Playing in his third New Holland Canadian Junior Men鈥檚 Curling Championship, Daniel Bruce had enough veteran savvy to understand the virtue of patience.

Five ends into Saturday鈥檚 men鈥檚 semifinal at the George Preston Recreation Centre, Bruce鈥檚 Newfoundland/Labrador team from St. John鈥檚 was down 3-2 to a Saskatchewan team skipped by Rylan Kleiter that seemingly had all the momentum going its way 鈥� twice forcing its opponents to settle for single points, while scoring a deuce of its own and stealing a single.

But this being junior curling, it鈥檚 a given that momentum is a tenuous concept at best, and the sixth end confirmed that; Bruce, backed up by third Ryan McNeil Lamswood, second/vice-skip Joel Krats, lead Nathan King and coach/dad Dennis Bruce, manufactured a wonderful sixth end that resulted in a game-turning steal of two.

And just over an hour later, it was Bruce celebrating his first trip to the gold-medal game with a 9-8 victory.

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鈥淭his is my third year here, and you see it all the time 鈥� other teams get up, but the game鈥檚 never over,鈥� said Daniel Bruce, a 21-year-old communications student at Memorial University in St. John鈥檚, who grew up in Corner Brook. 鈥淲e just kept playing hard, hoped for a couple misses, and we were lucky enough to get them.鈥�

They did indeed; in the sixth, Newfoundland-Labrador forced Kleiter (backed by vice-skip Trevor Johnson, second Joshua Mattern, lead Matthieu Taillon and coach/dad Dean Kleiter) to attempt a testy draw to bite the button looking at three opposing counters.

The draw was just inches heavy 鈥� and suddenly the one-point Saskatchewan lead was a one-point deficit.

鈥淭hat draw just went a couple inches too far, and that was the difference,鈥� said Kleiter, who also wopn a bronze medal at the 2019 New Holland Canadian Juniors in Prince Albert, Sask. 鈥淲e had trouble getting the momentum back after that. We came here with a goal in mind and didn鈥檛 quite accomplish it, but we have a lot to be proud of.鈥�

Saskatchewan was forced to take one in the seventh to tie the game, but Newfoundland/Labrador turned up the heat in the eighth, and it paid off with a count of five that all but sealed the victory.

鈥淥ur philosophy all week was patience equals podium,鈥� said Dennis Bruce. 鈥淲e knew we were still in the game, and we were loose. We were loose all week, and to some extent, we knew we had nothing to lose. So that鈥檚 the way we played. The key thing was that we hadn鈥檛 put their skip under any pressure, so we had to change that up, and it worked.鈥�

With the win, Newfoundland/Labrador advances to Sunday鈥檚 2 p.m. gold-medal men鈥檚 game against the Manitoba #2 team skipped by Jacques Gauthier, a silver-medallist last year with JT Ryan, who aged out of juniors.

It is the first time Newfoundland/Labrador has had a team in the men鈥檚 final since 2004 when Matthew Blandford lost to New Brunswick鈥檚 Ryan Sherrard at Victoria. Three years earlier, Brad Gushue captured Newfoundland/Labrador鈥檚 only Canadian junior men鈥檚 gold medal to date.

鈥淚t would mean everything 鈥� for Newfoundland, for us, for all of our hard work,鈥� said Bruce, who also skipped Memorial University to a silver medal at the 2019 U SPORTS Championships. 鈥淲e all deserve it. It would be nice to bring (the championship) back to the Rock.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 see this coming. Well, I did 鈥� we鈥檙e definitely good enough, actually seeing it play out is kind of amazing. I鈥檓 kind of starstruck in a way. I mean, we鈥檙e definitely good enough, and everybody played amazing today.鈥�

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In women鈥檚 play, Alberta is to play for back-to-back women鈥檚 gold .

It almost didn鈥檛 happen.

Abby Marks; the 20-year-old skip for Team Alberta at the 2020 New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships had a reasonably open tap to score what should have been a game-turning deuce in the ninth end of Saturday鈥檚 women鈥檚 semifinal against Nova Scotia鈥檚 Taylour Stevens (Halifax) at the George Preston Recreation Centre.

But her shooter would roll too far and Alberta would settle for a single and a 5-4 lead, giving last-rock advantage to Nova Scotia.

Fortunately for Marks, she would shake off that miss, and rally the troops to hold Nova Scotia to a single point in the 10th, and then score the winning point in the extra end without having to throw her final stone in a 6-5 victory.

With the win, Marks and her team from the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton 鈥攙ice-skip Catherine Clifford, second Paige Papley, lead Jamie Scott and coach/dad Doug Marks 鈥� advance to Sunday鈥檚 9 a.m. women鈥檚 gold-medal game against undefeated MacKenzie Zacharias of Manitoba (Winnipeg).

It will be a chance for Abby Marks and Papley to win back-to-back gold medals after they played vice-skip and lead respectively for the Selena Sturmay-skipped Alberta team that prevailed last year in Prince Albert, Sask.

The relief on Marks鈥� face after the game was obvious.

鈥淚t was hard,鈥� said Marks of the ninth-end miscue. 鈥淲e just had to put that end behind us and move on, and take it shot by shot. It may have taken me a shot or two to get over it, but my teammates were super supportive; I couldn鈥檛 ask for better teammates.鈥�

From Papley鈥檚 perspective, there was never a question that her skip would come back strong.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a pretty self-sufficient individual, and I think she knows that we don鈥檛 need to say anything to her because we know she鈥檚 making the next one,鈥� said Papley.

While Alberta is going for back-to-back gold medals, Manitoba will be seeking its first Canadian junior women鈥檚 title since Kaitlyn Lawes won consecutive championships in 2008 and 2009.

The winners of Sunday鈥檚 gold-medal games will represent Canada at the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships, beginning Feb. 15 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

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