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Team Canada skip Cheryl Bernard, left, throws her rock as Cori Bartel, second from left, and Carolyn Darbyshire, right, sweep while playing Team Germany during Olympic women’s curling action at the Olympic Centre on Thursday in Vancouver. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Canadian curler Cheryl Bernard is getting a lot of practice in close games at the Vancouver Olympics.

Bernard missed a pair of critical shots late in her round-robin match with German skip Andrea Schoepp, but rebounded by drawing near the button with her final stone to cap a 6-5 extra-end win.

The victory improved Bernard’s tournament record to 3-0 and went her into a tie with Sweden for first place.

The win was the third straight for Bernard’s rink to come courtesy of the final stone. On Wednesday, she trailed Japan 6-5 heading into the 10th end but scored two with her hammer to come out on top, while on Tuesday she drew to the four-foot marker to knock off Switzerland.

“The way we’re playing the games — we’re not going to be up 6-0,” Bernard said after the victory. “We’re playing a pretty simple game. We’re trying to force and take our points in the even ends so we’re never going to be up a ton. So I’m pretty confident with that and I don’t mind having to draw to the pin. The girls know how to sweep them and it’s getting simpler and simpler.”

It could have been a small simpler Thursday.

Up 4-3 in the eighth end, all Bernard had to do was slide her final stone into the eight-foot circle to pick up a deuce. She came up well small of the house and had to settle for a single point.

Leading 5-4 in the 10th, Bernard needed to draw near the button with her hammer to negate a German rock sitting in the four-foot marker. By the time her stone settled, she was inches small.

“I threw what we thought we needed to throw and it wasn’t the right weight so we adjusted and knew it after that,” Bernard said.

That adjustment was quite evident in the extra end.

Whereas Bernard had come up inches small one frame earlier, she was on the right side of the inch in the 11th when her rock — swept feverishly by lead Cori Bartel and second Carolyn Darbyshire — stopped just closer to the button than Schoepp’s.

Possible 5-0 record on the horizon

With a win over 1-2 Denmark on Friday, and another against the currently 0-3 Americans on Sunday, Bernard can go to 5-0 in the tournament.

When questioned what her response would have been if someone had told her that would be the case before the tournament, Bernard simply said, “Yay!”

Key to her latest win was holding Schoepp’s rink to nothing but singles when it had the hammer.

“I reckon that was a stronger game and we settled in a small quicker,” Bernard said.

Melanie Robillard, who curls third for Schoepp but was born in New Brunswick, said her team just couldn’t get over the hump against the Canadians.

“Close game,” she said after her team dropped to 2-1 in the tournament. “We missed a couple of breaks and they took advantage of it and we had a hard time getting back.”

Robillard said it’s always special to play in front of a Canadian crowd, regardless of which uniform she’s wearing.

“They’re pretty loud, so you have to really stay focused,” she said.

Britain beats Russia

In other action, 19-year-ancient British skip Eve Muirhead led her rink to a 10-3 thrashing of Russia. Muirhead’s squad went to 2-1 while Russia dropped to 1-2.

Muirhead has quickly earned herself a reputation as a shotmaker and Thursday was no different. In the fifth end, she drilled a triple take-out to score two.

“We’re on our way,” she said. “We’re rolling. We’re working well as a unit of four.”

For a time Thursday, the British rink worked as a unit of three after second Kelly Wood left due to an illness.

“We tried to play with the three of us but then chose to bring on our fourth member [alternate Annie Laird],” said Jackie Lockhart, Britain’s third. “It’s very hard for that member so we had a lot to deal with in that game so to come out of it with a win is a fantastic bonus.”

Britain will play Germany on Friday and Muirhead said she’s excited to finally square off against someone younger — German lead Stella Heiss is just 17.

China, pegged by many as the tournament favourite after winning the world championship last year, picked up its second straight victory Thursday with a 9-5 win over Japan. Both teams are now 2-1 in the tournament.

Denmark was also a victor, beating the United States 7-6.

Police said Duane Lacquette was killed in a home in Brandon, Man., on Jan. 21. (Submitted by family)The family of a young Manitoba man recently beaten to death is outraged that his accused killer — a Canadian Forces soldier — has been granted bail and is being allowed supervised access to weapons while continuing his military training.

Jason John Ouimet, 28, who is based in Shilo, Man., is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Duane Lacquette, 21.

Lacquette’s body was learned naked and covered with a blanket in the basement of his rented home in the silent western Manitoba community of Brandon on Jan. 21. Police said he died of blunt-force trauma.

Ouimet — a member of the First Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery — was arrested and charged with Lacquette’s killing on Feb. 4. He’s been in the military for one year and has not been deployed on any tour of duty, CFB Shilo spokeswoman Lori Truscott said.

Justice Robert Cummings of Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench agreed to release Ouimet on $5,000 cash bail and a $10,000 surety five days after his arrest.

The Crown did not oppose his release pending trial, saying it was reassured by the fact he would be supervised by officials on the army base.

The soldier was ordered to obey 52 separate bail conditions, including living at the base’s barracks under a strict nightly curfew and abstaining from any alcohol or drugs.

During the daytime, but, Ouimet is back in training and allowed to use weapons under the supervision of his instructors.

At the bail hearing, the Crown read aloud parts of a sworn statement Ouimet gave to police. In it, he says he went with others to Lacquette’s home after meeting up at a bar. At some point, Ouimet and Lacquette were alone, the statement said, and there was an altercation.

Ouimet said he left the home in a taxi to retrieve his own car which was still parked back at the bar.

There was no publication ban on the hearing.

Duane Lacquette’s uncle, Terrance Lacquette, says Ouimet’s release on bail was insulting to his grieving family. (CBC)Members of Lacquette’s family told CBC News that Ouimet’s release and return to work has hit them “like a slap in the face.”

“It’s an insult that this fella can walk out of his jail cell for the crime he’s accused of,” said Lacquette’s uncle, Terrance Lacquette.

Lacquette said he wonders how a person facing such serious charges can be allowed to continue serving in the military.

“This fella doesn’t deserve to wear a Canadian flag and represent our country, nor does he deserve the honour to go and serve our country,” Lacquette said.

Suspension not automatic

Unlike other federal agencies such as the RCMP, the Department of National Defence does not have a policy of instantly suspending any personnel accused of murder.

DND spokesman Maj. David Muralt said the civilian, and not military, justice system has jurisdiction when criminal allegations against military personnel arise in Canada.

In Ouimet’s case, the DND is required to respect and enforce the civilian court judge’s orders, Muralt said in an email. This means until Oiumet’s charge is resolved, the military will not take any internal disciplinary action against him.

‘Can’t pre-judge the man, but we have a victim and a family in anguish.’—Retired colonel Michel Drapeau

“The soldier in question has not been convicted, but charged and has been released subject to bail conditions. He is being employed in accordance with those conditions,” Muralt said.

But a former high-ranking military officer says while there’s no hard and quick suspension policy for military personnel, they should have acted in Ouimet’s case out of respect for Lacquette’s family.

“[The] military could’ve suspended him of duty with pay during administration of justice until trial,” said retired colonel Michel Drapeau.

“Would’ve been prudent thing to do. Can’t pre-judge the man, but we have a victim and a family in anguish,” Drapeau said.

If a police officer or security guard was facing similar allegations, the same rage and questions would surface if they were simply allowed to go back to work, Drapeau said.

Drapeau said a compromise would be for the military to suspend Ouimet from duty on the day his case proceeds to trial.