By Nathan Kanter

Laycock books playoff ticket at SaskTel Tankard

Feb 3, 2017 | 4:00 PM

Steve Laycock and his top-seeded Saskatoon rink are onto the playoffs already at the 2017 SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial championship in Tisdale.

Laycock claimed his playoff spot by going through the ‘A’ bracket thanks to a perfect 4-0 record. He beat Team Casey 6-5 in an extra end on Friday afternoon in draw seven.

His rink is one of 16 competing for the chance to represent the province at the Tim Hortons Brier, which will be held in St. John’s, N.L. from March 4-12.

Laycock beat Team Armstrong, Team B. Heidt, and Team Hartung in addition to Team Casey. He is six-time provincial champion and has represented Saskatchewan at the past three Briers.

Meanwhile, the Battlefords-area teams have had mixed results so far.

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In addition to Brad Heidt’s defeat at the hands of Team Laycock, Heidt also fell to Team Jacobson 8-4 after starting with a 5-3 win over Team Gedak. That means the Kerrobert rink is 1-2 and cannot afford another loss. They play Team deConinck Smith in a do-or-die game at 4 p.m. Friday.

Brad’s son Drew – representing the Twin Rivers Curling Club – is now 2-2 after an 8-5 win over Team Deis. Drew qualified for the provincials at the Northern Qualifier at the end of January and will also curl to stay alive today, with a game at 8 p.m. on Friday. Drew curls with third Jesse St. John, second Cole Tenetuik, and lead Chadd McKenzie.

The third Heidt family member, Drew’s brother Josh, is the third on Kody Hartung’s Saskatoon rink. They have had a good tournament so far at 3-1. That puts them in the ‘B’ bracket, and a date with Brent Gedak at 8 p.m. on Friday. The winner stays in ‘B’, while the loser drops to ‘C’.

With seven draws of the five-day bonspiel now toast, it is officially now halfway done. The page-playoff begins in draw 12 on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @NathanKanter11