World Financial Group

The Roar of the Rings, Canada’s Olympic Trials in Curling, got off to a “rocking” start (apologies for the bad pun) for the World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4.  Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque began their play late on Sunday opposite Wayne Middaugh’s rink out of Victoria, BC.

The World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4 visited Clermont, Quebec as participants in the 2009 Challenge Casino de Charlevoix over the weekend.  This match would be the last for Randy Ferbey, Scott Pfeifer, Dave Nedohin and Marcel Rocque before taking part in the “Roar of the Rings” – the tournament that will determine what team will represent Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Hopefully, this tournament would be a forbearer for things to come.

Their first match of the Challenge was Thursday opposite the rink of Pierre Charette from Etchemin, PQ.  Randy and the team had the hammer and used it to win 7-2 in seven ends.  Later in the day, their opponent was Greg Richardson’s rink from Ottawa, and, once again, the Ferbey 4 had the hammer and won in seven ends with a score of 6-3. 

Friday morning saw an early start for the four guys in the WFG curling shirts who were up against Martin Ferland from Quebec City.  Martin had the hammer, but the Ferbey 4 still won 5-3 in seven ends to qualify for the quarter finals without having to play any further games that day.

For their quarterfinal match on Saturday afternoon, Randy, Scott, Dave and Marcel faced off opposite the Quebec rink of Serge Reid and took the game to a win in six ends with a 5-3 score.  Sunday morning saw our “Kings of Canadian Curling” play opposite Pierre Charette again in the semifinals.  This match did not last long as the Ferbey 4 only needed five ends to take this one 7-2.

The final match on Sunday afternoon saw the WFG-sponsored Ferbey 4 up against Jean-Michel Menard out of Gatineau, PQ.  Although Jean-Michel’s team had the hammer, it did not matter as the Ferbey team took this match, and the championship, by a score of 6-1 in seven ends.

Now, Randy, David, Scott and Marcel are preparing to roar through the “Roar of the Rings”, which starts at the Rexall Centre in their home town of Edmonton on Sunday, Dec. 6.  Look for television coverage on TSN in Canada.  May the hammer be with the Ferbey 4 as they look to represent Canada in February.  Best of luck from all of us at World Financial Group!

O Give Me a Home, Where the Buffalo Roam, Where the Deer and Antelope Play… Curling!

Could the animals of the prairie actually play curling? The buffalo could slide rocks with their heads and the antelope hold their brooms with their teeth… okay, probably not. But Wainwright, AB held its annual Roaming Buffalo Classic last weekend. And among the teams seeking a “house” were the Ferbey 4, the World Financial Group-sponsored “Kings of Canadian Curling”.

Fri., Nov. 20 saw Randy Ferbey, Scott Pfeifer, David Nedohin and Marcel Rocque start with a game opposite the rink of John Regnier from Alberta. Randy and the guys threw three rocks in the first end and only needed five more ends to win 8-3.

The next morning, our men in the WFG curling shirts faced off against the fellow Edmonton rink of Colin Tanton. The Ferbeys had the hammer and needed it to win this game 6-3 in eight ends. The score does not really reflect how close this game was. Later on Saturday, our guys took on Warren Hassall out of Lloydminster, SK. And thanks to four two-rock ends in the match, Randy and the guys won this match 8-3 in six ends. With that win, the Ferbey 4 became the second team to make it to the quarterfinals and earned a Sunday off.

Their draw for that match with Warren Cross’s rink out of the Ferbeys home town of Edmonton. And, unfortunately, Randy and the guys were on the losing end of this one. But the match did go to eight ends in the 5-4 loss.

In two weeks, things in the curling world get really interesting. The Roar of the Rings, the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, starts on Dec. 6 in the Rexall Centre in Edmonton, the Ferbeys hometown. We at World Financial Group are excited to see the Ferbey 4 play for the chance to represent Canada on the largest world stage there is for sports.

The World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4 participated in the Red Deer (AB) Classic over the past weekend.  The curling team of Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque continued their warm up for the Canadian “Roar of the Rings” in this triple knockout tournament. 

The curling action for the foursome started Friday evening opposite the rink of Jamie Koe of Yellowknife, NT.  The Ferbeys had the hammer and used it to slide to a sound 8-0 win in five ends.   

