Split Monday keeps Team Nunavut in pursuit at 2025 Canadian Mixed

Team Nunavut’s Peter Van Strien carried a win and a loss through a two-game Monday at the 2025 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, hosted at the Assiniboia Curling Club in Saskatchewan.  

The Iqaluit outfit, rounded out by vice-skip Sadie Pinksen, second Justin McDonell and lead Alison Taylor, started the day strong with a 7-4 win over Team Northwest Territories’ Betti Delory (0-2; Hay River) before falling to the host-province representative Team Saskatchewan’s Jason Ackerman (3-0; Regina) 14-3 in evening action.

The win marks Team Nunavut’s first of its 2025 mixed campaign and was a refreshing bounce-back for the Iqaluit Curling Club squadron, who dropped its’ opener on Sunday 6-3 to Team Newfoundland and Labrador’s Rob Feltham (2-1; Gander) on Sunday evening. 

“I was pretty happy with how we played in our first game,” Van Strien said. “But it was nice, after a slow start, to have some things go our way. To get a win at any of these events is awesome, so we’re really happy about that.” 

There were waves of success en route to the win for Team Nunavut, who trailed Team Northwest Territories by three after two ends, but Van Strien and co., rallied back with four-straight points in three ends to take a 4-3 lead after five. 

The steal game proved crucial to Team Nunavut in maintaining its lead, stealing a single in the eighth, cruising through to a 7-4 win. 

“I think we can compete with a lot of the teams here, certainly,” said Van Strien. “If we’re consistent, which is not always easy, our goal is to hang in there and win as many games as we can. When we get into close games, we’re actually pretty good.” 

The evening match versus Team Saskatchewan quickly became one to forget however as Team Saskatchewan gave Team Nunavut little quarter and snapped off a score of six in the first end. Team Nunavut would be unable to surmount the big score, but the team knows that Monday evening’s effort wasn’t its best. 

“Maybe not give up a six in the first end and then, you know, then you never know.” laughed Van Strien. “They made all their shots, and we missed most of ours; I think Justin made one.”

Now sporting a 1-2 record, Team Nunavut is still in the mix to qualify for the championship round, and the team is in good spirits about its chances. 

“We’ll definitely be giving it our all,” said Van Strien. “There’s a lot of really great teams that we’re playing, so we know we’re in tough to get too many wins against a field like this.” 

Teams are split into two pools of seven for round-robin play, which ends on Wednesday. From there, every draw counts as teams keep their records and re-enter new pools on Thursday.  

From each pool, the top four teams advance to the Championship Pool to play the four teams from the opposite pool, while the bottom three follow the same structure in the Seeding Pool. This stage of the event runs until Friday. 

Recapping Monday evening, Team Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek (2-0; Kitchener/Waterloo) downed Team Newfoundland and Labrador 9-2. Team Manitoba’s Sean Grassie (2-1; Winnipeg) bounced Team Alberta’s Jessie Hunkin (1-2; Edmonton) 7-6 in an extra and Team British Columbia’s Miles Craig (3-0; Victoria) stayed perfect in an 10-3win over Team Yukon’s Scott Williamson (0-2; Whitehorse). 

In action Monday afternoon, Team New Brunswick’s Rene Comeau (2-0; Fredericton) tripled-up Team Nova’s Brent MacDougall (1-2; Halifax) 9-3. Team Alberta made short work of Team Prince Edward Island’s Eddie MacKenzie (0-2; Cornwall) 12-1 while Team Newfoundland and Labrador bested Team Northern Ontario’s Charlie Robert (0-3; Sault Ste. Marie) 7-2.  

With just two games in action Monday morning, Team Manitoba bettered Team Yukon 6-4 while Team Saskatchewan defeated Team Québec’s Yannik Martel (1-1; Chicoutimi) 7-4. 

Action from the 2025 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship will continue Tuesday with draws at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 6 p.m., (all times Central).  

For the 2025 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship live results, click here.  

For the full event schedule, click here.  

For ticket information, click here.