Team MR MIKES returns to Saville, site of last year's breakout

Matthew Blandford has circled September 11-14 for good reason. The New Westminster rink opens its 2026-27 season at the Saville Shootout in Edmonton, the same event where the team announced itself a year ago with a run to the final in its first tournament together, a loss to Cameron de Jong that set the tone for a season that ended with the team ranked 16th in the CTRS and a berth at the B.C. men's championship.

Blandford, Sebastien Robillard, and Cody Johnston remain intact from last season's team, with de Jong joining forces at third for this season.

The 41-year-old skip has curled in four member associations since his junior days in Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was a three-time provincial junior champion and 2004 national runner-up, and now splits time between Cold Lake, Alberta and the B.C. tour. Robillard, a former Ontario and Quebec competitor, came over after a B.C. final appearance with Glenn Venance in 2025.

The fall schedule is an Alberta-B.C. swing: Saville, then the Okotoks Classic September 24-27, the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic in Vernon October 1-4 and the Nufloors Penticton Curling Classic October 8-11, with more dates to follow.