1. sports
2. curling

Issue 5 – Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Pants on
fire!
Sartorially-splendid Norwegians bring down Canada /2
Sponsor of the Day
See Sponsor Profile on page 14
Page 2
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
Team
Canada
worked
hard but
came up
short
against
Norway
and
suffered
its first
loss at the
Worlds.
Dressed to kill
Norway hands Canada first defeat
S
By JOHN KOROBANIK
Eye Opener Associate Editor
omebody turned off the cruise control and
Canada’s unbeaten journey at the Ford
World Men’s Curling Championship came to
a crashing halt Tuesday evening.
The first loss for Pat Simmons and his Calgarybased team came at the hands of Thomas Ulsrud
of Norway and it was an emphatic, messagesending 9-3, eight-end result. Ulsrud, third Torger
Nergård, second Christoffer Svae and lead Håvard
Vad Petersson are still the world champions and
they let everyone in the Scotiabank Centre know
that they are not about to give up that title without
a serious fight.
“We showed up to play tonight,” said Ulsrud,
wearing bright, multi-coloured pants that he is
undefeated in. “The boys made some really good
shots. Torger started off in the first end with a
beautiful shot to set up the two points and kept
going from there.”
Norway was easily the better team, in contrast
to their performance through their first six games
— two of which they were fortunate to win —
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Page 3
A Canadian rockhead cheers on her team Tuesday night.
where they often looked out of sorts
and struggled with their game. Not
so Tuesday. All it took was to wave
the Canadian flag in front of Ulsrud.
“That’s why I play curling, to
play good teams from Canada in
the worlds,” Ulsrud said before
the game. Then he went out and
demonstrated why he likes playing
Canada.
“That’s the beauty of curling,” he
added. “Tonight we had real comfort
in the ice and everything. I was
really trusting it and just throwing
it pure and we played some pretty
good shots. We were a bit lucky to
score four in the third end and after
that it was really a game they had
to go all out and we managed to
defend.”
He didn’t think Canada would
take any message from the defeat
and wouldn’t be bothered by it.
“No, I think they’re going to be
even more ready for us next time. It
is my guess this is not the last time
Norway and Canada play this week.
We’ll meet them again.”
Norway scored two in the first
end, gave up one in the second and
then took total control with four in
the third. Simmons, who had half
misses with his first shot in each of
the first two ends, had to make key
shots with his second stones to keep
Canada close.
“We got in trouble early and
often and they’re too good to do that
against,” said Simmons. “I wasn’t
able to make the bail-out shots that
were necessary tonight and that’s
just the way it goes; you’re not going
to make those every night.
“We weren’t expecting to go
through this undefeated. We’ll
rebound for sure.”
Canada’s woes deepened in the
third end when neither third John
Morris nor Simmons made a full
shot, leaving Ulsrud a simple tap
back for four and a huge 6-1 lead
that proved insurmountable.
The result left Norway and
Canada, whose play was as drab
as their black-and-gray uniforms,
tied atop the standings at 6-1. Marc
Pfister of Switzerland failed to keep
pace, dropping to 5-2 when he was
soundly beaten 8-2 in six ends by
Sweden’s Niklas Edin, who stole
two in the fourth and three more in
the fifth.
“We needed to win that game
badly,” said Edin. “We decided to go
out there with our heads held high
and start strong from the beginning.
We only got one point in the first
end when we were wanting three or
four, but he made a superb freeze
there.
“We were happy with that one,
then we forced them to only take one
in the next end, then it was pretty
much our game from then on.”
Page 4
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
Olys expected to double up
«
C
urling mixed doubles?
In the Olympics?
Bet on it.
One week ago, after departing
Sapporo, Japan, prior to the playoffs of the women’s world championship, Kate Caithness was in
Lausanne, Switzerland, to make
the presentation.
