In the latest curling playdowns at the Whitehorse Curling Club, it was skip Pat Paslawski who again emerged victorious.

But his latest win didn't come without a few white-knuckle moments.

Paslawski, alongside third Doug Hamilton, second Trent Derkatch, and lead Gary Brown, won the Whitehorse Curling Club's Dominion Club Championships over the weekend.

The group will now head to the territorial playdowns in Atlin, B.C., March 20 to 23 to attempt to become Team Yukon for the second straight year at the national club curling championships.

They will need to beat Atlin skipper Skip Hale to do so, however.

The 2014 Dominion Club Curling Championships will be hosted by the Mayflower Curling Club in Halifax, N.S., Nov. 24 to 29.

Laura Eby's rink was the only Whitehorse team to register for the women's playdowns, and earned an automatic berth in the territorial championship in Atlin.

Eby's teammates include third Deb Enoch, second Janine Peters, and lead Lorna Spenner. The Whitehorse rink's opponent in Atlin will be skip Sherry MacInnis.

Both Yukon teams qualified for the playoffs at last year's national championship for the first time in tournament history.

On Sunday, Paslawski met Ray Mikkelsen's rink in the final round-robin game. The two teams entered with identical 3-1 records, turning their game into a title showdown.

Up one heading into the final eighth end, Paslawski's fate rested in Mikkelsen's hammer shot, which he ultimately missed.

Paslawski would steal for one, winning the match 8-6, and finish first in the pool with a 4-1 record.

"We don't expect to win, and maybe that's part of what's helping us,” Paslawski told the Star.

"There's lots of good teams out there. I felt like any of the teams that we played against could and would beat us on a normal day.

"We're all closely matched, but for some reason, we don't get uptight. We relax and we stay loose while we're out there and that seems to help us.”

Mikkelsen, who was curling with third Wade Scoffin, second Scott Williamson and lead Darrin Fredrickson, won the Yukon Dominions title two years ago.

"We didn't play very good through the first four or five ends, but we took control of the game from then on,” Mikkelsen explained. "He got one in the seventh so we were coming home with hammer down one.”

Mikkelsen's strategy to keep the sheet clean in the final end failed, resulting in plenty of rocks in play – Paslawski's forte.

"He made a really, really nice shot to come around and draw to the back of the four-foot,” Mikkelsen said. "I had a double angle raise to knock his off for the win, but I missed it by about a quarter of an inch.”

Mikkelsen, Walter Wallingham and Jim Sias each finished with 3-2 records, while Dustin Mikkelsen and Darol Stuart tied with records of 1-4.

In the territory's recent Brier playdowns held in Whitehorse, Paslawski's rink finished second to Yellowknife's Jamie Koe, who is currently ranked ninth at the Brier in Kamloops, B.C., with a 3-5 record.

The Yukon will have a presence at next year's Brier – at least in the regulation round prior to the main draw – as the Canadian men's curling championship swells to a 15-rink field that will be whittled down to the usual 12 following a pre-tournament playdown between the four bottom-ranked teams.

However, due to Dominion eligibility concerns for rinks that qualify for a Brier, Paslawski said his team decided this week to keep its focus on the club championships.

"We've already decided that next year will be a Dominion year,” said Paslawski. "It took a lot of discussion to get there.

There's huge prestige in going to the Brier.

"But I was at the Brier in 1999,” he added. "It's the show. It's an amazing life experience, but it's not a ton of fun. On the other hand, you go to the Dominion, and that's where we belong. We can be competitive there, and it's just an absolute riot.”

Teams of four that qualify for the Brier or Scotties will remain ineligible for the Dominions for the next four years.

Individual curlers may compete with other teammates, however.

Ray Mikkelsen said he will reunite with his son, Dustin, to compete for the Yukon's Brier position next year.