On Saturday afternoon, the men in the WFG curling shirts faced off opposite Calgary’s Dean Ross and his rink.  Dean’s team had the hammer, but the Ferbey 4 only needed seven ends to win 5-3.  Their next draw later that day, opposite Brad Heidt of Kindersley, SK, unfortunately resulted in an 8-3 loss for the Ferbeys in seven ends. 

Thankfully, it was only one loss and it did not result in elimination, which meant the Ferbey 4 had to wake up early on Sunday to take on Brent Bawel’s rink out of Calgary.  While Brent had the hammer, Randy and the guys were able to win 8-2 in seven ends.  Later on Sunday afternoon, our WFG curling team faced off against Dean Ross for a second time which, according to David, is “unusual [in a triple knockout tournament]”.  Only five ends were needed to for Randy and the team to win 7-2, placing the WFG-sponsored Ferbey 4 in the quarterfinals. 

Monday morning saw a 9 AM start for Randy, David, Scott and Marcel.  Their first opponent was opposite Claudio Pescia’s rink from St. Galler, Switzerland.  The Ferbey 4 had the hammer and used it slide to a 6-0 win in four ends.  Later in the day, the WFG-sponsored curling team took on Tyrel Griffith from Kelowna, BC in the semi-finals, and this time our guys only needed three ends to win 10-0! 

This win put the Ferbey 4 into the finals opposite Red Deer’s own Rob Armitage, whose rink also scored 10 rocks in their semi-final match.  And in an exciting final, the Ferbeys had the hammer and used it to slide to an 8-3 victory, with Randy and the team scoring four rocks in the fourth end -- something that doesn’t happen very often. 

The Ferbey 4 will next take “the house” at the Roaming Buffalo Classic in Wainwright, AB starting November 20.  We at World Financial Group can hear the roar, and it’s getting louder.  Keep reading here for all the latest on this dynamic curling team.

You wouldn’t think a cactus would be something seen related to curling.  But no one thought to tell that to the curling club in Brooks, AB, who recently hosted the 2009 Cactus Pheasant Classic over the Halloween weekend.  Among those participating were the WFG-sponsored curling rink of Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque, better known as the Ferbey 4.

The Ferbeys started Thursday morning opposite the rink of Thomas Dufour from Chamonix, France.  While Thomas’s rink had the hammer, Randy and the guys slid to a 7-3 victory in six ends.  Later that day our WFG curling team slid against Sean Geall of New Westminster, BC.  For this match, the Ferbey 4 had the hammer and used it in their 7-2 win in five ends.

The Ferbey 4, proudly sponsored by World Financial Group, entered the 2009 World Cup of Curling this past weekend at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, ON.  This event serves as one of many warm up tournaments for the “Roar of the Rings” scheduled in December that will help determine who represents Canada in the 2010 Olympic games.

Their first match in the World Cup was Wednesday opposite Fengchun Wang’s rink from Harbin, China.  With the hammer, Randy and his rink slid to a 4-2 victory in six ends.

First up on Thursday for WFG’s curling team was a match against Niklas Edin and his rink from Karlstad, Sweden.  The Swedes provided a challenge for our guys from Edmonton.  The game was close until the final end – when Edin scored for rocks – but, despite having the hammer, the Ferbey 4 fell to Edin’s rank 8-3 in seven ends.

The World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4 spent their Canadian Thanksgiving weekend participating in the triple-elimination Westcoast Curling Classic (W.C.C.) in New Westminster, BC.  Also taking part in the competition were the men’s teams that are eligible for the “Roar of the Rings” and several teams hoping to qualify later this year.  

The curling action for Randy, David, Scott and Marcel started early Friday morning opposite the BC rink of Andrew Bilesky.  Randy and the guys had the hammer and used it to take this contest to a final score of 7-2.  Later Friday afternoon, WFG’s own “Kings of Canadian Curling” faced Sean Geall’s rink, also based in BC.  The Ferbeys used the hammer and a four rock score in the sixth end to take this game to a 7-3 victory. 

Saturday saw another early start for the WFG-sponsored curling team against McEwen’s rink out of Manitoba.  The 8 am start was very agreeable for the Ferbey 4, as a four rock score in the second end slid the way to a 7-2 victory.  Unfortunately, the Ferbeys’ second match of the day would see them lose to Kevin Koe, a fellow Albertan rink, by a score of 7-3. 

