New Treat : Exclusive Comments

Team Bernard blog is starting a new treat and that will be quite a delight because I am going to bring to you exclusive comments from Team Bernard members after each event, either on or off the ice.

It begins today with a comment from the skipper about the unexpected start of the season with a brand new team.

”Been a great start to the year…we are still in the building process…but to be sitting #1 on the CTRS after 3 events is better than we had hoped with a new team. But a long year ahead of us and we still walk away from events knowing what we have to improve upon. Now a little break and then the Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Oct 7th!”

While we there, I thought of adding another exclusivity : This is Jennifer, Lori, Susan and Cheryl just before their semi final match last weekend while competing in the Schmirler Classic.

Schmirler Classic Pictures

Some picture of the events taken by Donna McIntosh for the organization. You can visit the Schmirler Classic Facebook page to see more great images of the tournament.

Busy Tuesday

Cheryl Bernard is in Vancouver for a couple of days. Today, she had an appointment with Fanny Keifer on the stage of Studio 4 for a 20 minutes interview: awesome! Then she was required on the ice to give curling lesson at the North Shore Winter Club and also meet her pals of SierraSil.

Also, check out Global BC around 7.45am tomorrow morning, Cheryl will be there.

But for now, if you haven’t seen it yet, here are the videos from Studio 4 recorded earlier this morning. Enjoy!

Schmirler Classic : Semi Final

Quart final was a good one: they won 7-4 against Team Carey which brought them a step further in the tournament. In that semi final match, they were playing against Team Privivkova: yes the same team that kick their butt this weekend! Team Bernard played cautious curling and tried to keep the part of the bargain but again, the Russian team didn’t miss much and Team Bernard was losing 1-5 with only 2 end remaining to play. They managed to tie the game and forced an extra end but they came up a little but short. They were so close, so close.

They is no shame on doing a semi final and heading to their first slam, it looks pretty good. Well done ladies!

Schmirler Classic Playoffs Draw

Quarter final matches are about to start! GO TEAM BERNARD!!!

Schmirler Classic

After a slow start, Team Bernard managed to switch the momentum and won this tight battle 7-5 against Team Spencer avoiding the multi tie breakers going on right now. These are going to decide who their opponent will be tomorrow morning at 9.30 (mt) in quart. GO TEAM BERNARD

The other teams that managed to qualify directly for the playoffs are Team Carey, Team Eberley, Team Middaugh and Team Cathy O. I am also fascinated by the fact that two of the teams that are currently playing to stay alive for the last spot for the playoffs will be playing at 11.30pm to night. O_o

Schmirler Classic

The day started quite nicely for Team Bernard with a good win on Team Silvernagle 6-4. They were consistent enough and avoid giving multiple points after scoring 3 in the fourth end.

Then, they were back on the ice at 8h30pm and things got a little ugly: when you can’t get rid of the hammer because the other team keep stealing, maybe it’s better to just end the game. It’s was 9-0 Privivkova after 5 ends and they decided they had enough.

So, Team Bernard is 3-1 and is going to play against team Spencer tomorrow at 10.30am (mt). Spencer also lost her match this evening so, if Team Bernard wins they will finish at the top of their pool and will go straight to the playoffs. For now, we can’t really say what record of 3-2 would do, we’ll have to wait the end of the round robin matches but hopefully, after a good night of sleep, Team Bernard will come back stronger.

Schmirler Classic

Team Bernard had a convincing start winning their two first matches. The squad played consistent curling which leaded them to win their first match against Schneider 6-2 and the second 8-2 at the expense of Team Barber. Keep it rolling girl, looks pretty good!

Schmirler Classic

Team Bernard's schedule of play for the round robin.

Draw 1 vs. Schneider (SK) Sep 23, 8:30am MT
Draw 3 vs. Barber (SK) Sep 23, 2:30pm MT
Draw 8 vs. Silvernagle (SK) Sep 24, 2:30pm MT
Draw 10 vs. Privivkova (RUS) Sep 24, 8:30pm MT
Draw 12 vs. Spencer (MB) Sep 25, 11:30am MT

I had shared a hot shot a while back from the 2008 edition of this tournament, you can see it here.

