The 2023 Ontario Tankard, (known as the Port Elgin Chrysler 2023 Ontario Tankard Presented by Bruce Power for sponsorship reasons), the provincial men's curling championship for Southern Ontario, was held from January 24 to 29 at The Plex in Port Elgin, Ontario. The winning Mike McEwen rink represented Ontario at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier on home soil in London, Ontario where they finished fourth place losing in the 3 vs. 4 Page Playoff game to Wild Card #1 6–3.
It was the second straight year that the event was held in Port Elgin. The 2022 event had been subject to COVID-19 restrictions, capping attendance at 500 people per draw, so the organizers requested that CurlON hold the event in Port Elgin again. The event was held in conjunction with the 2023 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the provincial women's curling championship, which were held in Thornhill in 2022 (both events are held together in non-Olympic years).
Qualification process Twelve teams qualified for the 2023 Ontario Tankard. Two teams qualified via their results in the "Grand Slam" series events (2022 PointsBet Invitational, 2022 National, 2022 Tour Challenge, 2022 Masters). Two teams qualified via their results in the Trillium Tour '1000' series events (Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, Capital Curling Classic, Stroud Sleeman Cash Spiel, Tour Challenge Tier 2, Stu Sells Brantford Nissan Classic). Three teams qualified via their results in the Trillium Tour '500' series events (Gord Carroll Curling Classic, KW Fall Classic, Capital Curling Fall Open, St. Thomas Curling Classic, Comco Cash Spiel, Stu Sells Port Elgin Superspiel, Capital Curling Rideau Open, Stu Sells Cookstown Classic, plus the aforementioned 1000 events). One team (restricted to curlers under the age of 25) qualified via their results in the aforementioned Trillium Tour events, plus the CurlON 250 Event #1. The remaining four teams qualified via an open qualifier.
Qualification method Berths Qualifying team(s) Top Grand Slam series teams 2 John Epping Glenn Howard Trillium Tour '1,000' Series 2 Pat Ferris Jason Camm Trillium Tour '500' Series 3 Alex Champ John Willsey Mike Fournier Trillium Tour '250' Series (Under-25) 1 Sam Mooibroek Open Qualifier 4 Landan Rooney Dayna Deruelle Mike McEwen Travis Fanset
Teams The teams are listed as follows: Skip Third Second Lead Alternate Club Jason Camm Ian Dickie Zack Shurtleff Punit Sthankiya Donald Bowser Navan CC, Navan, Ottawa Alex Champ Charlie Richard Terry Arnold Scott Clinton Jess Bechard Westmount G&CC, Kitchener Dayna Deruelle Brent Ross Ryan Werenich Shawn Kaufman Andrew Clayton Harriston CC, Harriston John Epping Mathew Camm Patrick Janssen Scott Chadwick Leaside CC, East York, Toronto Pat Ferris Connor Lawes Connor Duhaime Robert Currie Evan Lilly Grimsby CC, Grimsby Mike Fournier Kevin Flewwelling Sean Harrison Zander Elmes Leaside CC, East York, Toronto Glenn Howard Scott Howard David Mathers Tim March Adam Spencer Penetanguishene CC, Penetanguishene Mike McEwen Ryan Fry Brent Laing Joey Hart Royal Canadian CC, Toronto Sam Mooibroek Scott Mitchell Nathan Steele Colin Schnurr Wyatt Small Whitby CC, Whitby Landan Rooney Connor Deane Jacob Jones Austin Snyder Whitby CC, Whitby Aaron Squires Travis Fanset Craig Van Ymeren Scott Brandon Chad Allen St. Thomas CC, St. Thomas John Willsey Brady Lumley Matthew Garner Spencer Dunlop Oakville CC, Oakville
Round-robin standings Final round-robin standings KeyTeams to Championship Round Pool ASkip (Club) Mike McEwen (Royals) 5 0 37 19 23 14 6 10 John Epping (Leaside) 4 1 39 25 22 17 3 5 Sam Mooibroek (Whitby) 3 2 36 28 21 18 2 6 Jason Camm (Navan) 2 3 31 40 18 26 1 2 Aaron Squires (St. Thomas) 1 4 33 46 20 24 1 7 Alex Champ (Westmount) 0 5 24 42 17 22 2 3 Pool BSkip (Club) Glenn Howard (Penetanguishene) 5 0 45 21 28 15 3 12 Mike Fournier (Leaside) 4 1 44 39 26 23 2 5 Pat Ferris (Grimsby) 2 3 31 30 18 20 2 2 John Willsey (Oakville) 2 3 30 34 19 21 2 6 Landan Rooney (Whitby) 1 4 29 40 21 23 0 4 Dayna Deruelle (Harriston) 1 4 20 39 15 25 2 2
Round-robin results All draws are listed in Eastern Time (UTC−05:00).
Draw 2 Tuesday, January 24, 9:30 am
Draw 3 Tuesday, January 24, 2:30 pm
Draw 4 Tuesday, January 24, 7:30 pm
Draw 5 Wednesday, January 25, 9:30 am
Draw 7 Wednesday, January 25, 7:30 pm
Draw 8 Thursday, January 26, 9:30 am
Draw 9 Thursday, January 26, 2:30 pm
Draw 10 Thursday, January 26, 7:30 pm
Draw 11 Friday, January 27, 9:30 am
Draw 12 Friday, January 27, 2:30 pm
Championship round Records from Round Robin carry over to the Championship Round KeyTeams to Playoffs SkipWL Glenn Howard 7 0 Mike McEwen 6 1 John Epping 5 2 Mike Fournier 4 3
Championship round results Draw 13 Friday, January 27, 7:30 pm
Draw 15 Saturday, January 28, 2:30 pm
Playoffs Source:
Semifinal Saturday, January 28, 7:30 pm
Final Sunday, January 29, 3:00 pm
Qualification Open Qualifier January 6–8, Welland Curling Club, Welland
References