On Sunday, the men in the dapper WFG curling shirts started their day in the early afternoon opposite Ted Appleman’s rink.  The fellow Albertans made things very close for the Ferbey 4, but in the end, Appleman brought a win to their house by a score of 7-5.   

A few hours later, Randy and the guys took brooms in hand to face Jeff Richard’s rink out of BC.  And, thanks to the hammer, the Ferbeys won 6-4 in eight ends.  But in their final match of the W.C.C., the WFG Ferbey 4 drew the fellow Edmonton rink of Kevin Martin who swept the Ferbeys out of the tournament with an 8-3 win. 

Keep reading here for more coverage of the World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4.

When you’re a world famous curling team, like the World Financial Group-sponsored Ferbey 4, your sport takes you around the world.  And, last week, the “Kings of Canadian Curling” traveled “across the pond” to Switzerland, where they finished third in a curling tournament.  But they returned home to play in their next tournament, the September Shootout.  So, how would they do in front of their home crowd?

The action started for the Ferbey 4 on Thursday, September 17, with their first opponent Steve Petryk of Calgary.  Although Steve’s team had the hammer, the Ferbeys only needed seven ends to win 5-3.

The Ferbey 4, the World Financial Group-sponsored curling team, earned an automatic bid to the “Roar of the Rings” earlier this year.  To warm up for those Olympic trials, Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque began their 2009-10 season this past weekend in Baden, Switzerland at the Baden Masters.  Joining the “Kings of Canadian Curling” were teams from Switzerland, Scotland, Norway and even Japan on the first stop on the World Curling Tour. 

Friday, September 11, the team, wearing their WFG curling shirts, faced two rinks.  Up first was the rink of Manuel Ruch of Uitikon, Switzerland, and although Randy and the guys didn’t have the hammer, they did score in five out of nine ends to win 8-6.   Their second match on Friday was against Thomas Dufour of Chamonix, France.  Although Dufour had the hammer and exploded with a five rock first end, the Ferbey 4 came back strong to take this match 10-6. 

On September 12, the first match for our WFG-sponsored Ferbey 4 was opposite Baden’s own rink of Toni Üller.  Although they didn’t have the hammer, the Ferbey 4 only took five ends to win 9-1.   

Unfortunately, their second match was a defeat. Event with the Ferbey 4 having the hammer, Yusuke Morozumi’s team out of Japan proved too powerful for Randy, Scott, David and Marcel. garnering the Japanese team a win with a score of 6-3,  

Still, Randy and the team progressed to the quarterfinals scheduled later that evening, which turned out to be quite fruitful.  Facing the rink of Jiri Snitil from Brno, Chez Republic, the Ferbey 4 used the hammer to throw a 6-0 victory in six ends. 

The semi-final match on September 13, however, would not see our World Financial Group-sponsored curling rink advancing to the finals.  In this match, Randy, David, Scott and Marcel faced the rink of Thomas Ulsrud of Oslo, Norway, who had won this tournament in 2008.  Despite having the hammer and a fast start, our Ferbey 4 fell to a 9-4 loss.   

However, the Baden Masters is a “triple knockout” tourney, which allowed the Ferbey 4 to advance to the third place game opposite David Murdoch and his team from Scotland.  And our WFG rink won third place with a score of 5-2. Brad Gushue and his team from Newfoundland won the tournament. 

Up next for the “Kings of Canadian Curling” is the September Shootout, which starts on September 17 at the Saville Centre in the Ferbey 4’s hometown of Edmonton.  Let’s wish our guys in the WFG curling shirts all the best as they take “the house” in Edmonton and beyond!

The Canadian Press recently reported that the sport of curling will be the basis of a Winter Olympic-themed episode of “The Simpsons” next year.  Homer and Marge Simpson form a mixed doubles curling team with Principal Skinner and his mother, Agnes.  The article quotes World Financial Group-sponsored curling skip Randy Ferbey.  While the members of our own Ferbey 4 have yet to be tapped to lend their voices in the episode, you have to admit that it’s cool to have WFG separated by one degree (or possibly two degrees) from one of television’s most enduring shows.

Look for more coverage of the Ferbey 4 right here on wfgsports.com.