A Kimberley curling crew is back on the ice at provincials as they take another shot at a trip to the national championship.
The mixed rink comprised of Tom and Lori Buchy and Dave and Robyn Toffolo are off to Vancouver Island where they are going up against seven other teams for the right to represent B.C. at the nationals.
“It always pretty much feels the same,” said Dave Toffolo, who throws in second. “You’ve got to get off to a good start and if you can get into that ‘A’ final, that’s a big step to making the playoffs, because you get a couple of cracks at the playoffs, even if you’re not successful in that game.
A good start and getting on a roll is the main goal, said Tom Buchy, who skips the rink.
“You gotta get going because it’s a triple-knockout,” Buchy said. “If you don’t get going early, and you get down in that ‘C’ event quick—it’s tough.”
They’ll be going up against a few teams that have been around the block, however, some are also new to the provincial curling scene.
Both Buchy and Toffolo have gone up against Wes Craig, who skips a team out of Duncan. The Kimberley curling crew beat the Craig rink a few years ago to earn the B.C. spot at the national championships in Montreal.
Other familiar faces include a team skipped by Brian Gessner out of Vancouver and another team led by Steve Kopf, who curled in the 2013 Tim Hortons Breir.
“There are a couple teams that we’re familiar with, but there’s also a few teams that we’re not familiar with, but it still looks like a pretty good lineup,” said Buchy.
Toffolo agreed.
“By the same token, you can’t take anybody lightly; they’re all good, they’ve all won something to get there, so you have to be solid every game,” said Toffolo.
The four booked their provincial ticket after going undefeated at zone play downs in Creston at the end of February.
The Buchy rink downed fellow Kimberley curling club team skipped by Gordon Rowe, bested a team led by Rick Cutler out of Nelson, and toppled Rowe in a rematch, to clinch the Kootenay zone berth.
“We played quite well there,” said Toffolo. “We really took advantage when the other team would miss. It seemed we would come up with a great shot behind one of their misses, and it really put a lot of pressure on the other team and we did score a fair amount of points because of that.”