Saturday, December 8, 2001
Reaching for the rings
Burtnyk dumps Gretzinger, one victory from Oly berth
By JIM BENDER -- Winnipeg Sun
REGINA -- With a patented draw with the hammer, Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk took one more step towards realizing his Olympic dream.
Facing two counters, Burtnyk drew full 8-foot to clip B,C.'s Bert Gretzinger 8-6 in the men's semifinal of the 2001 Canadian Curling Trials before 6,875 cheering fans at the Agridome last night.
"This is the chance of a lifetime and we're going to enjoy it," declared Burtnyk, who survived a cancer scare last summer. "Even before the surgery, we were dreaming of this and I wanted to make sure I was healthy enough to play here."
His foursome advances to the final against Alberta's Kevin Martin tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. The winner will represent Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Ogden, Utah.
"If we win, I'll be very happy," said Burtnyk, supported by third Jeff Ryan, second Rob Meakin and lead Keith Fenton. "If we lose, I'll be extremely proud of my team."
Although he looked nervous in the hack before tossing the last stone, Burtnyk had no qualms about choosing the draw.
"When you skip at this level, you want to throw that draw or you shouldn't be skipping," he said. "But that doesn't mean you're not nervous.
"But, if I can just lay it down and not be heavy, the sweepers are going to get it there for sure."
SAVED THEIR BACON
Burtnyk saved the squad's bacon in the fifth end. Facing three Gretzinger counters without the hammer, he froze to shot rock behind a corner guard. Gretzinger attempted to pick out it for three but flashed, allowing Burtnyk to steal one and take a 5-3 lead.
"Fortunately, we got the freeze and got out of trouble," he said. "If we don't make the freeze, he's going to get four and it's game over."
Gretzinger couldn't believe he missed.
"I had been making that shot lately and unfortunately, just missed it," Gretzinger said. "But Kerry made a great shot."
Burtnyk has now won seven straight matches and will seeking his eighth tomorrow.
'UNBELIEVABLE ROLL'
"Yeah, and it's a pretty big one, too," Burtnyk said with a laugh. "It's an unbelievable roll. It's great. We're in the final. This is what we dreamed about for three years and now is our shot at it. We're going to be playing one of the best teams in the world.
"Kevin's on a bit of a roll, too (five straight wins), too and I expect that will be a real shootout. But, one thing I learned is, if we don't win, the sun will still come up on Monday."
Martin will have the advantage of both the hammer and choice of rocks. And he is so finicky over the rocks that his coach actually spends the week scouting them out to see which individual stones have the best percentage for shots made.
Martin went to the Olympics when curling was a demonstration sport in 1992 and lost the 1997 Olympic trials final to Ontario's Mike Harris.
"Either I'll be going two out of three or I will have lost two or three," he said.
But, unlike B.C. skip Kelley Law, Martin does not believe that going to the Olympics will change his life.
"It didn't change mine last time," he said. "It might give you a few more stories to tell."
Then again, Martin failed to win a medal in '92.
Meanwhile, Gretzinger can only ponder what might have been for the 50-year-old who came so close to going to the Olympics.
"It's an opportunity lost," said Gretzinger, who had former Winnipegger Bob Ursel at third.
"There's no solace in finishing third here."
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