ECA Review 2024-03-28

4 M arch 28'24 HANNA/CORONATION/STETTLER, AB. ECA REVIEW
SLAP
Shots
• RJ Currie of
sportsdeke.com:
“Sabres No. 1
goalie Ukko-
Pekka Luukkonen
was listed
as day to day
with a lower
body injury. I
haven’t seen
that may Ks connected
to one
name since Roger
Clemens was
pitching for the
Red Sox.”
• Another one
from Currie:
“Metro UK reports
Thai veterinarians
removed
915 coins from
a zoo sea turtle,
which couldn’t
swim due to the
weight. It’s a rare
case of actually
having too much
money to stay
afloat.”
• Comedy writer
Gary Bachman:
“Watching
hockey makes
me hungry.
Every time icing
is called I crave
cake.”
• Retired NBA
great Shaquille
O’Neal: “I don’t
believe in pressure.
Pressure is
when you don’t
know where
your next meal is
coming from.”
• Comedy writer
Brad Dickson of
Omaha: “Mike
Tyson is going to
fight Jake Paul.
And I thought
Biden vs. Trump
was depressing.”
• Janice Hough
of leftcoastsportsbabe.com:
“Linebacker Eric
Kendricks turned
down the SF
49ers to join the
Dallas Cowboys
as a free agent.
Money? Or does
Kendricks just
like to have his
Februarys off?”
The first East Central Spring Hockey event
took place March 16 - 17, a 3 on 3 tournament
for Girls U11, U13 and U15 with over 90 girls
participating
as a kick
off to the
new spring
development
program!
The Spring
Development
Program based out of Castor will run until
mid May and has girls participating from all
over Alberta. The program includes games
and tournaments as well as the weekly
development program. The Spring teams are
called the “East Central Eagles”.
FROM THE BLEACHERS
No easy games at
men’s world curling
by Bruce Penton
Based on historic results that show
Canada has won 36 world titles, 25
more than the next-best country,
Canada’s Brad Gushue, who defeated
Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen for the
2024 Brier title, should
win this year’s men’s
world curling championship
in
Schaffhausen,
Switzerland.
Based on recent history,
however, the
odds-on favourite to
win the event that
starts this weekend
would be Niklas Edin
of Sweden, who has
won four of the past five titles.
Penton
But based on current excellence, the
favourite should be Italy’s Joel
Retornaz, who skips the No. 1-ranked
team in the world. And if recent play in
the Grand Slam of Curling events
should be considered, watch out for
Bruce Mouat’s Scottish entry.
Then there’s the U.S., which won the
Olympic gold medal in men’s curling in
2018 and will send veteran John
Shuster to this year’s worlds. And if
home-ice advantage is at all a factor,
then watch out for the Swiss entry
skipped by Yannick Schwaller.
In other words, it’s wide open. The
oddsmakers in Vegas would be perplexed
about setting gambling lines,
Got News?
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NEWS & PHOTOS
to ECA Review
email:office@ECAreview.com
drop off: 4921 Victoria Ave., Coronation
Remember to
identify all people in your photos.
but one thing is for sure: The curling
talent gathering in Schaffhausen
should guarantee a great event.
Gushue will wear Canada’s colours
for the sixth time, and third straight.
The game hasn’t been kind to him at
the worlds, however, with only one
championship to his credit. But he
is the most experienced Canadian
skip and with rink-mates Mark
Nichols, E.J. Harnden and Geoff
Walker, a podium finish is almost
guaranteed.
Besides his lone world championship,
Gushue also has three
runners-up finishes — all to Edin,
which is the foundation for one of
the sport’s great all-time rivalries.
Retornaz won four bonspiels this
season, three on the Grand Slam circuit
in Canada and one in Europe, the
Baden Masters. Winning the world
title this year would be an astounding
accomplishment, considering Italy is
one of five countries to have never won
at the world level (Germany, Denmark,
Finland and France are the others).
As well, the next Winter Olympic
Games will be held in February, 2026
in Milan, Italy and what a special treat
it would be for Retornaz to represent
his country knowing he has a world
title on his resume.
Scotland and Sweden can never be
counted out at the world championship.
Edin has won six world
championships and Mouat, the
In Memoriam
Ernest
“Ernie”
Ronald
June 5 1934 to
March 30 2017
Together in the same old way.
Would be my wish today!
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Scottish rep, is the defending world
champ. (Strange how Scotland picks its
representative: Mouat lost in the semifinals
of the Scottish championship,
eventually won by Ross Whyte, but
Scottish Curling decided that Mouat
should represent the country at the
world event.)
And if the Swedish, Italian, Scottish,
Swiss and American competitors
weren’t enough to give Gushue sleepless
nights, rinks representing South
Korea and Japan have been showing
great improvement in recent years.
It’s a wide-open competition, and
Gushue is 43 years old and nearing the
end of his dominant days, so Canadian
curling fans will be rooting for him to
add one more title to his resume.
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Over
12 years
experience
serving
Stettler &
area.
SLAP
Shots
• Janice Hough
again: “Rob
Manfred almost
makes me do
the impossible —
miss Bud Selig.”
• Political
insider George
Conway, on
reports that Jets’
quarterback
Aaron Rodgers
may be the VP
choice for thirdparty
candidate
Robert Kennedy,
Jr: “Are you suggesting
that RFK
Jr.’s campaign
could end with a
bad pick?”
• Super 70s
Sports, quoting
record-breaking
punter Dave Jennings
of the New
York Jets: “I’d
like to thank my
quarterbacks for
(playing awful)
on third down
pretty much my
whole career, I
couldn’t have
done it without
them.”
• Steve Simmons
of the Toronto
Sun, in honour of
St Patrick’s Day:
“My all-time list
of Patricks: Patrick
Mahomes,
Patrick Roy. Patrick
Kane. Dan
Patrick. Patrick
Ewing. Patrick
Chan. Pat Riley.
Craig Patrick.
Lester Patrick.
• Another one
from Super 70s
Sports: “On this
day in 1994, the
Penguins score a
big win on ‘Davy
Crockett Coonskin
Cap Night’
— hang on, being
told that’s just
Jaromir Jagr’s
hair.”
Care to
comment?
Email
brucepenton2003
@yahoo.ca