There is a silver lining to every loss and hopefully that holds true for Joe Scharf.

The draw against three to give Brad Jacobs a trip to the Brier is still at the top of the minds of local curling fans. It was pointed out to me by a close friend, that Al Hackner suffered a similar heartbreaking loss to Manitoba’s Kerry Burtnyk in 1981 in Halifax on a draw for the win. Hackner bounced back to not only win the Canadian championship, but the worlds the next year.

Here’s hoping Scharf and his teammates Mike McCarville, Robin Champagne and Gary Champagne give it another shot to play in the Sault next year.

As for the Jacobs rink, they may be Northern Ontario champs, but certainly did not endear themselves to local curling fans or other teams competing at the Northerns last week. The on- and off-ice demeanor of the Sault Ste. Marie squad left a lot of to be desired.

The shock is still rattling in the rafters of the Fort William Curling Club after Brad Jacobs unleashed a memorable comeback to win his second-straight Northern Ontario men’s curling championship on Sunday.

Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie rink erased a four-point deficit with two ends to play, pulling out a 7-6 victory over Thunder Bay’s Joe Scharf in the final. It’s an afternoon Scharf, Mike McCarville, Robin Champagne and Gary Champagne from the host club will not soon forget — and one that Thunder Bay curling fans will be talking about for months as the Lakehead’s run of not sending a team to the Tim Hortons Brier will now hit nine years.

Up 6-4 playing with hammer in the 10th, Scharf appeared to have the title won. Jacobs knew he would be lucky to score two to tie, but to score three for the win?

Only in his dreams.

After a lot of years of battling and nine unsuccessful trips to the B.C. men's curling championships, Ken Maskiewich says he had all but given up on making it to a Brier.

The 44-year-old from New Westminster was going to take this year off and be more of a house dad. But then Jim Cotter of Vernon came calling in the late fall.

Cotter threw fourth stones for the Bob Ursel rink, but with Ursel sidelined by a knee injury he was moving to skip and needed a third.

Three months later, Maskiewich is bound for his first Brier after the Cotter rink used single point steals in the fifth and seventh ends Sunday to pull out a 6-4 win over Neil Dangerfield of Victoria in the 2011 provincial final at Vernon Curling Club.

It's been a long time between B.C. men's curling championships for Neil Dangerfield of Victoria. And he's making the most of it this week in Vernon.

Now 41, Dangerfield, a laboratory technician for Fisheries and Oceans, was part of the front end for Wes Craig's rink at provincials back in 1997.

"I've been trying to get back every year since," he says with a laugh. This year, his four-yearold rink, which includes third Dennis Sutton, second Darren Boden and lead Glen Allen, finally made it out the coastal playdowns.

After an 8-5 win Friday morning over Brent Yamada of Kamloops, Dangerfield's rink finished the round robin tied with defending champion Jeff Richard of Kelowna at 7-2. Dangerfield's 9-2 pasting of Richard in Draw 7 gave him second place and a spot in Friday night's 1-2 Page Playoff game with the undefeated Jeff Cotter rink of Vernon.

James Grattan successful defended his provincial title Sunday, February 6 at the Miramichi Curling Club, defeating Rick Perron of Moncton, 6-4 in the final.

Grattan opened with a steal in the first end, as the teams then traded singles for the next seven ends. But a deuce in the ninth was all that was needed, as Grattan, representing the Gage Golf and Curling Association in Oromocto, clinched the title in the eight team round robin.

Perron had finished first with a 6-1 record to earn a bye to the final, with Paul Dobson of Saint John and Grattan tied for second at 5-2. In the semi-final, Grattan prevailed over Dobson, 6-5, stealing one in an extra end.

At the end of a perfect week, unruffled Andrea Kelly declared she had saved the best for last.

The 25-year-old skip from The Gage Golf and Curling Club in Oromocto beat Curling Beausejour's Sylvie Robichaud 7-2 to win her third straight New Brunswick Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women's curling championship yesterday at the Beausejour.

Kelly, who also won the Scotties in 2006 and was a three-time provincial junior champion, sailed through the bonspiel with a 7-0 record before defeating Robichaud in the final.

"Things have gone very well for us and this was our best game of the week," Kelly said.

"We knew there were a lot of good teams here, but we kind of a had a feeling we might see Sylvie (the 2008 winner) in the final," she said. "She's got a great team and we knew that we had to play our best game against them.

The 30-year-old skip from Curling Beausejour won all three of her games yesterday at the New Brunswick Scotties Tournament of Hearts provincial women's curling championship on her home ice.

"It's very satisfying to win three in a row," Robichaud said after last night's 8-3 victory over Kathleen Trites of Sackville.

"After two games, you feel tired, but you have to convince your brain and your muscles that you're not tired and you have to keep your focus on the game."

Full results of all draws on Playdowns.com