau, didn't make it very far at the 2011 SaskTel Men's Provincial Tankard held February 2-6 in North Battleford.
The Gaudreau rink, curling out of the Shellbrook Curling Club, included skip Derek Gaudreau of Martensville, third Aaron Gaudreau of Pilger, second Darren LaMotte of Shellbrook, and lead Chris Unger of Hague.
The team had qualified for the Tankard by winning the B event at Northerns in January.
The Gaudreau rink's first game at the Tankard was against Scott Bitz at 7 p.m. on February 2. Gaudreau came up on the wrong side of an 8-2 score, dropping the team to the B event.
On February 3, Gaudreau lost 5-4 to Brad Law, forcing them into a do-or-die situation in the C event.
The Gaudreau rink's dream of making it to the Brier ended early on February 4, when they lost 7-5 to Terry Marteniuk.
"It didn't go quite as we had hoped," Aaron Gaudreau told the Journal on February 7. "We didn't play real well. I think my brother Derek was a little nervous."
The team is just chalking the week up to experience and hoping to get back some day, Gaudreau noted.
What they did enjoy about the event, was the ice, which Gaudreau said was some of the best he'd ever curled on.
"The organizers, they did a job second to none at the event," he said.
Pat Simmons defeated Carl deConinck Smith 8-6 in the Tankard final to qualify for his fifth appearance at the national championships.
Simmons team also had a local connection. Dallan Muyres, 23, was playing lead for the rink. Muyres is originally from St. Gregor.
Dallan's father, Lyle, was also involved with the team as he was coaching on the weekend. Lyle, curling with his brothers Warren, Craig, and Garth, won the Tankard and played in the 1986 Brier.
One more Muyres was curling on the weekend. Kirk, Dallan's brother, was playing third for the Braeden Moskowy rink from Saskatchewan that won the national junior men's final on February 6.
The Moskowy rink will now be representing Canada at the Junior World championships in Perth, Scotland March 5-13.
The 2011 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship takes place March 5-13 in London, Ontario.
