Sep 6, 2018
Canadian men’s rinks reload, revamp to stay competitive on world stage
The best curlers in the world have returned to the starting line as another four-year marathon to Olympic glory begins this season. And Year 1 of the quadrennial will be an interesting one, to say the least.
The best curlers in the world have returned to the starting line as another four-year marathon to Olympic glory begins this season.
Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg and John Shuster of the United States are probably still on the highest of highs after years of determination and practice paid off when they captured gold in their respective events in Pyeongchang, South Korea, last winter. But now everyone’s back at square one driven by that mental image of standing atop the podium at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. The life-changing and daunting goal is something every top curler will now strive to accomplish.
And Year 1 of the quadrennial will be an interesting one, to say the least.
Let’s look at the plethora of new-look rinks and some major storylines for the 2018-19 season with TSN.ca’s men’s curling preview.
New Teams
After every Olympic cycle it’s common for roster movement to occur in attempts to find the perfect foursome.
However, this summer was a whole different story.
Aside from the rinks led by Brad Gushue and Rachel Homan, it seems almost every elite level squad will look vastly different in 2018-19.
Here are some of the most notable shakeups on the men’s side.
Team Kevin Koe (Calgary, Alberta)
Skip: Kevin Koe Third: B.J. Neufeld Second: Colton Flash Lead: Ben Hebert
It was a bittersweet ending for Kevin Koe and company last season.
The 43-year-old native of Yellowknife won the biggest event of his career in December at the Roar of the Rings Olympic trials in the nation’s capital. Koe and his team were the favourites at the Olympics as well, but some untimely poor play and two losses against a team of destiny in Team Shuster resulted in Team Koe coming home empty-handed.
Shortly after the disappointment in South Korea, veteran third Marc Kennedy announced he would be taking a break from curling. A few weeks later, second Brent Laing made the decision to return to Ontario. With the foursome cut down the middle, Koe and lead Ben Hebert needed to get creative and they did just that by picking up third B.J. Neufeld from the disbanded Mike McEwen rink as well as Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch, who skipped his own team last season, to play second. Flasch has moved to Calgary while Neufeld will be the lone out-of-province curler.
Neufeld and Flasch may not have the same curling credentials (neither have been part of a Brier-winning team) as Kennedy and Laing, but they’ve still played in numerous national championships and should have no trouble fitting in.
Like any new group, finding their chemistry might take a little time. But with a sharpshooting skip and maybe the best sweeper in the game on their side, Team Koe should remain in the upper echelon of curling.
Team Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Skip: Reid Carruthers Fourth: Mike McEwen Second: Derek Samagalski Lead: Colin Hodgson
This might be the most intriguing team to watch out for in men’s curling this season.
After years of going head-to-head in the curling rich province of Manitoba, Reid Carruthers and McEwen are joining forces.
McEwen has skipped his own squad out of Winnipeg for more than a decade with the highlight coming at last year’s Olympic trials final where he lost a close one to Koe. It was time for one of the longest tenured teams in the sport to part ways and the 38-year-old didn’t have to look far to find his new home.
McEwen joins provincial rival Carruthers, two skips who have battled in three of the past four Manitoba finals. Carruthers, 33, won a Brier and world championship with Jeff Stoughton in 2011, but hasn’t reached the same level as a skipper.
Carruthers will continue to call the game while McEwen will throw last stones as a fourth.
With the addition of one of the best shot makers in the game, Carruthers and his revamped rink form the best team on paper in the prairie province and will be legitimate Brier contenders for the foreseeable future.
It wouldn’t be crazy to consider them as early gold-medal favourites for 2022, either.
Team John Epping (Toronto, Ontario)
Skip: John Epping Third: Matt Camm Second: Brent Laing Lead: Craig Savill
Ontario’s John Epping added two of the most popular front-end players in the history of the sport this off-season.
Second Brent Laing and lead Craig Savill, who won two Briers and two world championships with Glenn Howard in 2012 and 2017, joined Epping’s team as replacements for Tim March and Patrick Janssen.
Laing, 39, is coming off a four-year stint with Koe out West while Savill, who turns 40 next month, is making his return to full-time curling after a cancer diagnosis in 2015.
Epping is looking to keep the momentum going after having the best season of his career in 2017-18, finishing third in his first Canadian championship. He gets even better with this veteran duo. This squad will be the team to beat in Ontario and should easily become crowd favourites.
Jim Cotter (Vernon, British Columbia)
Skip: Jim Cotter Third: Steve Laycock Second: Tyrel Griffith Lead: Rick Sawatsky
Like McEwen, veteran Steve Laycock is relinquishing his skip duties to have a better chance at winning.
