Shantz takes on foes from yesteryear in quest for elusive national crown

VANCOUVER – Penny Shantz feels like she has gone back in time.

The veteran B.C. skip will try to win her first Canadian curling title – at the senior women’s level – against rinks that she faced in decades gone by.

“If you look back 20 years ago, we were all playing in the Canadians and high-level cashspiels,” Shantz, 51, said Friday.

The Canadian senior championships begin Saturday in Abbotsford, B.C., and run until March 17. Both the national women’s and men’s events are being held simultaneously at the same location.

Shantz is part of a big-name women’s field that includes Colleen Jones, the six-time Scotties (formerly known as Scott) Tournament of Hearts and two-time world champion from Nova Scotia and former Canadian champion Cathy King of Alberta. Heidi Hanlon of New Brunswick, an 11-time Scotties participant, is back to defend her seniors crown, along with 14-time Newfoundland and Labrador Scotties representative Cathy Cunningham.

On the men’s side, Kelly Robertson of Neepawa, Man., has returned to defend his crown. The tough field includes Saskatchewan’s Eugene Hritzuk, the 1988 Brier runner-up, who won the 2008 Canadian seniors and 2009 senior worlds; former Brier participant Pierre Charette of Quebec; and Geoff Cunningham of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Shantz, playing under her former married name Ryan at the time, reached the 1983 Canadian women’s final as a lead on Cathy Shaw’s Edmonton rink, but it fell 5-4 to Penny LaRocque’s Nova Scotia crew.

This year’s Canadian women’s and men’s seniors champs will qualify for the 2013 worlds at a site and date to be announced. Ironically, Shantz, an Edmonton native who now lives in Nanoose Bay, B.C., and curls out of the Qualicum Curling Club in nearby Parksville, has bettered the top rinks on the globe in a major event, but she has never won a world title.

Shantz helped Canada win a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, when curling made its Games debut as a demonstration sport. Her current rink’s third, Debbie Jones-Walker, was a member of the gold medal-winning squad, and coach Lindsay Sparkes was also a player at the time.

“We’re just missing Linda Moore,” said Shantz.

Moore, who skipped the Olympic-champion rink, is now a TSN curling commentator.

The Canadians will also be a reunion of sorts for Shantz and King. Growing up together in Edmonton, the two curled out of the Glenora Club and King’s mother June was the co-coach in the youth program where Shantz got her start in the sport.

King and Shantz curled against each other as youngsters, with King claiming two Canadian junior titles. The two have rarely competed against each other since then. But Shantz said she is not out to avenge her lost junior glory.

“There’s always competition, but I don’t want revenge,” said Shantz. “We’re good friends. If we don’t win, I hope she wins.”

Shantz was a member of three Alberta women’s champion rinks before she moved to B.C., first to Kelowna because the curling club appealed to her and ex-husband Pat Ryan, a retired multiple Alberta, B.C., Brier and world champion.

“He saw every game we played in Kelowna and he gave us lots of feedback after games,” said Shantz. “He was probably our No. 1 fan.”

Shantz, a bank manager, later moved to Victoria and the Nanaimo area as a result of job transfers. She wound up skipping at this year’s Canadians after Hazel Watson, for whom she played third in playdowns last year, did not return because of a knee injury that required surgery.

“Her knee was really messed up,” said Shantz.

Jones-Walker was already with the rink, and Shantz brought in the front end – second Debbie Pulak and lead Shirley Wong – from her ladies league rink. The foursome cruised through the B.C. championships, suffering just one loss that it avenged in the final.

“We have a really strong chance,” said Shantz. “We’re no different than any of the other teams out there. “Also, we’re in our home province. We know the people. We know the ice.”

Shantz received a sneak preview of internationally-renowned Abbotsford icemaker B.J. Gagnon’s sheet style during this year’s B.C. men’s championships in Parksville, which she chaired. Her rink practised on the ice in preparation for this competition.

“He uses his own rocks,” she said. “It’s clean, and quite a bit swingier than normal curling ice.”

Notes: Newfoundland’s Geoff and Cathy Cunningham give Newfoundland and Labrador a rare husband-and-wife combination of men’s and women’s champions. … Both the women’s and men’s events comprise 12-rink fields. … Nova Scotia’s Jones, 52, who underwent brain surgery last April after contracting spinal meningitis, is using this event to help prepare for 2014 Sochi Olympic qualifying. If all goes according to plan, she will throw lead or second rocks at the Games. … Ontario leads with 10 Canadian senior women’s titles while Manitoba tops the men’s ranks with eight. … New Brunswick’s Hanlon and Manitoba’s Robertson will represent Canada in the 2012 world women’s and men’s championships April 14-21 in Kastrup, Denmark.