John Evans did not go down without a fight in the Kelly Cup men's curling championship final.
But he had no answer for the magic contained in Darren Smale's lucky tam.
Smale wore the same hat his grandfather Fred had on his head when he curled in the 1956 Kelly Cup. Sixty years later, Smale turned that hat into a crown.
He beat Evans 7-6 to win the 89th Kelly Cup – the biggest prize in curling – Sunday afternoon at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
Smale and his Prince George teammates – third Byron Gallagher, second Jason Howse and lead Rob Ubleis – will get their names engraved on the 42-inch tall trophy. They found the winning groove early and went undefeated in eight games, also winning the A-event final 10-9 over Randy Balfour in an extra end.
"My mom put the tam out on the table – my grandfather's tam, so I thought, I'm going to wear it," said Smale, who lives in Kamloops. "Coming out here, I hadn't played in two years and I had no expectation to even qualify, but all of a sudden we were getting breaks and after the first game they wouldn't let me take it off."
After four blank ends in the final, the teams got down to business and started putting rocks into play and Smale put up three in the fifth to get on the scoreboard. Evans cut the gap to 3-2 in the sixth but Smale came right back and with a chance for three more in the seventh he made his draw shot count.
"I knew their front end was real strong and I didn't want to get into it too early with them," said Smale, referring to the final's cautious beginning. "They weren't nervous or anything but I just wanted us to have a chance to throw some rocks and not force anything.
"The ice was so quick, and Murray (Kuytn) and the whole ice crew did a fantastic job. The ice was a little quicker than the rest of the weekend and luckily I've played on some arena ice before and I think that might have been the difference.
"I was able to catch on to that weight and was able to throw light enough and trust it. I think Johnny Evans struggled with it and that's how we got the first three."
A missed takeout in the eighth by Gallagher left Evans with two blue rocks hanging around opposite sides of the 16-foot and the Terrace skip's hit and roll for three made it interesting, down 6-5 heading into the ninth. Evans then made a clutch draw into cover in the ninth and Smale tried for the double takeout but jammed, which gave Evans a steal of one to tie it.
"We had to make sure that we weren't going to leave him an easy chance to split both of them out and blank the end. I knew he wanted to hang on to the hammer and we lucked out there," said Evans. "We were able to get that three in the eighth end and it made a big difference. We felt we were back in it because for a while there we were down 6-2 and it felt like the wheels had fallen off. But we got our mojo back and were able to steal in the ninth and we were feeling good about the win, actually."
Holding the hammer coming home, Smale clinched it with a draw into four-foot territory.
Smale was a Kelly Cup winner in 2003. Sunday's win was the first Kelly for Gallagher, Howse and Ubleis.
"I've been playing in this since I was 17 or 18 but I haven't played in 10 or 12 of the last 15," said the 46-year-old Gallagher. "It's nice to finally win it. They made some good shots to come back and we missed a few as well. The big lead was the difference.
"Darren played well. You wouldn't think he had taken a day off. He had a good weekend."
Howse, who skips for Gallagher in the Monday night men's league, has been trying to get his name engraved on the Kelly mug for 12 years, while Ubleis ended an 11-year drought.
"We won the D a couple of times but have never come close to winning the Kelly," said Howse, who won the long-drive contest Saturday when he hit a golf ball 209 yards with his curling broom. "A few weeks before we weren't sure if we were going to be playing."
In the A-quarterfinal, Smale scored a 5-3 win over Evans and his team from Terrace (third Greg Morgan, second Kevin Dodderidge and lead Jordan Johnson.
Smale narrowly avoided defeat in the Kelly Cup semifinal Sunday morning against Balfour, needing two in the 10th end and a steal of one in the 11th to make it into the final.
"Byron really played stellar in the semi, I didn't have the strongest game," said Smale.
Evans edged former Terrace resident Mike Dahms 6-5 in the other semifinal.
Fred Hofferd beat Cale Rusnell 9-3 in the C-event final and Devin Burkitt topped Roger Kaleta to win the D-event. Ron Vanderstar was the B-event winner. Thirty-two teams entered the bonspiel, which has its origins in 1920.
