 Manitoba's Team Simmons (Picture: Curling Canada) picked up their first win of the 2021 Home Hardware Pre Trials on Wednesday afternoon, defeating Quebec's Team Fournier 8-7 in an extra end. By: Dylan Chenier The draw started out with Fournier's rink stealing two in the first end. After forcing Simmons to one in the second. the Quebec squad was able to pick up two more in the third, taking a 4-1 lead. In the third end, Team Simmons scored an impressive three points, and with a stolen end in the fifth, they were able to take a 5-4 lead heading into the break. In the sixth Fournier was forced to one, but returned the favour in the eighth end after Simmons blanked the seventh. Team Simmons was able to steal one in the ninth, taking a 7-5 lead with just one end to come. Team Fournier was able to score two, tying things up at 7 a-piece and forcing an extra end. In the extra, Simmons was left with an easy draw the button after Simmons' final throw was heady. The two-time Brier champ made the shot with ease, taking the point and the win. "It was a battle obviously," Simmons said after the game. "Lots of good final shots of the ends made. Nice to come out with the win." Wednesday's victory marked the first win for Simmons' rink, giving them a record of 1-2 with just three draws to play. Statistically speaking, the team can afford only one more loss this week, if they are to make the playoffs. In the 2017 edition of the Pre-Trials, the first to feature a round-robin format, no men's rinks made the playoffs with more than three losses. Despite being in "must-win" territory, Simmons is confident in the team's chances. "We just have to build on [the win]. Even [in] our losses, we've played pretty well. "It's going to be like this all week. We're getting battle-tested out here, and [I'm} looking forward to the next one." Next up for Team Simmons is a meeting with Team Roberge (QC) on Thursday afternoon. To close out the round-robin, Simmons takes on Alberta's Karsten Sturmay and Jeremy Harty in back-to-back draws on Friday. The top three teams from each pool advance to the playoffs, with two Olympic Trials berths up for grabs. If Simmons is to qualify for next month's Olympic Trials, it would mark his third appearance in the event, and second as a skip. The remaining members of Team Simmons would be making their Trials debut. |
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Brendan Bottcher (photo: Stan Fong) is moving on from now former teammates Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, announced Tuesday.
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