CVCC Evening Leagues
Playoffs & Banquet

Hello evening league curlers! We are happy to share details of the end of year plans with you. 

It’s nearly that time of year again to get ready for the City View Club Championship and evening league playoffs! We are looking forward to enjoying a few nights of competition and ending it with a banquet. There will be food, raffles, prizes, and great curling!

For those who don’t want to read everything below, the only real change to the format this year are having to qualify for the playoffs through your league. Don't panic, we still expect that almost every team who wants to play in the playoffs will have a chance to do so. We have also amended the fundraising method for this year - rather than leagues-wide 50-50 drive, the cost will simply be $20 per player (only payable once).

All evening open teams will be eligible to qualify for and play in one of 4 playoff brackets (A, B, C and D divisions). Games will be played April 14-16 and 21-23.

Full playoff details are below. Please contact your league coordinator if you have any questions. 

- Mike, Sully and Tom

Rules

Everyone likes a good set of rules. Here are ours (significant changes from last year in red):

Teams / Sparing

• Please let your coordinator know asap if your team will be participating in the playoffs or the banquet (this will allow us to finalize banquet meal details). 

• Team rosters are locked as of now - exceptions can be made for injuries or other exceptional circumstances, please discuss with your league coordinator.

• Players can only play or spare with one team per division (exception: you may play with a second team in the same division if you are on the roster for both teams). For clarity, you cannot spare for a team in the same division after you are eliminated with your regular team. 

Note: As there is extremely limited ice time, accommodations will not be made if you have multiple teams are scheduled to play at the same time.

Sparing

• Spares must be registered on an evening open team. 

• No more than 2 spares may be used per game. Spares must throw in the lowest position(s) available (lead if using 1 spare, lead and second if using 2 spares), although a spare may call the game.
  
  

Qualification

As mentioned above, there are new qualification requirements this year. If you're a visual person, take a look at the Projected Playoffs page for a depiction of how it works. 

There are four playoff brackets teams can participate in:

• • Club Championship (A Division)

  • Competitive Open (B Division)

  • Rec Championship (C Division)

  • Rec Open (D Division)
    
    

Each division will have a bracket of 12 teams. After the last draw is completed, teams will be invited to participate in the playoffs as follows:

Club Championship: 

1. The three league winners based on overall points (3 teams)

2. The top 3 remaining teams from each league's A Division based on Draw 5 results only (9 teams)

Competitive Open: 

 1. The three B Division winners based on overall points (3 teams)

 2. The top 3 remaining teams from each league's B Division based on Draw 5 results only (9 teams)

Rec Championship: 

 1. The three C Division winners based on overall points (3 teams)

 2. The top 3 remaining teams from each league's C Division based on Draw 5 results only (9 teams)

Rec Open: 

 1. The three D Division winners based on overall points (3 teams)

 2. The top 3 remaining teams from each league's D Division based on Draw 5 results only (9 teams)

Note: Unfortunately, given limited ice time and expected waitlists to play, we cannot accommodate requests to go up or down divisions.

In all divisions, if qualifying teams drop out of the playoffs, the spot will be offered to the team with the most overall points in any of the three nights in that division.

Tiebreaker for all divisions: In the event that two or more teams are tied for playoff positions, the tiebreaker will be as follows: (1) Draw 5 head-to-head results between the tied teams; (2) season-long head-to-head results between the tied teams; (3) overall season points; (4) bribery amount given to coordinator; (5) coin toss or marble race. 

If more than two teams are tied and one of the tiebreaker methods results in only two remaining teams still tied, the tiebreaker procedure will be restarted from #1 between those teams only in order to break that tie.

Format

• Each playoff bracket will be a single game knock-out. 

• The three league/division winners along with a randomly selected 2nd placed team will receive a bye to the quarterfinals (we know, we know, it should probably be the top overall remaining points getter who gets the bye, but we didn't want to have to do all of the schedule and bracket balancing that close to the start of playoffs, so random selection it is). 

• Tiebreaker: All round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal games will be decided by shots to the button. Finals will play an extra end (rocks to be thrown towards the glass).

• Game duration: All Club Championship games (A Division) are 8 ends or until one team concedes. The bell rule is not in effect. Please keep up the pace of play. League/playoff coordinators may implement a time limit to games should teams not be keeping pace (in other words, if it's 9:30pm and you're still playing the early game, we're kicking you off the ice).

For all other divisions, all games are up to 8 ends. The bell rule remains in effect for these games.

Integrity of the Game

• The coordinators keep the right to make decisions and/or changes to the above to maintain the spirit of the rules and fun competition.

Banquet Details

Thursday Banquet (April 23):

• Dinner will be at approximately 6:30-8pm

• Awards ceremony begins around 6:45pm with finals at 7:30pm

• Dinner cost: $20

• There will be raffles and other prizes

FAQ

Q: Why is there a cost to play in the playoffs this year?

Importantly, the playoffs have never been part of your league fees since we re-started post-pandemic. You were playing those games for free.

Previously, we fundraised for the small playoff costs (snacks, trophies, banquet dinner, prizes for winners) through a 50-50. However, this process was labour-intensive and effectively subsidized the dinners and prizes for those who didn't play in the 50-50. 

Having a standard cost for everyone will make it cheaper, bring some fairness to all, and add simplicity for the coordinators and club.

Q: Is it $20 per team or per player? 

Per player.

Q: I play on multiple teams, do I have to pay $20 for each of them? 

You only have to pay once. 

Q: How do I pay?
You may pay at the bar. Simply ask to pay for the evening open banquet and the bartender will add it to your tab.

Q: Can we still come to the banquet if we don't participate in the playoffs?

Yes. You can attend for free, and you can have dinner for the low, low cost of exactly the same as everyone else. 

Q: I hate this. Can we impeach you? 

Yes, please. Applications to be the coordinator will be immediately accepted, no experience or references required. 

Q: Ok fine, I was bluffing, you can stay. But can we at least help at the banquet to make sure it runs well?

100%, we would love any help we can get. Please chat with your coordinator and we'll get you organized!