Before the start of the senior playdowns, Jay Tuson from the Victoria Curling Centre decided his team needed to play some more competitive games.

Tuson, Colin Mantik, Glen Jackson and Ken Tucker entered the men's playdowns and earned a spot into the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men's Championships, which begin today in Parksville.

"It worked out that we were practising in the seniors for the men's,'' said Tuson.

"It probably works out better for us this way. If we had qualified in both, we would have had two solid weeks of curling and two weeks of holidays.''

Tuson, who is playing in his sixth provincials, went to the 2001 Tim Hortons Brier in Ottawa as the third for Victoria's Dean Joanisse. Jackson was also on that team as the second.

"Our team has a lot of experience, and we have probably seen just about everything there is in curling. Winning the provincials is all about execution. The most consistent team and a skip with a hot hand will win it.''

The other Island rinks in the 16-team field are Neil Dangerfield and Jody Epp, both from the Victoria Curling Centre, and Steve Waatainen from the Nanaimo Curling Club. Two other teams have other connections as Chris Baier from Victoria is skipping a squad out of the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster and Jason Montgomery from Duncan is throwing the third stones for Sean Geall from Delta. Montgomery is replacing Ken Maskiewich, who couldn't make the trip to Parksville.

"We go into the provincials with a little bit of confidence,'' said Dangerfield, who is backed by Denis Sutton, Darren Boden and Glen Allen. Dangerfield's team finished second at last year's provincials, dropping the final to Jim Cotter from Kelowna. "We have seen all the teams now, and there will be no surprises. Our goal is to get on a roll and reach the playoffs.''

Former B.C. junior champion Baier calls the game and throws the third stones while Mike Johnson has the last-rock duties.

"This is my first men's provincials, and I'm very excited about going,'' said Baier. "We qualified very early in the year so there has been a lot of waiting around for the other teams.''

Baier missed a year of curling because of a shoulder injury, but now he is totally recovered.

Epp has been to several provincials, but this is his first time as a skip. Epp is supported by Blair Cusack, James York and Brad Kocurek. Both York and Kocurek are provincial rookies.

Rounding out the field are Tom Buchy from Kimberley; Wylie Eden from Penticton; Darren Heath from Vernon; Ken McArdle, Jay Peachey and Brent Pierce, all from Royal City; Tom Shypitka from Creston; Ron Vanderstar from Smithers; and Brian Windsor from Kamloops.

Former champions in the field are Cotter, Pierce (who played third for the Greg McAulay team in 2000 when they won the Tim Hortons Brier and the world championship), Peachey and Geall.

This year's format has changed as it is a 16-team triple-knockout event with a four-team Page playoff. In recent years, it was a 10-team round robin, followed by the Page playoff.

Today's opening draw is at 9 a.m., followed by others at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Page playoffs start Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by the semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Shaw. The final is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday (also on Shaw).

The winner advances to the Brier, March 3-11 at Saskatoon. B.C. has produced four national championship teams — Frenchy D'Amour from Trail in 1948, Lyall Dagg from Vancouver in 1964, Rick Folk from Kelowna in 1994 and McAulay. Folk is coaching the Cotter team, with his son Kevin throwing the third stones.

rrauch@timescolonist.com