by Joe Pavia

He's living the Swede life.

Fredrik Lindberg, the second for Swedish skip Niklas Edin, spent Christmas in Ottawa with his girlfriend Alison Kreviazuk, Rachel Homan's second. Like many non-Canadian teams, his rink spends plenty of time in Canada.

"We make six trips to Canada and spend anywhere from a week to three or four weeks at a time." Lindberg, 26, said.

The team plays in a cash event in Scotland this week, then jets back to Canada for the World Financial Group Continental Cup in Penticton, B.C., Jan. 10-13. How does he afford this?

Sweden's sports governing body pays for the rink's travel and accommodations at events.

"Our funding is enough to make a living out of it, but not really at the same time," Lindberg said. "You can do it for a couple of years, but in the long term you couldn't really."

Lindberg explained that he hasn't had to work the last two summers because of their cash winnings.

"So I really don't have any expenses," he said. "I really can't put anything away for later life, but to do this for a few seasons is awesome."

Lindberg has been tossing rocks since he was 11. He attended Sweden's national curling academy in Harnosand in high school. His trophy case contains two European championships, as well as a 2004 world junior banner. In addition, he has a fourth-place finish at the Vancouver Olympics.

Does he get homesick?

"Sometimes I miss home, but we love it in Canada," Lindberg said. "People love to have us here. Everywhere we go, we see friendly faces. You don't really have time to miss home."

Lindberg feels other countries are starting to threaten Canada on the world stage.

"I think that since curling came into the Olympic program, all the other nations started to put money into the sport," Lindberg said. "They are throwing money at certain teams and those teams get a lot of opportunity to practise and also go curl. I think the world is catching up to Canada."

OCA RESULTS

Those advancing to Best Western Intermediate men's and women's regions are: 1A - Jennifer Harvey and Kevin Baker, B - Dwayne Lowe; 3A- Tara Holland and Alan Scott, B - Lidia Cormier and Ed Warren; 4B - Bill Adair. In Gore Mutual Schoolboy and Schoolgirl, zones the winners were: 2A - Pascal Michaud; B - Morgan Steele and Stuart Leslie.

WINNERS CIRCLE

Three Ottawa curlers won their sections of the Toronto Curling Association youth bonspiel on Sunday. Manotick's Jamie Sinclair skipped her squad of Holly Donaldson, Erin Jenkins and Katelyn Wasylkiw to the junior section championship. Navan's Jason Camm threw third for his St. Thomas rink, which took the men's side, while Ottawa's Kimberly Gannon played vice on her Toronto-based team that won bantams.

END NOTES

The Ottawa curling scene has been diminished over the holidays by the passing of John Doty and Bruce Cameron. Doty was the president of the Governor Generals Curling Club, the Ottawa Hunt and the OCA. His son Steve is the current provincial senior men's champion, the same title John won in 1978. Both played front end. John was 86. Cameron initiated wheelchair curling in Ottawa once he required the use of a wheelchair. Cameron was also the skip of the 2010 Ontario wheelchair champions. He was 70 ... The Pepsi Junior provincials begins Wednesday in London. Representing this area are Jamie Sinclair (last year's champ), Casandra Raganold, Chris Lewis and Ben Miskew. Rogers television will broadcast the finals on Sunday night.

by Joe Pavia

Below are familiar Christmas terms and what they mean to curlers:

Advent: What you rant about when you see the same commercials time-after-time on curling broadcasts.

Baubles: What you’re doing when you play with the rock handle too much on delivery.

Bells: What you wish someone would ring when you’re 45 minutes late starting your game because of the extra end on your sheet.

Candle: What you sometimes can’t hold when playing a great team.

Carols: She’s your wife and vice in mixed and you’re not taking her advice under any circumstances.

Christmas cards: The people who joke the most at your club’s Christmas party.

Comet: Describes how fast your team went from “A” flight to elimination.

Dancer: What you are as you try not to slip on the ice.

Dasher: The opposition player who leaves before your drink is bought.

Donner: The term given to a curler who always has to have the latest fashions.

Dove: Not the bird you give the other team.

Epiphany: What you have when you realize your skip really isn’t very good.

Frankincense: Your skip’s name and what he gets when you miss a shot.

