The 2022 Canadian Seniors Curling Championships won鈥檛 be happening until December, in a location yet to be determined, but at least the NWT knows who it will be sending.

The NWT Seniors Curling Championships wrapped up in Inuvik on Feb. 28 with the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 champions crowned. They are Glen Hudy on the men鈥檚 side as he defeated Inuvik鈥檚 Mel Sittichinli in the final while Sharon Cormier defeated Melba Mitchell of Inuvik in a best-of-five series to win the women鈥檚 side.

鈥淥ur games weren鈥檛 very close, unfortunately,鈥� said Cormier. 鈥淏ut we worked hard up there and we curled really well.鈥�

The third game was almost a walkover of sorts as Mitchell鈥檚 outfit wasn鈥檛 able to field a full team due to varying circumstances, she added.

To make up for that, an exhibition game happened between Cormier鈥檚 rink and that of Inuvik鈥檚 Pearl Gillis, who is in Yellowknife this week competing in the Canada Winter Games trials for 2023.

鈥淚t was good to get that extra game,鈥� said Cormier. 鈥淚t gave us some extra time on the ice and it gave them a bit of a warm-up before they left for Yellowknife.鈥�

The men鈥檚 side featured three teams with Ed Sattelberger of Yellowknife in the mix with Hudy and Sittichinli. The trio of rinks played a double round-robin with Hudy finishing atop the standings at three wins and one loss, the lone defeat coming at the hands of Sattelberger. The first-place finish meant a bye to the final with Sittichinli and Sattelberger playing the semi-final to determine who would play for the big prize, where Hudy would defeat Sittichinli.

Brian Kelln, who plays third for Hudy鈥檚 rink, said it was probably the best the foursome have played all season.

鈥淎ll of us there were evenly-matched but I think we capitalized better on the opportunities when we had them,鈥� he said. 鈥淕len has great draw weight and he made a lot of shots when we needed them.鈥�

Something Kelln remarked about was the ice and how well it played all weekend.

鈥淭he conditions were great,鈥� he said. 鈥淎bout four ft. of curl and it was really fast, about 15 seconds hog-line to hog-line.鈥�

The win in Inuvik was a redemption of sorts for the team, he added.

鈥淲e struggled at nationals (last December) and there wasn鈥檛 a lot of confidence going in,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e pulled it together and it was gratifying, I think, for all of us. It鈥檚 one thing to lose to the top teams at nationals but not the same when you just aren鈥檛 playing well. For me, nationals was probably the worst I鈥檝e ever curled but our A game showed up in Inuvik.鈥�

So with many months to wait until going back to the Canadian championships, both Cormier and Kelln said their respective rinks will do what they can as early as they can next season to try and be in as good a shape as they can be.

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping we can get on the ice early,鈥� said Cormier. 鈥淐ovid caused us to get on the ice late this season it showed because we struggled at nationals. We may look at some spiels outside the territory to get some games in before the ice gets installed (in Yellowknife).鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be better prepared,鈥� said Kelln. 鈥淚t really sucks to not win a game at nationals so we鈥檒l use the time to get ourselves ready.鈥