If something went wrong,
and there’s no evidence in her
mood and attitude since arriving
here to suggest anything but the
opposite, then sometime in early
June Canadians should expect to
be shocked to discover that mixed
doubles will be announced as a
part of the next Winter Olympics
in Pyeongchang, Korea.
Much ignored in traditional game nations, especially in
Canada, where it was invented
only a dozen years ago, the event
has been a hit in smaller nations
TERRY
DAVE
JONES
KOMOSKY
where it’s difficult to put together
four-player teams.
It wasn’t anything Caithness
said specifically in an exclusive
interview with QMI Agency, it
was the overall impression left
by the Scottish lady that she is
beyond hopeful it will happen.
Caithness, you should understand, is uniquely positioned.
The first female president of
the World Curling Federation
was appointed to the International Olympic Committee’s program
commission, responsible for reviewing and analyzing the sports,
disciplines and events.
“The reason the WCF has gone
for mixed doubles is that they are
completely different,” she said.
The games, which require just
two people per team, take just
one hour, 40 minutes to play.
“It’s three sessions easily a
day,” she said of adding it between the three events per day
in the men’s and women’s traditional four-player program at the
Olympics.
There have been mixed doubles world championships since
2008. Hungary and Russia have
won gold medals. Spain, New
Zealand, Austria, France and the
Czech Republic have also won
medals.
“The countries which have won
medals are not the top curling
countries,” she said. “Spain on
the podium — when would that
have ever happened as a fourman team?
“Our proposal was for 16
countries. That would allow a lot
of smaller countries in the event.
And if they get into the Olympics,
they get Olympic funding. We’ve
asked for 16. We’ll see.”
Television is a huge factor.
“NBC is very supportive of
our proposal going forward.
The TV figures from curling
are great. And we don’t have to
rely on weather conditions. Our
broadcasters see we have two
days set aside for training and
say this is crazy, they are two
days we could use for broadcasts,” she adds.
When curling first became a
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
full-medal sport in the Olympics
in Nagano in 1998, there was no
such thing as mixed doubles.
Getting mixed doubles into
the Olympics would be a great
going-away present for the retiring director of event operations of
Curling Canada, Warren Hansen,
who played a huge part in getting
curling into the Olympics and
bringing the game to where it is
today.
The former Edmonton curler
and 1974 Brier winner, with Hec
Gervais, invented it.
“It was part of the first Continental Cup, an event the WCF
requested us to do because they
were being pressured by the IOC
to have a world competition of
some sort other than the world
championships because they
were a sport which didn’t have a
World Cup.
“It was tossed to me,” he said
of the Ryder Cup-type event that
was a huge hit in Las Vegas in
2014 and will return there next
Page 5
year.
Hansen bounced ideas off
associate Neil Houston during
the process, then they test-drove
it with curlers in Calgary in 2001
with TSN commentators and
producers.
“To my amazement it’s
caught on very well in most of
the countries around the world
except Canada,” he said. “I
thought Canadian curling clubs
would just grab this because I
thought it was something that
would only take half the time
and you only needed two people. Mixed was also the perfect
formula for it. And it really
hasn’t managed to get very far
in Canada.”
It’s like it has to get into the
Olympics for Canada to take it
seriously.
“Probably,” said Hansen.
Get ready for that to happen.
Terry Jones is a sports columnist
for the Edmonton Sun
World Curling Federation president Kate Caithness is behind
a push to get curling mixed doubles into the Olympics.
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Page 6
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
Continental Cup this January
in Calgary, and didn’t like it.
Neither did his fans.
But his regular pants?
Yowza! The pants are so far
out, they’re in. During the
Olympics, the Norwegians had
the only unofficial Facebook page
dedicated to their pants.
We all know clothes aren’t just
there to cover up your private
parts or keep you warm. Fashion
expresses your inner self. Clothes
are there to make you feel good.