After 15 years of curling out of Saskatchewan (seven as a skip), Laycock, 35, is moving out West to British Columbia to play vice for Jim Cotter. Former vice John Morris is taking a break from traditional curling. However, you might still see him curl with Olympic gold-medal winning teammate Kaitlyn Lawes in the mixed doubles discipline.
It’s hard to predict at this point whether skips that join forces to form so-called “super teams” will be successful, but the Cotter-Laycock tandem should keep things interesting on the West Coast. There’s a good chance you’ll see them at the Brier in Brandon, too.
Matt Dunstone (Regina, Saskatchewan)
Skip: Matt Dunstone Third: Braeden Moskowy Second: Catlin Schneider Lead: Dustin Kidby
Two-time Canadian junior champ Matt Dunstone is going back to his roots.
After playing for Laycock last winter, the 23-year-old is returning as the main man in charge of his new Regina-based rink.
Dunstone brings along Braeden Moskowy, a former Canadian junior champ himself, to play third. Moskowy, 28, played most of last season on a broken ankle with Team Carruthers and should be 100 per cent healthy for the new campaign.
A Saskatchewan rink hasn’t won the Brier since Saskatoon’s Rick Folk accomplished the feat in 1980. Team Dunstone may have the best chance of ending the 38-year drought as they appear to be the best in the prairie province heading into the season.
Jason Gunnlaugson (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
Skip: Jason Gunnlaugson Third: Alex Forrest Second: Denni Neufeld Lead: Connor Njegovan
Jason Gunnlaugson fell to Team McEwen in the inaugural wild-card game at the Canadian championship last season. They’re hoping the addition of former McEwen second Denni Neufeld will get them over the hump, but nothing comes easy in Manitoba.
Kirk Muyres (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Skip: Kirk Muyres Third: Kevin Marsh Second: Dan Marsh Lead: Dallas Muyres
Two sets of brothers came together to form an interesting new foursome that will compete out of Saskatchewan this season. The Muyres brothers previously played with Laycock while the Marsh brothers were members of Team Flasch.
Glenn Howard (Penetanguishene, Ontario)
Skip: Glenn Howard Third: Scott Howard Second: David Mathers Lead: Tim March
Glenn Howard will get to talk strategy with his son Scott in what could be the curling legend’s final season of his career. Scott has played lead for his father the past two seasons, but with “super spare” Adam Spencer taking a step back, the 28-year-old gets the call to play vice. Howard, a four-time Brier and world champion, will likely need to upset Epping and a couple former teammates at the Ontario provincials to qualify for an 18th – and possible final – Canadian championship.
For a full list of all the curling roster changes this off-season, click HERE.
Major Storylines
New World Order
Things are changing drastically on the international curling landscape as Canada is being challenged more than ever.
Koe and Homan both failed to take home a medal of any colour at the Olympics last winter, marking the first time Canada fell short of the podium in men’s and women’s events since curling become a regular Olympic sport in 1998 in Nagano.
And when you look at the talent out there, it’s easy to see why Canadian rinks have their hands full.
On the men’s side, Shuster and the Americans shocked the world last season, to put it mildly.
It may have been the 35-year-old’s fourth Olympic Games, but nobody was giving his squad a chance at winning gold – until they did. And they did so by taking out some talented foes in Team Koe in the semis and Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin in the final.
After the shocking victory in South Korea, the foursome of Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton and John Landsteiner become national stars in a way no American curler has ever came close to before. There were late night show appearances, an ESPYs award nomination and even an invite to the White House.
So, now what?
Well, for starters Team Shuster is going to have a little different look in 2018-19 as Chris Plys has replaced George at third. They’ll look to get back to the world championship and keep this crazy ride going for as long as possible.
But Shuster’s squad is hardly the tip of the iceberg when it comes to international rinks that cause problems for Canada.
Team Edin has been around for years and is still considered by many as the best in the business.
Then there’s 28-year-old Peter De Cruz of Switzerland who won Olympic bronze and his first Grand Slam event last year. De Cruz will look to build on that this season with a new third in Sven Michel, who skipped his own rink at the 2014 Olympics.
Maybe the rink with the highest potential is Team Bruce Mouat. Last year, the 24-year-old skip led his Scottish rink to five victories on the WCT, including the National on the Grand Slam circuit, plus a bronze medal at worlds. This could be the start of something special for the 2016 world junior champ. With an average age of just 24, the Team Mouat rink is primed for success.