Schmirler Classic

Team Bernard will be heading to Regina soon to compete in the Schmirler Classic which starts Friday, September 23rd. It is a round robin format : 30 teams divided in 5 pools (A-B-C-D-E) and 47000$ in prize money.

Comments from the Skip on the weekend

Team Bernard was not the only strong team out there: some of the best showed up for that event and at the end, there were 2 most consistent teams of the week remaining and Bernard was one of those 2 teams still standing.

We know the story, Lawton scored 3 points in the 6 ends and finally won 6-2. Overall, it was a great performance of Team Bernard. A very important fact is that even if they started to practice together a little while ago, it was just then that they could test themselves and learn from a concrete experience: “We just don’t have the communication skills yet,” Bernard said. “We’ve got some things to work on.”

She didn’t lie, no one likes to lose “It’s always disappointing to lose a final — I’m never going to get good at it,” she said jokingly. But she is really positive about her squad and feels things are coming together nicely.

Looks like a promising season!

Edmonton Shoot out : Team Bernard Finalist

Not bad huh? They were so close but came up a little short on the final – a very tight match till a little misstep in the 6 ends allowed Lawton to score 3. Make the final Team Lawton 6 Team Bernard 2.


However, let’s keep in mind that it was their first official tournament as a team and they made it all the way to the final. I don’t know if you got to same feeling that i’ve got, but that looks like very promising. Ladies, we would like you to win them all, but seriously, this is a job well done.

Edmonton Shoot Out : Final at 3pm

Yup, our ladies are getting ready to play the final. Quarter final match earlier today against Steuber was tight, but a significant sixth end allowed Bernard to take a sufficient lead to win. 5-3 the final score.


On the semi final, both teams were keeping their part of the bargain until Bernard, leading 6-4, made the first steal of the match to get a 3 points lead in the seventh end and then, forced their opponents to run out of rock on the last end. 7-4 Bernard.


Great job ladies! Final at 3h00pm against Team Lawton. Team Bernard plays consistent curling at the moment and the momentum is pretty good heading to the last match of the weekend. Let's go ladies, keep it rolling!

Edmonton Shoot Out Round Robin Stats

In addition of being the leader for the hammer efficiency, there are third in the point for/game, sisth in the point against/game, fifth for the force efficiency and tie with other team in tenth for the steal efficiency.

Playoffs started at 8am (mt) this morning and it is now 5-3 Bernard in the 8th end, Bernard with the hammer coming home!

Edmonton Shoot Out Update

It was a great day of competition for Team Bernard as they collected 2 wins and finished tie with Team Webster on the top of the Pool Orange with a record of 4-1 which granted the squad a spot in the playoffs.


On the first match, they were opposed to Team Webster. The match didn’t last too long : It was 6-2 Bernard after five and our squad came back with 2 more points and Webster simply had enough. Make the final Team Bernard 8 Team Webster 2.


Later on, Team Bernard was back on the ice against Team Kaufman and they picked up where they left off taking an early lead of 5-0 after 2, result of 2 consecutive steals of 3 and 2. Once Kaufman was able to manage scoring a point, Bernard scored 2 more and Kaufman couldn’t take it anymore. Final score 7-1 Bernard.


Their opponents in the playoffs are not confirmed yet as the Blue Pool requires a Tie Breaker to know which will be the second team to make it farther. Team Sweeting has a spot, but it is Team Jones and Team Sonnenberg that have to battle for the remaining spot.

So also in the playoffs, Team Lawton, who manage a perfect record (will probably meet the team that will survive the tie breaker), Team Carey, Team Steuber and Team Ferguson: the later having as a lead, our Olympic silver medalist, Cori Morris. Not so sure about the past record of Skip Ferguson, but she is probably happy to have Cori on board.

