The 1994 Ontario Tankard, (known as the Blue Light Tankard for sponsorship reasons) the southern Ontario men's provincial curling championship was held February 8-13 at the St. Thomas-Elgin Memorial Arena in St. Thomas, Ontario.[1] The winning rink of Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh and Peter Corner from the Penetanguishene Curling Club would go on to represent Ontario at the 1994 Labatt Brier in Red Deer, Alberta.
| 1994 Ontario Tankard | |
|---|---|
| Host city | St. Thomas, Ontario |
| Arena | St. Thomas-Elgin Memorial Arena |
| Dates | February 8-13 |
| Winner | Team Howard |
| Curling club | Penetanguishene Curling Club, Penetanguishene, Ontario |
| Skip | Russ Howard |
| Third | Glenn Howard |
| Second | Wayne Middaugh |
| Lead | Peter Corner |
| Finalist | Axel Larsen (Guelph) |
« 1993 1995 » | |
Team Howard of Penetanguishene entered the event as the defending World Champions, having won the 1993 World Men's Curling Championship. They easily beat the Axel Larsen rink from Guelph in the final, 9–4, in front of 2,236 fans. The turning point in the game came in the fourth end, when Larsen accidentally bumped one of Howard's rocks into the rings on his first, which eventually resulted in a score of three for Howard in the end, taking a 5–1 lead. It was the eighth provincial championship for Howard.[2]
There were rumours during the event that Howard would decline the opportunity to represent Ontario at the Brier due to a dispute over not being allowed to use their sponsors on their sweaters.[2]
Standings
Final standings[3]
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Teams to Playoffs | |
| Skip | Club[4] | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russ Howard | Penetanguishene | 8 | 2 |
| Axel Larsen | Guelph | 7 | 3 |
| Doug Johnston | West Ottawa Granite | 7 | 3 |
| Ed Werenich | Churchill | 6 | 4 |
| Mike Altenhof | Chatham Granite | 6 | 4 |
| Ian Robertson | Thornhill | 5 | 5 |
| Peter Steski | Westmount | 4 | 6 |
| Ron Diguer | West Ottawa Granite | 4 | 6 |
| Bob Turcotte | Oshawa | 3 | 7 |
| John Base | Oakville | 3 | 7 |
| Bob Ray | Land O'Lakes | 2 | 7 |
Scores
February 8
- Draw 1[5]
- Werenich 10, Altenhof 4
- Diguer 6, Turcotte 4
- Steski 7, Ray 3
- Base 9, Howard 6
- Robertson 7, Larsen 6
- Draw 2
- Turcotte 10, Ray 3
- Larsen 8, Howard 5
- Werenich 7, Base 5
- Johnston 10, Altenhof 7
- Robertson 7, Diguer 4
February 9
- Draw 3[6]
- Johnston 7, Base 6
- Howard 10, Diguer 1
- Ray 8, Robertson 4
- Steski 9, Turcotte 2
- Larsen 10, Werenich 8
- Draw 4
- Robertson 9, Steski 8
- Werenich 7, Diguer 5
- Larsen 7, Johnston 5
- Altenhof 9, Base 2
- Howard 10, Ray 4
- Draw 5
- Altenhof 7, Larsen 4
- Ray 9, Werenich 7
- Howard 6, Steski 2
- Turcotte 8, Robertson 6
- Johnston 9, Diguer 4
February 10
- Draw 6[7]
- Howard 6, Turcotte 4
- Johnston 7, Ray 6
- Altenhof 7, Diguer 5
- Larsen 7, Base 4
- Werenich 7, Steski 5
- Draw 7
- Diguer 10, Base 7
- Johnston 8, Steski 7
- Werenich 8, Turcotte 6
- Howard 9, Robertson 2
- Altenhof 7, Ray 4
February 11
- Draw 8[8]
- Robertson 6, Werenich 5
- Steski 11, Altenhof 5
- Base 8, Ray 3
- Larsen 9, Diguer 6
- Johnston 10, Turcotte 5
- Draw 9
- Larsen 8, Ray 6
- Altenhof 9, Turcotte 6
- Johnston 6, Robertson 3
- Howard 7, Werenich 4
- Base 9, Steski 7
- Draw 10
- Howard 10, Johnston 6
- Turcotte 8, Base 5
- Steski 9, Larsen 8
- Diguer 9, Ray 4
- Altenhof 8, Robertson 5
February 11
- Draw 11[3]
- Diguer 9, Steski 3
- Robertson 7, Base 2
- Howard 7, Altenhof 5
- Werenich 13, Johnston 8
- Larsen 13, Turcotte 6
Playoffs
| Semifinal | Final | ||||||||
| 1 | Russ Howard | 9 | |||||||
| 2 | Axel Larsen | 9 | 2 | Axel Larsen | 4 | ||||
| 3 | Doug Johnston | 3 | |||||||
Semifinal
February 12[9]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Johnston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | X | 3 |
| Axel Larsen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | X | X | 9 |
Final
February 13[10]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axel Larsen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 |
| Russ Howard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | X | 9 |