All these talented rinks will get the chance to compete head-to-head around the world with the introduction of the Curling World Cup presented by the World Curling Federation. The four-leg international series will see men’s, women’s and mixed doubles teams battling it out throughout the year as representatives for their countries.
Here’s how the schedule breaks down.
Suzhou, China - September 12-16
Team Canada
Women’s - Rachel Homan
Men’s - Kevin Koe
Mixed Doubles - Kirk Muyres and Laura Walker
Omaha, United States: December 5-9
Jonkoping, Sweden: January 30-February 3
Beijing, China: May 8-12
The Dominance of Brad Gushue
Basically, the only thing that has stayed the same in Canadian curling is the team makeup of the top dogs.
Two-time defending national champion Brad Gushue and his rink from Newfoundland and Labrador made it clear before the end of the season that they would be sticking together for another Olympic cycle.
With a pair of Brier championships, a world title, numerous Grand Slam victories and an astronomical 265-62 record over the past three campaigns, Team Gushue is showing no signs of slowing down and should be the team to beat once again in 2018-19.
Despite all the success, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Gushue clan is seeking redemption on some level heading into this season after tough losses last year to Team McEwen in the Olympic trials semi-final and to Team Edin in the world final in Las Vegas.
At 38, the St. John’s skip is one of the most accomplished curlers ever with Brier, world and Olympic championships to his name. It’s hard to believe Gushue is satisfied to stop there.
Another Kick at the Can
Brad Jacobs’ rink captured gold at the 2014 Olympics and looked destined to keep the good times rolling in Northern Ontario.
Despite good performances on the WCT, Team Jacobs hasn’t been able to add a second Canadian championship during the past four years and had a disappointing showing at the 2017 Olympic trials where they finished 3-5 and out of the playoffs.
Some thought the end was imminent for the former Olympic champions. With so many roster changes happening, maybe it was time for Team Jacobs to part ways?
That’s not the case as the boys from Sault Ste. Marie are sticking together for a seventh consecutive campaign.
We know that when they shift into high gear Team Jacobs is one of the best rinks in the game. Let’s see if they can get there again.
Shakeup in the Prairies
More off-season roster changes were made in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – prairie provinces that have dominated curling in this country for years – than anywhere else in Canada.
Over the 89-year history of the Brier, a team from the prairies has won the national title 61 times (27 from Alberta, 27 from Manitoba and seven from Saskatchewan). A 69 per cent clip isn’t too shabby and with the new teams that have formed over the past few months that number might be increasing.
Koe (AB), Carruthers (MB) and Dunstone (SK) could be the best candidates to represent their respective provinces at the Brier in Brandon with all having a real shot at the final four.
The Next Generation
The big names will remain the big names in men’s curling this season, but 2018-19 also sees a slew of young rinks attempting to make some noise.
A team led by either Alberta’s Brandon Bottcher (2012), Saskatchewan’s Dunstone (2013, 2016), Manitoba’s Braden Calvert (2014, 2015) or British Columbia’s Tyler Tardi (2017, 2018) has captured gold at the Canadian junior championship during the past seven years and each will skip in the pros this campaign.
At 26, Bottcher is the most prepared to contend at major events, especially after his team from Edmonton appeared in the Brier final in Regina last year. It will be a harder road through Alberta this season, however, as Team Koe returns to compete in provincials following their Olympic duties in Pyeongchang.
Not far behind is Dunstone. He already has big event experience and is more equipped to compete in his second attempt as a pro skipper with Regina native Moskowy throwing vice stones.
Calvert, who already won the season-opening Icebreaker at The Granite by beating Olympic gold medalists Team Shuster in the final, captured back-to-back Canadian junior titles in 2014 and 2015. The 23-year-old added a new front duo of second Ian McMillan and lead Rob Gordon in the off-season. It might be too early to consider Calvert and his team as provincial contenders but seeing them do well on tour and maybe a couple Grand Slam appearances seems realistic.
Tardi, 20, is the youngest and will be making his debut in prime-time curling after winning the past two national junior championships as well as the most recent world junior championship in Scotland. Unlike other provinces, British Columbia might be up for grabs for a young skip like Tardi. The new-look Cotter rink will be tough, but after that B.C. is wide open. Is there a chance Tardi’s foursome gets to Brandon for the Brier? We shall see.
Finally, don’t count out Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan. The 20-year-old was so close to representing Northern Ontario at the Brier last year until his team blew a 5-2 seventh end lead to Team Jacobs in the provincial final. Team Horgan added former skip Mark Kean, who went 5-6 at the 2015 Brier, to play third. This addition should give Jacobs and company a challenge in the north.