By Nathan Kanter

Drew Heidt hoping to join family at provincials

Jan 20, 2017 | 11:00 AM

Ten spots for the 2017 SaskTel Tankard Provincial in Tisdale have already been decided.

Five were for the winners of various bonspiels and a players’ championship, one was for the Saskatchewan Curling Tour points champion, and four were for the highest ranked teams according to the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS).

Drew Heidt and his team, made up of lead Chadd McKenzie, second Cole Tenetuik, and third Jesse St. John, barely missed the cut on two fronts.

They were just three points back of points champion Carl deConinck Smith and they were just two spots back of earning the final berth according to the CTRS rankings.

And so, they are now curling along with 19 other teams at Twin Rivers Curling Club for the Northern Qualifier, where they have one more chance to qualify for provincials.

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“We found ourselves here not by choice,” Heidt said after his opening game win during draw two against Murray Sunderland 8-3. “We were hoping to be qualified already for the provincial but we didn’t get a provincial spot so here we are in Battleford battling away.

“We actually just formed this squad together this year. All…of us are new to each other. I know Jesse, he’s been a long-time friend of mine, and he kind of had these two young guys lined up. They asked me to curl and I said ‘sure.’ [I’m] always willing to curl some young blood.”

There are four spots available for February’s provincial in Tisdale, out of the 19 teams competing at the qualifier.

Two of the 10 provincial spots already handed out have gone to Heidt’s family members.

His father, Brad Heidt, is a two-time provincial champion and is the skip on the other Team Heidt, while his brother, Josh Heidt, is the third on Kody Hartung’s rink. The Heidts are farmers from Kerrobert, and while his father’s team curls out of the Kerrobret Curling Club, Drew currently curls out of the Unity Curling Club.

“I’ve got to get there so I can beat those guys out for a provincial,” Heidt joked. “Hopefully we can get out of Battleford here so I can go and kick some butt.”

On Thursday, his 8-3 win came fairly easily.

“Everyone just took their time out there and stuck to the fundamentals and threw well,” Heidt said. “Things seemed to go our way out there today.

“The ice is fantastic.”

The Northern Qualifier is a triple knockout format, meaning teams must win three games before they lose three to qualify for the playoff round.

Heidt said the best way to approach it is to not think about it.

“Just play every game as it comes and don’t think about how close elimination is getting to you,” he said. “Sometimes that will throw you off your game.

“Hopefully we can keep firing out there and make it to Tisdale.”

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11