It came down to a last-rock raise in the 11th end.
A death-defying feat wasn't required, but James Knievel knew it could be the difference between winning and losing the Canuck Mechanical Kelly Cup men's bonspiel title.
The 49-year-old skip from Manning, Alta., kept his nerves in check, a familial trait his famous great-uncle Evil Knievel carried to the extreme when he used to jump his motorcycle over fountains, canyons and double-decker buses.
But with a chance to get his name on the big trophy, in its 90th year of being awarded, Knievel just missed getting a sliver of yellow stone for a deflection which would have left him buried behind ample cover.
Instead, his rock sailed through untouched and Blake King and his crew of city firefighters had an 8-7 win in the bag Sunday at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
"It was very close, we got by the guard by enough that if we had been a little tighter it would have been there," said Knievel. "It would have made it more exciting if we could have bumped that one an inch. It would have been tough to get at."
Back in the Kelly Cup hunt for the first time in 10 years, King was holding his breath, hoping the four-hour game would end without him having to toss his second shot.
"It was a great game and (Knievel) was a phenomenal shooter," said King. "His first one was just short and we tried to guard it but it over-curled just a bit more than we wanted. He threw his last one and threw a really good shot and it just went wide. I'm not sure if we would have had a shot to win but we would have had to hope for a miracle at that point."
King had a chance to put the game away in the eighth end when Knievel went too far with his draw but King also put too much weight into it and had to settle for a single. The Alberta skip forced the extra end when he scored two in the 10th after successfully drawing to the eight foot.
Knievel stole one in the second for a 2-0 lead but King went ahead with a three-ender in the third. King extended his lead to 6-3 in the seventh and Knievel kept pace with a deuce in the eighth.
It was the fifth Kelly Cup win for King and his third, Cliff Warner. King won his first Kelly in 1993 with his dad Neil and also captured the crown in 1996 (with Warner), 2001 and 2005. Warner was a champion in 1998, 2000 and 2002. For Warner, whose dad John teamed up with Wilf Peckham in 1957 for their first Kelly Cup title, having his 81-year-old dad on hand to witness it all made Sunday's win an unforgettable occasion.
"It was karma, 60 years ago, it's pretty special," said the 49-year-old Warner. "It feels really good to win the 90th and now I can tell people we won the same event 60 years apart. He's still curling and he's one of our spares.
"We didn't want to leave Rick Fewster as the only guy with five."
King's front end – Jay Winkel, John Iverson and Trent Blair – took turns on the ice all weekend while juggling shifts at the fire hall and they celebrated their first-ever Kelly Cup championship. Blair, Winkel and Warner curled together as juniors three decades ago while King served as their coach, starting in 1986 when they went to the B.C. Winter Games in Terrace.
"It's a pretty humbling feeling to win here today," said Blair. "We figured the only way for us to get a Kelly Cup ring was to pair up with the four-time champs."
Said Winkel: "It didn't hurt having (King and Warner). Those guys don't get rattled."
King defeated Devin Burkitt 9-5 in the Kelly Cup semifinal, while Knievel reached the final with a come-from-behind 8-7 win in 11 ends over Rob Vanderstar of Smithers. King also won the A event, while Burkitt captured the B event. Other event winners were: C - Joe Rea; D - Garnet Boese; and E - Floyd Crowley.
