2022 Tankard moved from Regina to Whitewood, CurlSask says it’s ‘safest option’

The 2022 SaskTel Tankard won’t be played in the Queen City.

According to a media release from CurlSask, the governing body of curling in Saskatchewan, the decision was made to move the men’s championship tournament to Whitewood.

The community hosted the Tankard in 2019. The decision announced Tuesday was made by CurlSask because the body believes it was the safest option, with the threat of the Omicron variant.

“The decision to move this year’s SaskTel Tankard … (is) due to the risk of hosting a large-scale event in an urban centre location. Organizers felt the relocation was the safest option to allow the competition to be contested,” CurlSask’s release reads.

The event was originally scheduled to be played at Regina’s Co-operators Centre from Feb. 9 to 13. The dates remain unchanged, but the Whitewood Community Centre will now play host.

“We are honoured CurlSask believes in us to host this prestigious championship and most importantly, we will do everything we can to provide a safe environment for all the competing teams,” Chad Kelly, chair of the Whitewood Host Committee, said in the release.

Eight teams have pre-qualified for the competition:

• Team Dunstone (Regina)
• Team Flasch (Saskatoon)
• Team Hartung (Langenburg)
• Team Deis (Fox Valley)
• Team Jacobson (Saskatoon)
• Team Knapp (Regina)
• Team Meachem (Swift Current)
• Team Kleiter (Saskatoon)

The final four teams will qualify through the last-chance event, which is to start Thursday. It will be held at Saskatoon’s Nutana Curling Club.

The winner of the SaskTel Tankard will represent Saskatchewan at the upcoming Tim Hortons Brier, scheduled for March 4-13 in Lethbridge.