So it comes as no surprise that
Ulsrud, a self-employed curling
instructor and event co-ordinator,
would adopt the bizarre attire
for his team. It’s typical of the
man. He is not afraid to go off
the beaten path. What’s more,
he’s hard not to like. He is
approachable, funny and honest.
As far as he’s concerned, who
wants to live in a world where
kitschy clothes and over-the-top
outfits are taboo.
The duds happened more by
accident than design. The team
received the wrong uniforms just
as they were preparing for the
2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Svae went online and found some
red, white and blue checkered
pants, and the rest is history.
The pants have been a nice,
ahem, fit for the team in more
ways than one. They have been
so popular, they have led to a
lucrative sponsorship deal with
the manufacturer, Loudmouth
Golf, which also supplies pants to
American golfer John Daly.
But unlike Daly, who is more
of a novelty act on the golf course
these days, the Norwegians can
actually play at the highest level.
All this raises the question: Do
the pants make the man, or is it the
Ulsrud’s back
wearing ‘his’
PANTS!
«
DAVE
KOMOSKY
“You can never be
overdressed or overeducated.”
– Oscar Wilde
T
homas Ulsrud feels
naked without his pants.
Well, who wouldn’t?
Actually, he feels naked
without his team pants, the
ones he wears to the delight
of curling fans everywhere.
He may be known for his
curling but he is loved for his
pants.
That’s possibly the legacy
Ulsrud will leave behind
once he has finished his
most excellent adventure in
international curling. His
curling has been top notch,
but his pants, and those of his
Norwegian teammates, have
been top drawer.
Ulsrud and his talented
team from Oslo — third
Torger Nergard, second
Christoffer Svae and lead
Havard Vad Petersson —
are hard to miss at the Ford
World Curling Championship
this week. They’re the ones
with the garish pants. They
could be wearing an eyepopping zig-zag pattern, a
sartorially splendid red, white
and blue that mirrors the
Norwegian national flag, the
checkered pants that look like
grandma’s tablecloth ­— or
one of the other nine pairs of
outlandish pants they wore at
last year’s Olympic Games in
Sochi, Russia. All the pants’
patterns have some link to
Norwegian traditions.
Tuesday at the Worlds,
they cranked it up a notch
against Canada, wearing
some golf-style plus fours.
And to complete the
ensemble, some jaunty caps.
They looked like four
Payne Stewart golfers out
there.
It’s all in keeping with
the team’s philosophy about
dress. Their threads should
be a celebration of garish
goodness.
“It’s our gig now,” he says.
“Every time we have to dress
in a team uniform, fans are
always asking, ‘where are
your pants? What happened?
You’re so boring.’ I guess this
is our trademark now. We
can’t play without them.”
Ulsrud was forced to
play in basic black pants as
part of Team Europe in the
Garish
duds
in style
for world
event
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Thomas
Ulsrud
had to
wear his
boring
black
pants in
the
Continental
Cup as part
of Team
Europe.
Page 7
other way around? Do the brilliance
of the pants blind curling fans to the
team’s world-class ability?
Ulsrud is the defending world
champion in Halifax and also a
two-time European champion and
former Olympic silver medallist.
That’s some track record. But if he
doesn’t think his team is getting its
just due, he’s not saying.
“
I guess this is our
trademark now. We
can’t play without
them
­— Thomas Ulsrud
“Looking back, it was the
smartest move we ever made,”
he says about climbing into the
pants. “There’s so many good
teams out there. We stick out
from the crowd.”
This is the start of another
four-year cycle for Ulsrud and his
team in the buildup to the next
Winter Olympics, in South Korea.
The team had discussed calling
it quits after the Sochi Games,
where they finished fifth with
a 4-3 record, but after talking
to family and sorting out some
business details, they decided to
give it another go.
The team scaled down its
cashspiel play this season, but
otherwise it has been business as
usual — which means wherever
they play, the pants will help
them make their usual flashy
entrance. And if anyone looks at
them sideways, Ulsrud has one
thing to tell them: “Lighten up.”