Gift: What you get when they flash an open hit and you are laying three.

Holly: She was the last dancer when your rink visited the “ballet” during the bonspiel.

Mistletoe: How fast your foot moves when you kick another team’s butt.

North Pole: One of four on the stage at the “ballet.”

Prancer: The flamboyant guy on sheet 3.

Reindeer: The answer the ice maker gives his wife when she asks “Dear what’s the worst condition to install ice?”

Sleigh: What you did to your opponents after they shook in just three ends.

Star of Bethlehem: Where the best skip in Israel lives.

Stocking: What never keeps your foot warm on the ice.

Twelve Days of Christmas: The amount of time you have to get your curling shoes fixed before the season resumes.

Wise Men: Not your three teammates.

OUR NUMBER UP?

A number of fans who watched last weekend’s Canadian Open of Curling grumbled that it would be nice to see an unfamiliar face in a televised curling final. That hope was almost fulfilled when the Mark Kean foursome from Toronto made the semi-finals. Ever since the Slam series began in 1993, not many new faces have skipped teams to victory. There have been 55 championships since that date, but only 14 different men have been victorious skips. Since the same date, only 12 men have led their rinks to victory at the Brier. With so many of the same repeat winners, Canadian curling has to wonder who will beat the world when the old guard retires.

OCA RESULTS

The Dominion senior zone results were: 1A: Brian Lewis and Sandra Chisholm, B: Bill Sobering and Janet LaPierre; 2A: David Brown and Joyce Potter, B: Howard Rajala and Karen Mahon; 3A: Dwayne Lowe and Heather Dufault, B: Leo Buckley and Barb Kelly; 4A: Bob Ray and Sheryl French, B: Jim Marshall and Cheryl McBain.

WINNERS CIRCLE

A Thurso rink skipped by Simon Dupuis defeated Phil Lemay 8-6 in an extra end to win the inaugural WCT event, the Vic Open, in Quebec City. With Dupuis were Rick Faguy, Louis Biron and Maurice Cayouette. They took home $2,000.

END NOTES

Need a tune-up? Coach Earle Morris is offering a skills tune-up on Dec. 27 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. You pick the 50-minute block you want. The cost is $40 per individual or $120 per group. Contact Morris at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

by Joe Pavia

Most ice makers hate television.

On Thursday, curling fans will see the elite curlers in the Grand Slam delivering rocks on ice fashioned by Manitoba’s Mark Shurek, one of the planet’s best ice makers.

Fans will also hear commentators talk about the great swing and club curlers will wonder why their clubs can’t have ice like they see on television.

Shurek and a lot of other ice professionals think that television ice has raised expectations that can’t be easily fulfilled at a curling club level.

The Navy club’s ice technician Dan Nikita said: “Arena ice generally has a volunteer force of a dozen guys, a hired professional with assistants, a pretty decent budget, top-notch flooding and scraping equipment, rocks that are touched up and world-class curlers.”

Clubs have a volunteer or a part-time or a full-time person who maintains ice.

Dirt is also a factor mitigating against arena ice in clubs.

Not only do less experienced curlers bring dirt on to the playing surface, but add to this mix occasional rental groups, who force ice makers to work harder fixing the surface.

The Ottawa Curling Club’s Jon Wall, who made ice at the last women’s worlds in Denmark and helps Shurek with Slam ice, said: “Dirt isn’t a factor (when more competitive curlers play) because they take better care of their equipment.”

Ian MacAulay, who is one of Canada’s most experienced ice makers who works at both the Navan and RCMP facilities, said: “TV has 15-20 draws, but in my case I have 300 draws.”

Glenn Howard lead, Craig Savill, says another difference is the aggressive rocks they use for television events.

“The rocks get sand-papered before every event, but a curling club might do their rocks once or twice a season,” said Savill. “Club ice gets more and more unlevel and has to be flooded, but it doesn’t get done often enough.”

