Peters, Neufeld tapped for Hall of Fame

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This article was published 10/01/2020 (1958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Vic Peters, one of the greatest curlers in Manitoba history and his longtime second Chris Neufeld, both Steinbach natives who honed their games at the Steinbach Curling Club, will be inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame in May.

Peters, who passed away from cancer in March of 2016, was known as one of the Big Three in Manitoba curling in the 1990’s along with Kerry Burtnyk and Jeff Stoughton as they rose to prominence as three of the best curlers in the world.

Peters and Neufeld were previously inducted into the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame in 2005 as part of the Peters’ teams from 1992 and 1993, which also included Dan Carey and Don Rudd.

Although both Peters and Neufeld left Steinbach when they were in their early 20’s, there were a legion of Steinbach fans that followed them on their curling exploits across the nation.

Simply put Vic Peters was arguably the most popular curler this province has ever seen as curling fans were drawn to him because of his engaging, and humble personality.

Peters went on to play in 21 Labatt Tankard and Safeway provincial championships, including two of them which were held here in Steinbach as local fans came out in droves to see him compete. In all he played 133 games at the men’s provincial championships, winning 92 of them, which ranks fourth all-time in Manitoba history.

Peters lost three Manitoba curling finals – in 1984, 1987 and 1988 – before finally winning his first Manitoba title in 1992, as he burst onto the national curling stage with a storm.

Now supported by Dan Carey, Chris Neufeld and Don Rudd, Peters and company went on to win the Brier in 1992 in Regina, defeating Russ Howard in an extra end in the final.

Peters would go on to win three Manitoba titles, finishing first in the round robin in all three including 1993 in Ottawa and 1997 in Calgary where he lost to Kevin Martin in the final in what was considered one the greatest Briers ever held. Peters went 11-0 in the round robin before losing to Martin in the final.

At that 1997 Brier, Vic Peters was also named all-star skip and was the recipient of the Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award.

Peters and Chris Neufeld also teamed up to win the Manitoba Senior Men’s title in 2008.

Neufeld joined the Peters team for the 1987 season and it is no coincidence that is when the most successes came as Neufeld was regarded as one of the best seconds in the game as he was instrumental in helping the team win those three Manitoba titles, a Brier championship and a subsequent bronze medal at the World Championships in Germany.

In recent years, following the completion of his playing career, Chris Neufeld turned to coaching, most notably he coached his sons BJ and Denni and the Mike McEwen team at six provincials and two Briers as the McEwen team, in turn, became one of the top teams in the world.

Asked what would be one highlight of his storied career with the Vic Peters team, Neufeld said, “winning the Brier, beating Russ Howard in the final.”

Neufeld acknowledges his curling success wouldn’t have been possible without Vic Peters. “We were able to communicate, he was able to motivate me, he gave me a chance when he asked me to curl with him.”

“I think often about Vic,” said Neufeld after the Hall of Fame announcement was made on Monday, “what I learned from him over the years, some of that I have passed along in coaching my son’s teams.”

Other inductees at the May 3 Hall of Fame banquet will include the 2011 Jeff Stoughton World Championship Team, among others, and in the builder category will be Resby Coutts, who has had a 50-year career as curling volunteer, competitor and administrator.