That is, when it came to COVID-19 precautions and keeping everyone safe, which saw plenty of masks, player spacing on the ice, single sweepers and no skip sweeping as some of the new rules that were in place.
When it came to the action on the ice, though, most of the usual suspects found themselves with opening night wins.
Leading the way were perennial title contenders BTN Accounting (Danielle Sicinski), who picked up a 5-2 victory over Walchuk Masonary (Tyler Krupski). Sicinski took a 2-1 lead out of the third end, but would extend her edge to 4-2 with a steal of two in the fifth and bring the game to an early end with another steal in the sixth.
Matt Froehlich found himself in a back-and-forth battle early against Paws N Play (Donna Ackerman) but would go on to an 8-5 win. Froehlich got off to a fast start with three in the first end, but Ackerman battled back to tie things up through three. Froehlich would sandwich an Ackerman single in the fifth with deuces in the fourth and sixth to take a 7-4 lead, and the two teams would exchange single points to close things out,.
Lorraine Arguin and her Easy Care Living foursome got off to a fast start against ProTec Video (Wade Gray), with a four-spot in the fourth end giving her a 7-1 lead. Gray wouldn’t go quietly, though, with a deuce in the fifth and three of his own in the seventh, pulling him back within two, 8-6. Gray would steal one more in the eighth but would drop an 8-7 decision.
KMS (Ben Gamble) put on a late surge to take a 9-4 win over Here For The Beer (Patrick Ackerman). The two teams found themselves tied 3-3 through four ends, but Gamble would pick up one in the fifth, steal two more in the sixth and three in the seventh to take the commanding win.
KalTire (Rob Sokchoff) also used a big end to secure a victory over John’s Music (Ryan Wenarchuk). The two teams sat tied 3-3 after five ends, but Sokchoff would steal four in the sixth to go ahead 7-3. Wenarchuk would battle back with single points in the final two ends but would fall 7-5.
The contest between Pro-Tec Electric (Stan Barnsley) and EMJ Marketing (Joe Gunnis) took a similar, albeit higher-scoring turn. Barnsley scored deuces in each of the first two ends, and Gunnis followed with the same in the third and fourth, tying the game 4-4. Barnsley would find the momentum from there, though, scoring one in the fifth, stealing two in the sixth and three more in the seventh for a 10-4 win.
Original 16 Cash League action continues every Wednesday night at the Moose Jaw Ford Curling Centre.