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Page 10
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
CURLING QUIZ
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Our vibrant nightlife has something for every mood, from
1. Braunstein won the 1965 Brier with
a crack outfit out of the Granite Club
in Winnipeg, but he couldn’t cap it off
with a world championship, finishing
second to Bud Somerville of the U.S.
Truly East Coast
from end to end.
2. Morris hit the dinger.
3. The hogline monitoring system used
at all major national and international
competitions was developed in what city?
a) Calgary
b) Stockholm
c) Saskatoon
d) Winnipeg
3. The technology was invented in
Saskatoon.
2. One member of Team Canada hit
a home run at old Exhibition Stadium
in Toronto, original home of the Blue
Jays, when he was a teen. That members was:
a) Carter Rycroft
b) Pat Simmons
c) John Morris
d) Nolan Thiessen
4. Air Canada at one time sponsored
the world men’s curling championship.
What was presented to the winning
team?
a) A Golden Cup
b) A Brass Whisk
c) A Crystal Brush
d) A Silver Broom
4. You don’t know your curling if you
don’t know it was the Silver Broom. It
was strange when a European team
won it, because they never used
brooms, only brushes.
1. Canada won the first six world men’s
curling championships, although the
first two were head-to-head matches
against Scotland. What skip lost the first
world title for Canada?
a) Ron Northcott
b) Ernie Richardson
c) Hec Gervais
d) Terry Braunstein
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Profile:
Russia
Evgeny Arkhipov
Alexander Kozyrev
SKIP
THIRD
Born: Moscow
Age: 23
Residence: Moscow
Nickname: Jeka
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Russian, English
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: 13
Years on team: Three
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sports achievement:
Seventh-place finish at 2014 Winter Games
in Sochi
Sports awards/honours: Second-place
finish at world junior championship 2013
Born: Moscow
Age: 28
Residence: Moscow
Nickname: None
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Russian, English
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: 14
Years on team: 10
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sports achievement:
Seventh-place finish at 2014 Winter Games
in Sochi
Other life interests: Snowboarding,
dominoes
Artur Razhabov
Anton Kalalb
SECOND
LEAD
Born: St. Petersburg,
Slantzy
Age: 25
Residence: St. Petersburg
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Russian, English
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: 16
Years on team: Seven
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sports achievement:
First-place finish Group B European championship
Sports hero/idol: Marian Dragulescus
Born: Russia
Age: 26
Residence: Moscow
Nickname: None
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Russian, English
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: 11
Years on team: Seven
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sports achievement:
2013 world men’s championship participant
Sports hero/idol: Alexander Popov
Other life interests: Reading
photography
Page 11
Various
Curling Clubs
Alt: Alexey Stukalskiy
Coach: Vasiliy Gudin
FACTS
Formal name: Russian Federation
Local name: Rossiya
Local formal name: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya
Location: Europe/Asia
Status: UN member country
Capital City: Moscow (Moskva)
Main cities: St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg,
Vladivostok, Nizhny Novgorod
Population: 149,476,000
Area: 17,075,000 sq. km
Currency: 1 ruble = 100 kopeks
Language: Russian
Religions: Russian Orthodox, Muslim,
Buddhist
RUSSIA AT THE WORLDS
Last five years:
2014: Eugeny Arkhipov (2-9)
2013: Andrey Drozdov (3-8)
2012: Did not qualify
2011: Did not qualify
2010: Did not qualify
Last championship — N/A
World titles — 0
Page 12
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Rookie cool under pressure
M
arc Pfister is the second youngest
skip at the worlds, at age 25, but
he showed the poise of a veteran
Tuesday morning as he prepared for his final
shot, a tough draw that would determine the
outcome of the game.
He looked at the time clock, which showed
he had just 20 seconds left. He rolled up the
rock to clean it off as a roar went up as Scotland, on the next sheet, won its first game of
the championship. Then Pfister calmly settled into the hack and made the shot, barely,
to beat Finland 8-7 and improve to 5-1.
