B.J. Neufeld joins Team Carruthers for provincial playdowns
Winnipeg skip Reid Carruthers has added B.J. Neufeld to his team for next month’s provincial playdowns.
Carruthers will look to defend the Manitoba title at the Viterra Championship, Feb. 4-9, in Portage la Prairie.
Neufeld will play third with Catlin Schneider at second, Connor Njegovan at lead and Kyle Doering at alternate.
The 38-year-old Neufeld spent the past two-and-a-half seasons with skip Matt Dunstone. The Winnipeg-based Team Dunstone parted ways with Neufeld in December. Neufeld won the Brier and world championship silver medal in 2019 with skip Kevin Koe plus seven Grand Slam of Curling titles with skip Mike McEwen.
Carruthers finished last season playing third with Brad Jacobs handling skip duties. After Jacobs moved on during the off-season, Schneider came on board at third with Carruthers returning to skip. Longtime second Derek Samagalski stepped back from the team in November and Doering joined later that month.
Team Carruthers is No. 25 in the world rankings and No. 10 on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS).
The winner of the Viterra Championship will represent Manitoba at the Montana’s Brier, Feb, 28 to March 9, in Kelowna, B.C. Dunstone already pre-qualified for the Brier based on last season’s CTRS standings.