One of the big NWT youth events of the curling season will not happen this year.

The Rock the Rings Youth Bonspiel, which was slated to take place at the Yellowknife Curling Centre in late February, has been cancelled due to a lack of players. Specifically, the Inuvik Curling Centre wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be able to send its players due to a lack of playing time.

The announcement was made on the NWT Curling Facebook page this past Friday.

Nick Saturnino, NWT CurlingSA国际影视传媒檚 president, said on Tuesday that the players who would have made the trip from Inuvik simply havenSA国际影视传媒檛 had enough time on the ice this season.

SA国际影视传媒淚n a typical season, theySA国际影视传媒檒l do technical work and practice in November and December and start playing games after Christmas,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭hey havenSA国际影视传媒檛 been on the ice a lot this season and most of them have played, at the most, half a game. We felt the kids just werenSA国际影视传媒檛 prepared to go and play so we informed the folks in Yellowknife that Inuvik wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be making the trip.SA国际影视传媒�

InuvikSA国际影视传媒檚 contribution to this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 event would have been around 30 players with 10 chaperones, said Saturnino. That would have accounted for close to half of the entries.

SA国际影视传媒淭he extension of the health regulation until Jan. 30 also caused us to delay things and was another factor,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

In place of Rock the Rings this season, Saturnino said there are plans to have a junior curling day in March with all clubs in the NWT taking part in some fashion.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e looking to do a full-day youth event of some kind and possibly do a Zoom session with all the clubs to bring them together that day,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淵ellowknife and Inuvik have already indicated theySA国际影视传媒檙e in and hopefully, Hay River and Fort Smith will be able to join us. TheySA国际影视传媒檝e both struggled a bit with youth numbers this year.SA国际影视传媒�

Two territorial events that are still going ahead, for now, are happening on the same weekend at the Yellowknife Curling Centre. The NWT MenSA国际影视传媒檚 Curling Championship will feature four teams battling in a double round-robin format for the right to represent the NWT at the Tim Hortons Brier in March in Lethbridge, Alta. Greg Skauge, the defending champion, has already entered, as has Jamie Koe and his rink. DSA国际影视传媒檃rcy Delorey of Hay River and Mason MacNeil of Inuvik round out the field.

All four teams will make the playoffs and theySA国际影视传媒檒l be held under a Page playoff format. The first and second-place teams will play in one quarter-final with the third and fourth-place teams in the other. The winner of the one versus two game advances directly to the final while the loser will play the winner of the third versus fourth game in the semifinal; the loser of the third versus fourth contest is out. The winner of the semifinal moves on to play the one versus two winner for the Brier spot.

If the championship is cancelled, Saturnino said NWT Curling policy dictates that the declared winner will be the previous yearSA国际影视传媒檚 champion, which comes with the first right of refusal for the Brier, similar to what happened with the NWT WomenSA国际影视传媒檚 Curling Championship earlier this month.

Skauge and his rink would be in that position as they are the reigning champs from 2021.

The other event that weekend is the rescheduled U20 NWT WomenSA国际影视传媒檚 Championship. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 a best-of-five contest between Maggie Rogers of Yellowknife and Reese Wainman of Inuvik. The first team to win three games will earn the right to represent the NWT at the U20 Canadian Championships in Stratford, Ont., in late March.

Saturnino said if there needs to be another postponement SA国际影视传媒� the original event was scheduled for Hay River before it was moved late last year SA国际影视传媒� that can be accommodated.

SA国际影视传媒淲e have a bit of time to declare our representative for that,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Perhaps no national event has suffered from cancellations and postponement more than the Canadian U18 Curling Championships but there is new life for the thrice-postponed/cancelled bonspiel. Curling Canada announced earlier this month that Oakville, Ont., will play host to the 2022 edition in May. The original 2022 site was Timmins, Ont., but that was called off earlier this month due to the Omicron situation in Ontario.

SA国际影视传媒淲e feel confident that it will happen this time,SA国际影视传媒� said Saturnino. SA国际影视传媒淭he member associations around the country told Curling Canada that the event is now a priority and the major restrictions should be lifted by that time to allow it to happen.SA国际影视传媒�

ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 music to the ears of Tara Naugler, who will be coaching the boys entry out of the Yellowknife Curling Centre.

She said sheSA国际影视传媒檚 hopeful theySA国际影视传媒檒l finally be able to play.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檝e talked with the boys about things because they havenSA国际影视传媒檛 been on the ice in a while,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e trying to stay on top of things and weSA国际影视传媒檙e looking at heading down to play a spiel in the south in February so we can stay active.SA国际影视传媒�

The only danger the team could run into is ice availability so late in the season. Naugler said thatSA国际影视传媒檚 a conversation the team will have with the Yellowknife Curling Centre.

SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檒l work with the club to see if we can get some ice before itSA国际影视传媒檚 taken out,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淚f not, weSA国际影视传媒檒l probably look at doing a side event of some sort on the way to Ontario so we can get some game play.SA国际影视传媒