Edmonton Shoot Out Update

First match of the day was against Team Doroshuk. For a while it was a tight game until Team Bernard’s opponent scored 5 in the sixth – a very costly end that gave no chance to our squad to come back. Make the final Team Doroshuk 8 Team Bernard 5

Later that day, Team Bernard was back on the ice determined to avoid doing the same mistakes twice. Our ladies took a thin lead but stick to it and avoid giving multiple points which gave a second victory 4-2.


2 matches remaining to complete the round robin : first match tomorrow (sept 17th) at 8am against the only undefeated team in this pool: Team Webster. Yes, Crystal Webster, ex teammate of our second, Lori. Later that day, they are competing against Team Kaufman who also has a record of 2-1 like team Bernard.


Ok, we can start talking about the possible scenarios so Team Bernard can make it to the playoffs, but one thing for sure, they are going to bed with the momentum and it is going to be a great day of competition.

Edmonton Shoot Out Update

First match, first win! Isn’t it exciting? Nice win of Team Bernard on Team Johnson this afternoon 6-3. Next match up is tomorrow (Friday, Sept 16th) 10.00am (mt). This looks pretty good!

Edmonton Shoot Out

Team Bernard Schedule of play for the Round Robin

Draw 1 vs Johnson (AB) Sep 15, 1:30pm MT
Draw 4 vs Doroshuk(AB) Sep 16, 10:00am MT
Draw 6 vs Corbeil (AB) Sep 16, 6:00pm MT
Draw 8 vs Webster (AB) Sep 17, 8:00am MT
Draw 10 vs Kaufman (AB) Sep 17, 3:00pm MT

Let's go Ladies!

The Edmonton Shoot Out

Only a couple of days now before the season officially start with the Shoot Out happening at the Saville Sports Centre in Edmonton from September 15th to September 18th. There are 24 teams participating in this round robin event. There are 4 pools (blue, orange, gold and black). The two best teams of each pool will qualify for the playoffs.

Susan and Cheryl played last year, with Cori and Carolyn, so if you want to have a recap with images and articles, you can visits last year entry here.

The Calgary Curling Club Tune Up – Winner of the C Event

Not a bad warm up, don't you think? The women sounded quite satisfied winning the event C, which means they won 3 matches out of 4 and can’t wait to start the season. Oh yeah, we did have someone in location and she was able to take a few pictures -thanks Mary for these. Here are some, but look out in our different social media and team website for more in the upcoming days.

Team Bernard remembers 9/11

I remember working from home that day and watching the TV screen in my office … all I thought of was the people, the families and the lives lost. I was not directly affected by the tragedy, but have. I believe we all changed that day. We think differently...
- Cheryl Bernard

The Calgary Curling Club Tune Up is on

It is for fun, but it is also to have an idea of how the team members blend in together. Cheryl, Susan, Lori and Jennifer were back on the ice last night at their Curling Club for their first competition and seemed that it started pretty well - with a victory. We have a reporter on location and we might have some picture to share quite soon.

Kick-Off Pep Rally Picture

It was the perfect day to launch such an event. Lonnie Taylor was there and posted a few pictures (like this one below) on his twitter to share with us. See what he got here.

Cheryl opens the 2011 Calgary Corporate Challenge games

To read more about that event or learn about the Calgary Corporate Challenge, visit their website.

Team Bernard Exclusive Picture

It is no secret, she is the other half of one of the best end in women curling, Susan is one hell of a shot maker.

Team Bernard Exclusive Picture

Junior champ, Jennifer is also known for her sweeping ability. She hasn't compete at this level for a little while but she is more then ready to "sweep the world" with Team Bernard.

Team Bernard Exclusive Picture

Lori is a competitive player, she is really motivated and eager to start the new season with her new teammates.

Team Bernard Goodies

Teamwork, obviously something that is important to Team Bernard – for past and present members.