The 1992 Ontario Tankard, (known as the Labatt's Blue Light Tankard for sponsorship reasons) the southern Ontario men's provincial curling championship was held February 4–9 at the Nepean Sportsplex in Nepean, Ontario. The winning rink of Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh and Peter Corner from the Penetanguishene Curling Club would go on to represent Ontario at the 1992 Labatt Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship in Regina, Saskatchewan.
In the final, 1987 World Champion Russ Howard beat Tankard rookie Mike Harris from Scarborough's Tam Heather club, 6–4. Howard scored a deuce in the first, thanks to a mistake on Harris' last rock. Harris couldn't muster a deuce or a steal of his own for the rest of the game, thanks to the strong takeout play by the Howard team. Howard considered a "tremendous draw" in the third to be the turning point in the game, and another deuce in the fifth pretty much put the game away for Howard. Howard won the game when he ran Team Harris out of rocks with a takeout on his final shot. He would end up curling 86 per cent in what was his sixth provincial championship. Howard went into the finals having amassed more than $100,000 on tour that season, and had a record of 51–4 following the tournament.
Harris, who was the youngest skip in the tournament at the age of 24, advanced to the final after beating Mike Altenhof of Chatham 9–6 in the semifinal. The Harris team had a poor record earlier in the season, and nearly did not want to even play in the provincial playdowns.
Qualification Qualification method Berths Qualifying team(s) Host Zones 1–4 2 Bill Walsh Wayne Tallon Hylands, Ottawa Zones 5–8 2 Paul Savage Brad Mitchell Grey Granite, Owen Sound Zones 9–12 2 Russ Howard Frank Gowman Donalda, Don Mills Zones 13–16 2 John Base Mike Altenhof Highland, London Challenge Round East 1 Mike Harris Port Perry Challenge Round West 1 Bob Edmondson Orangeville
Teams The teams were as follows: Skip Third Second Lead Club Mike Altenhof Brian ReRooy Peter DeKoning Chris Lumbard Chatham Granite Club, Chatham John Base Larry Snow Dean Dart Ron Scarrow Oakville Curling Club, Oakville Bob Edmondson Graham MacEachern Doug Pole Pat Osborne Humber Highlands Curling Club, Toronto Frank Gowman Rob Moore Tim Apel Steve Morrison Galt Curling Club, Cambridge Mike Harris Richard Hart Collin Mitchell George Karrys Tam Heather Curling Club, West Hill, Scarborough Russ Howard Glenn Howard Wayne Middaugh Peter Corner Penetanguishene Curling Club, Penetanguishene Bradley Mitchell Rob Houston Dave Downer Brian Rose Boulevard Club, Toronto Paul Savage Graeme McCarrel Ian Tetley Todd Tsukamoto Avonlea Curling Club, Toronto Wayne Tallon Bruce Delaney Brian Edge Kevin Lemenchick Granite Curling Club, Ottawa Bill Walsh Dave Van Dine Dave Collyer Gord Pringle Rideau Curling Club, Ottawa
Standings Final standings KeyTeams to Playoffs Skip (club)WinsLosses Russ Howard (Penetanguishene) 8 1 Mike Harris (Tam Heather) 7 2 Mike Altenhof (Chatham) 7 2 Bradley Mitchell (Boulevard) 6 3 Wayne Tallon (Granite) 5 4 John Base (Oakville) 4 5 Bill Walsh (Rideau) 4 5 Paul Savage (Avonlea) 2 7 Frank Gowman (Galt) 1 8 Bob Edmondson (Humber Highlands) 1 8
Scores
Draw 1 February 4, 1:30pm
Draw 2 February 4, 7:00pm
Draw 3 February 5, 1:30pm
Draw 4 February 5, 7:00pm
Draw 5 February 6, 1:30pm
Draw 6 February 6, 7:30pm
Draw 7 February 7, 2:00pm
Draw 8 February 7, 7:00pm
Draw 9 February 8, 9:00am
Playoffs
Semifinal February 8, 7:00pm
Final February 9, 2:00pm
Zone winners Zone winners qualified for the regional playdowns, with the regional winners advancing to provincials. Zone Skip Club A1 Bill Walsh Rideau 1B Tony Large Ottawa 2A Mert Thompsett City View 2B Wayne Tallon Granite 3A John McCoppen Kingston 3B Alex Tosh Kingston4A Steve Newhouse Lindsay4B Bill Harrison Bobcaygeon 5A Barry Acton Uxbridge5B Ron Allison Whitby 6A Paul Savage Avonlea6B Ed Werenich Avonlea7A Brad Mitchell Boulevard7B Jeff McCrady Royals8A Bob Edmondson Humber Highland 8B Jim Sharples Lambton9A Ron Spence Brampton9B Peter Eller Shelburne10A Russ Howard Penetanguishene10B Tim Belcourt Midland11A Al Hutchinson Bluewater11B Jerry Burrows Southampton 12A Axel Larson Guelph12B Frank Gowman Galt 13A Mike Root St. Catharines 13B John Base Oakville 14A Bruce Park Brant14B Bob McKinnon Norwich15A Kirk Ziola Highland15B Bruce Munro Kilworth16A Bob Ingram Ridgetown16B Mike Altenhof Chatham
References