By Nathan Kanter

Laycock favourite at SaskTel Tankard

Jan 31, 2017 | 1:00 PM

Most of Canada has already determined their provincial curling champions, but the west still has spots up for grabs; including the province of Saskatchewan.

Not for long, because this week the 2017 SaskTel Tankard men’s provincial championship kicks-off in Tisdale.

Sixteen teams will face off for the chance to represent the province at the Tim Horton’s Brier,  held in St. John’s, N.L. from March 4 to 12.

Local teams leading the charge are a pair of skips from Kerrobert. Brad Heidt and his son Drew – who currently curls out of the Unity Curling Club – will both be competing. Brad is a two-time provincial champion, who curls alongside third Mark Lang, second Glen Heidt, and lead Dan Ormsby. He enters as the nine seed.

Drew, who qualified at the Northern Qualifier two weeks ago, curls with third Jesse St. John, second Cole Tenetuik, and lead Chadd McKenzie and enters as the ten seed.

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Drew’s brother Josh will be competing as another Heidt family member on a different team. He is the third on Kody Hartung’s Saskatoon rink, seeded fourth.

Six-time provincial champion Steve Laycock is the favourite to win, as his Saskatoon rink represented the province at the past three Briers. Laycock was also miles ahead of anyone else in the Canadian Team Ranking System standings and enters as the top seed. At last year’s Brier, Laycock went 5-6 in the round robin, failing to qualify for the playoffs. In 2015, he won bronze.

Another rink to keep an eye out for is Saskatoon’s Team Korte, who enter as the second seed. They were the sponsor’s exemption in January’s Canadian Meridian Open and just missed out on the playoffs after going 2-3.

The first draw at the SaskTel Tankard is set for Wednesday Feb. 1 at 2:30 p.m. Laycock will go up against Ryan Armstrong from Lashburn, while Estevan’s Brent Gedak will take on Brad Heidt. Ryan Deis from Fox Valley will also play Saskatoon’s Jason Jacobson, and Brady Scharback will take on Hartung’s rink, also both in draw one.

The bonspiel is a self-seeded triple knockout draw with a page-playoff system.

The playoffs begin on Saturday.

Nathan Kanter is battlefordsNOW’s sports reporter and voice of the Battlefords North Stars. He can be reached at Nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca or tweet him @NathanKanter11