The warm weather in February has wreaked havoc on the Niverville Curling Club’s schedule. The club, which has one of the province’s few remaining natural ice surfaces, is always dependent on weather, but this year was worse than normal. When the temperature climbed above freezing for a week, the ice surface basically disintegrated.
Former club president Dustin Krahn says that this year’s season was had to end earlier than ever before, forcing the club to make changes to its schedule and move its playoffs to other communities.
“Curling playoffs were held in Otterburne this past weekend,” says Krahn, referring to the last weekend in February. “Everything but the final game was played.”
The final, which will be played in St. Adolphe in the next week or two, will pit the Hiebert brothers (Larry, Wes, Stanley, and Stanford) against Brad Wasilinchuk, Dave Aitkin, Marc Loeppky, and John Schmitke.
Krahn notes that many players who have grown accustomed to Niverville’s unusual natural ice conditions were taken aback by the ice in Otterburne. “Lots of people were in awe of what curling on consistent ice is really like!”
