2004 The National

2004 The National
2004 The National
Host city	Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Arena	Prince Albert Communiplex
Dates	January 22–25, 2004
Winner	Team Howard
Curling club	Coldwater & District CC, Coldwater
Skip	Glenn Howard
Third	Richard Hart
Second	Collin Mitchell
Lead	Jason Mitchell
Finalist	Jeff Stoughton
	« 2003 2004 (Nov.) »

2004 The National, the third annual edition of The National Grand Slam curling event was held January 22–25, 2004 at the Prince Albert Communiplex in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. The total purse of the event was $100,000. It was the third of four (men's) PharmAssist Grand Slam events of the 2003-04 curling season.

Glenn Howard, and his rink of Richard Hart, Collin Mitchell and Jason Mitchell from Coldwater, Ontario, won the event, defeating Jeff Stoughton from Winnipeg 5–3. With the win, Team Howard took home $30,000, while Stoughton won $18,000.^[1] Howard stole deuces in the first and fifth ends en route to the victory. Team Stoughton had been undefeated at the event up to that point, including defeating Howard 7–2 in the A final. Going into the event, Howard's foursome was ranked 10th on the World Curling Tour money standings, and Stoughton was ranked second. The number 1 ranked Wayne Middaugh rink lost in the third place game to Kerry Burtnyk.^[2]

Five of the top 13 teams (Kevin Martin, John Morris, Jamie King, Randy Ferbey and Jamie Koe) on the Tour opted to not play in the event, as it conflicted with the playdowns for the Alberta men's championships.^[3]

The event featured a special rule called the "Howard Rule", in which the first four rocks of each end could not be removed, even if they were in the rings.^[3]

Teams

The teams were as follows:^[4]

Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Locale
Greg Balsdon	Adam Spencer	Don Bowser	Robert Dickson	Toronto
Dave Boehmer	Pat Spring	Richard Daneault	Don Harvey	Petersfield, Manitoba
Kerry Burtnyk	Ken Tresoor	Rob Fowler	Keith Fenton	Winnipeg
Glen Despins	Rod Montgomery	Phillip Germain	Dwayne Mihalicz	Regina
Brad Heidt	Arnie Geisler	Mike Jantzen	Steve Laycock	Kerrobert, Saskatchewan
Guy Hemmings	Martin Ferland	Dale Ness	Pierre Charette	Saint-Aimé, Quebec
Glenn Howard	Richard Hart	Collin Mitchell	Jason Mitchell	Coldwater, Ontario
Wes Johnson	Leon Romaniuk	Greg Romaniuk	Tom Violette	Seattle
Bruce Korte	Client Dieno	Roger Korte	Rory Golanowski	Saskatoon
Lee Dong-keun	Park Jae-cheol	Ko Seung-wan	Choi Min-suk	Gyeongbuk, South Korea
Heath McCormick	Brent Laing	Craig Savill	Shaun Harris	Sarnia, Ontario
Wayne Middaugh	Graeme McCarrel	Joe Frans	Scott Bailey	Midland, Ontario
Kevin Park	Shane Park	Scott Park	Kerry Park	Edmonton
Vic Peters	Ryan Fry	Chris Neufeld	Denni Neufeld	Winnipeg
Bryan Derbowka	Gerald Shymko (skip)	Gord Hardy	Steve Sobkow	Calder, Saskatchewan
Jeff Stoughton	Jon Mead	Garry Vandenberghe	Steve Gould	Winnipeg

Draw

The event was a triple knock out.

Playoffs

The playoff scores were as follows:^[5]

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final

Kerry Burtnyk	7

Guy Hemmings	1
		Kerry Burtnyk	4

		Glenn Howard	8
Glenn Howard	10

Brad Heidt	6
				Glenn Howard	5

				Jeff Stoughton	3
Jeff Stoughton	5

Kevin Park	4
		Jeff Stoughton	7	Third place

		Wayne Middaugh	4
Wayne Middaugh	7			Kerry Burtnyk	6

Vic Peters	4			Wayne Middaugh	3

References

^ "Glenn Howard big winner in P.A." Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. January 26, 2004. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
^ "Howard cashes in at National". Regina Leader-Post. January 26, 2004. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
^ ^a ^b "Rural route pleasant trip for Korte". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. January 22, 2004. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
^ "The National -- Teams". CurlingZone.
^ "Grand Slam". Calgary Herald. January 26, 2004. Retrieved 2022-10-09.