He looked calm but admitted afterwards
the nerves were working overtime.
“It’s not easy with the crowds, but I
love this feeling,” he said of his first world
championship appearance. “Never had this
before. Amazing feeling with the crowds.
We are a little bit nervous at the end, but
we still had the last stone so we did it. It’s
unbelievable, it was so close, so close. First
I thought, ‘oh it’s wide, it’s long.’ But the
ice is a little bit flat now. At the end it curls
so much.”
STANDINGS
WORLD
NOTEBOOK
nnn
Speaking of Scotland, skip Ewan MacDonald
said after his team’s 8-6 win over Russia, it has
been a tough week, but they’re not surrendering.
“We’ve not been a million miles away in
so many of the games. It’s just half an inch
here and there,” he said after giving up three
to Russia in the first end and stealing one in
the 10th for the win. “The first end couldn’t
have gone any worse so it was nice to regroup and come back, especially when things
aren’t running for you all week”
So what’s their plan for the rest of the
week?
“Just keep grinding away, keep working,
take each game one at a time. We have a
couple of tough ones to come against Sweden
and
Canada but
you just have to get a
bit of momentum and see where we can go.
We’ll go as hard as we can every game, that’s
where we are now.”
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Page 13
WL
Norway (Ulsrud)
6 1
Canada (Simmons)
61
Switzerland (Pfister) 5 2
Japan (Morozumi)
4 3
Sweden (Edin)
4 3
Czech Rep. (Snitil) 3 4
Finland (Kauste)
3 4
U.S.A. (Shuster)
3 4
China (Zang)
2 5
S c o t l a n d ( M a c D o n a l d )2 5
Italy (Retornaz)
2 5
Russia (Arkhipov)
2 5
9:30 a.m.
Scotland (MacDonald)
Russia (Arkhipov)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10XE Total
0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 — 8
*3 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 — 6
Czech. Rep. (Snitil)
Sweden (Edin)
*0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 x
0 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 1 x
— 3
— 7
Sui (Pfister)
Finland (Kauste)
*3 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 0
— 8
— 7
Japan (Morozumi)
1 1 3 1 2 0 x x x x
— 8
Italy (Retornaz)
*0 0 0 0 0 1 x x x x
— 1
Draw 10
2:30 p.m.
China (Zang)
Czech. Rep. (Snitil)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10XE Total
*1 0 0 1 0 5 0 1 0 0 — 8
0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 1 — 7
Finland (Kauste)
Norway (Ulsrud)
1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 1
*0 1 2 0 2 0 2 1 0 0
— 7
— 8
Japan (Morozumi)
Canada (Simmons)
*1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 x
0 1 0 3 0 0 2 1 0 x
— 4
— 7
Scotland (MacDonald)
USA (Shuster)
*1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 1
0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
— 6
— 4
Draw 11
7:30 p.m.
Sui (Pfister)
Sweden (Edin)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10XE Total
0 1 0 0 0 1 x x x x — 2
*1 0 2 2 3 0 x x x x — 5
China (Zang)
USA (Shuster)
1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 x
*0 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 3 x
— 5
— 9
Italy (Retornaz)
Russia (Arkhipov)
*0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0
0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 1
— 4
— 5
Canada (Simmons)
Norway (Ulsrud)
0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 x x
*2 0 4 0 0 1 0 2 x x
— 3
— 9
* Last rock advantage
Page 14
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
9:30 a.m. draw
A — Ita. vs. Nor.; B — Can. vs. Sui.; C — USA vs. Swe.
D — Chn. vs. Rus.
2:30 p.m. draw
A — Rus. vs Fin.; B — Swe. vs. Jpn.; C — Sco. vs. Sui; D —
Ita. vs. Cze.