OCA RESULTS

In Tim Hortons Masters regions those advancing to the provincials are: Region 1A: Joyce Potter and Layne Noble; B: Raja Wysocki and Reg Plaster ... In Scotties and Dominion Tankard zone action those advancing to regions are: 1A: Rachel Homan and Shane Latimer; B: Katie Morrissey and Spencer Cooper; Zone 2A: Rhonda Varnes and Howard Rajala; B: Tracy Saaman and Don Bowser; Zone 3A: Chris Gardner and Jaimee Gardner; B: Colin Dow; Zone 4A: Lisa Farnell and Greg Balsdon; B: Lindsay Mc-

Keown and Bryce Rowe ... The Gore Mutual School Girl and School Boy zone winners were: 1A: Spencer Richmond and Courtney Stafford; B: Peter Stranberg and Hailey Armstrong; 2A: Erin Butler ... Dominion Stick zone winners were: 1A: Bruce Merklinger; B: Ed Gardner; 3A: Doug Woods; B: Janice Inniss; 4A: Ron Hutchinson; B: Yvonne Sklepowicz.

END NOTES

Gatineau residents and Ottawa curlers Jean-Michel Menard and Jean-Sebastien Roy have both qualified for their provincials. Roy’s team (Robert Desjardins) was the Quebec Tour champion, while Menard was the No. 1 point qualifier.

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By Joe Pavia

Many are called but few have chosen.

Scotties and Dominion Tankard zones will be played this weekend.

This is the preliminary step to reach curlers’ dream of making it to the Tim Hortons Brier and the Scotties.

Across the Ontario Curling Association region, 47 women’s teams and 105 men’s rinks are trying to get the few spots available in the provincials: Six for women and 10 for men.

For most players, two zone losses will end the dream.

On the men’s side, the OCA introduced a bye to the Tankard for the previous year’s champion in 2010.

Glenn Howard has been that rink every year.

How hard is it to make the men’s provincials? In the last six years only 27 different teams have filled the 63 spots available.

Of those teams, many have been three-time and two-time repeaters.

Howard holds the top spot at all six, followed by Peter Corner with five.

The OCA women compete with teams from Northern Ontario for their provincial.

OCA entrants get six spots while the north receives four. Only 19 OCA squads have represented southern Ontario in the last six years — that’s 36 available spots.

Jenn Hanna has played in five; Sherry Middaugh and Alison Goring competed in 4. There are also multiple two- and three-time repeaters.

This will all change in 2014 when Northern Ontario gets its own spot in the Scotties.

Zone 1 and 2 Tankard and Scotties zones take place at the RCMP beginning Friday. Men’s action starts at 6 p.m., the women at 9 p.m.

Zone 3 men’s action takes place in Arnprior Saturday. There is only one team on the women’s side.

CANADA CUP

With Stefanie Lawton’s Canada Cup victory last Sunday, Rachel Homan has some breathing room with regards to attaining a Trials spot. Homan slips from first to third, but both teams above her (Lawton and Jennifer Jones) both have their spots. Manitoba’s Chelsea Carey is a mere 17 points behind Homan. Only 58 points separate third from 10th spot.

OCA RESULTS

The junior skips headed to the provincials after winning this region on Sunday are: 1A: Chris Lewis and Casandra Raganold; 1B: Ben Miskew and Jamie Sinclair.

WINNERS’ CIRCLE

In the Kathy Kerr Memorial Wheelchair bonspiel, Canada, skipped by Jim Armstrong, won the tournament, defeating Manitoba 1, led by Mark Wherrett. The semi-finalists were Newfoundland & Labrador and Canada 2 … The Russell rink of Greg Richardson, Rich Moffat, Doug Johnston and Ken Sullivan won the Cornwall Men’s Bonspiel.

END NOTES

You still have time to vote for your favourite curlers in the Dominion All-Star Curling Skins Game. Ottawa’s Craig Savill is in fourth place, but with more than 50,000 votes cast, TSN reports that a few hundred votes separate the contenders. Voting runs until Dec. 10 and fans can still visit tsn.ca/curlingskins to cast their vote. So far the players with the most votes (skip to lead) are Howard, Randy Ferbey, Reid Carruthers and Steve Gould ... The Grand Slam of Curling, the Canadian Open, begins next Wednesday in Kelowna, B.C. ... Indeed, the Ontario’s Mixed Doubles Challenge, explained is last week’s column, is now full with a waiting list.

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