Bill Lim is looking for a missing link this weekend at the Canuck Mechanical 95th Kelly Cup men’s curling bonspiel.
After winning the Prince George Golf and Curling Club’s Thursday Commercial League and Friday Mixed League titles, Lim and his crew of third Chad St. Peter, second Nick Sabbyan and lead Mike Walch were trying for the club trifecta.
They got to the final of the Monday Men’s League against Garrett Overton a week ago and it came down to last rock with Lim holding the hammer but it did not go according to the veteran skip’s plan.
“That was a hard pill to swallow, I lost to Garrett — I missed my last shot,” said Lim. “We were tied coming home and I had hammer and missed my last shot. I think it was 6-5. I was going for the triple crown.”
Lim has his eye on another big prize this weekend and he doesn’t want to interrupt his pattern. He won the Kelly Cup in 2003 and 2014, so 2025 would complete that sequence.
“I’m due, ’03, ’14 and ’25,” laughed Lim.
Twenty-five teams are entered in the four-day bonspiel competing for what’s known as the biggest trophy in curling. Standing 42 inches tall, the Kelly Cup was built by local jeweller John Kelly and was first awarded in 1927.
Brent Pierce of New Westminster who played third for Greg McAulay’s rink that won the provincial, Brier and world championships in 2000, has to be considered one of the Kelly favourites this weekend. Pierce won the Kelly Cup in 1994 curling with his dad Glen.
Also chasing the crown are former Kelly Cup champions, Darren Smale, Scott Sherba, Blake King, David Johnston and the two-time defending champion, Chris Moir.
There’s also a crackerjack junior team in the hunt headed by Prince George skip Colby Wilson. Wilson and his team of fellow UNBC students third Casey Patterson, second James Bieganski and third Isaac Villeneuve, coached by Victor Santos, won bronze at the BC provincial under-20 championship in Cloverdale.
The Kelly Cup is a tournament within a tournament. Before the Kelly Cup round starts the A-event winner is determined and that A champion will get to hoist the Peckham Cup, named after local curling legend Wilf Peckham and his wife Mae — beloved fixtures around the club for decades. Wilf curled in 68 consecutive Kelly Cups, starting in 1941, and the trophy was renamed in 2018.
There was no Kelly Cup in 2015 when nobody stepped up to organize it and COVID shut it down for three years, 2020, 2021, and 2023. Other than those four years it’s been a spring sporting tradition in Prince George since 1927.
“There’s a core group of us and year after year we try to promote it as much as possible,” said Lim. “I know we’re down in numbers again but mostly that's because we’re down to four sheets (of ice) and you kind of lose the flavour with only four sheets going. That’s only eight teams on the ice at one time, as opposed to back in the day when we had eight sheets and 16 teams going or 12 sheets and 24 teams going.”
The opening draw is Thursday at 4 p.m. with draws also at 8 and 10:30 p.m. at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
The All-Pro Plumbing & Heating A-event and B-event finals start at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the opening ceremonies at 8 p.m.
The first draw for the eight-rink Kelly Cup round starts at 8:30 Saturday. The Kelly Cup final starts at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Kelly Cup and Peckham Cup champions will be awarded commemorative rings crafted locally by Michael's Jewellers.