7:30 p.m. draw
A — Can. vs Sco; B — Nor. vs. Cze.; C — Fin. vs. Chn.; D —
USA. vs. Jpn.
Proud
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Profile:
China
Jialiang Zang
Dejia Zou
SKIP
THIRD
Born: Harbin
Age: 26
Residence: Harbin
Nickname: None
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Mandarin
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: 13
Years on team: Eight
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sporting achievement:
Fourth-place finish at the 2008 world men’s
championship and 2014 Olympic Winter
Games (Sochi).
Other life interests: Music, swimming.
Born: Harbin
Age: 31
Residence: Harbin
Nickname: None
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Mandarin
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: 15
Years on team: 14
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sporting achievement:
Fourth-place finish at the 2014 Olympic
Winter Games (Sochi).
Other life interests: Music and basketball.
Dexin Ba
Jinbo Wang
SECOND
LEAD
Born: Harbin
Age: 24
Residence: Harbin
Nickname: None
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Mandarin
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: Nine
Years on team: Eight
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sporting achievement:
Fourth-place finish at the 2014 Olympic
Winter Games (Sochi).
Other life interests: Music and basketball.
Born: Harbin
Age: 19
Residence: Harbin
Nickname: None
Marital status: Single
Languages spoken:
Mandarin
Employment: Full-time
athlete
Years curling: Six
Years on team: Five
Delivery: Right
Most memorable sporting achievement:
2013 Pacific-Asia Junior curling champion.
Other life interests: Music.
Page 15
Harbin
Curling Club
Harbin
Rongrui Zhang
Alternate
FACTS
Formal name: People’s Republic of China
Local name: Zhong Guo
Local formal name: Zhonghua Renmin
Gongheguo
Location: Asia
Status: UN member country
Capital City: Beijing
Main cities: Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenyang
Population: 1,361,512,000
Area: 9,596,960 sq. km
Currency: 1 yuan = 10 jiao = 100 fen
Languages: Mandarin Chinese, Shanghai-,
Canton-, Fukien-, Hakka-dialects, Tibetan,
Vigus (Turkic)
Religions: Confucianist, Buddhist, Taoist
CHINA AT THE WORLDS
Last five years:
2014: Liu Rui (6-5)
2013: Liu Rui (6-5)
2012: Liu Rui (6-5)
2011: Chen Lu’an (4-7)
2010: Wang Fengchun (3-8)
Last championship — N/A
World titles — 0
Page 16
Eye Opener - 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship
Tough miss, but skip
doesn’t miss any sleep
Swedish skip Niklas Edin didn’t have trouble sleeping after his loss
to Norway Monday night when his final rock, a draw to the four-foot,
slid too deep.
“Pretty good actually. Took sleeping pills and slept the whole night,”
he said Tuesday when asked how the
night went. “We played pretty good and
definitely deserved to win that game. But
we weren’t really comfortable playing the
draw out there. We missed a couple short
and it was kind of tricky. When we didn’t
make that last shot it was a really tough
loss.”
But after beating Jirí Snítil of the
Czech Republic Tuesday morning he felt
his team was over the tough loss and
their confidence level was fine, although
their shot-making hasn’t been as sharp
as expected.
“Definitely the ice has been a trick to
Niklas Edin
master. I think a lot of teams out there
are struggling a bit. Even Canada. If you watched the first two, three
games they were struggling big time with the ice and missing easy
shots, too.
“We haven’t really been on track so far. I know we can pick it up but
it’s about time to do it now.”
Peggy’s Cove Village
Don’t hurry too hard.
While taking in the curling action, get outside between draws to
discover hidden gems, delicious food and historic sites along the
shores of the great Atlantic. All you have to do is take yourself there.
Proud partner of the 2015 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship.
Steele Ford is proud to be
the Official Vehicle Sponsor
for the 2015 Ford World Men’s
Curling Championship.
3773 Windsor Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Phone: 902-982-3808
www.steeleford.com