Curling’s changing of the guard

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/11/2009 (6102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They are considered Manitoba’s next generation of curlers. Jason Gunnlaugson and Mike McEwen are forever being referred to as the future stars who will one day replace the likes of Jeff Stoughton and Kerry Burtnyk and wear Manitoba’s colours at The Brier and — fingers crossed — represent Canada at the world championships.

But excuse the two young guns if they don’t feel a little like living in the moment right here and right now. And that whole ‘respect-your-elders’ thing gets tossed when the Road to the Roar Olympic Pre-Trials open Tuesday at the CN Centre in Prince George, B.C.

Gunnlaugson’s Beausejour foursome begins the Road to the Roar event against Burtnyk in the opening draw. McEwen and his Assiniboine Memorial squad, seeded fourth, will play the winner Tuesday night. All four Manitoba rinks — including Stoughton, the top seed — are chasing the four available berths remaining for the Olympic Curling Trials next month in Edmonton when Canada’s representatives for Vancouver be be determined.

Hard-throwing

“There’s a huge difference of where the four Manitoba teams are going,” said Gunnlaugson, the hard-throwing 25-year-old. “You see two teams (his and McEwen’s) that are building and while they have a pretty decent shot this time around they are trying to prime themselves to be the favourites in five years (at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia).

“The other more-veteran guys have the experience to maybe give them the edge this time around, but they might not be around in four or five years. It creates a lot of pressure on the more-veteran skips and I think it’ll be an interesting situation as to how the young teams deal with that.

“We have a lot less pressure than some of the more-veteran teams,” Gunnlaugson added. “There will be nerves, but that’s what we deal with and we work awfully hard on that aspect of the game, so I expect that to be not too much of a problem.”

Gunnlaugson is the 12th seed among the 12 teams competing to join Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard, Kevin Koe and Randy Ferbey in Edmonton. No Manitoba women’s teams qualified for Prince George, but Jennifer Jones and her St. Vital rink already have their tickets punched for the Oly Trials next month.

Stoughton will hit the ice for the first time Tuesday night against the winner of the Ted Appelman-Bob Ursel game that is part of the opening draw.

“The expectations we have as a team are to be in Edmonton,” said McEwen. “It would be a pretty big disappointment if we’re not in the Trials. Regardless of whether I say we’re going to play fearless or not, we’re definitely going to have that in the back of our mind.

“We’ve progressively shown that we’re getting better and better and we’re definitely capable of winning the whole thing this year. It’s not that far out of reach. If you look at the past (Olympic Trials) winners, two of the three times it was very much a darkhorse (Mike Harris in 1998, Brad Gushue in 2006) with Kevin Martin in 2002 the exception).

“We might be in the same category as them.”

The Road to the Roar is a triple-knockout format with winners of the A, B and two C finals qualifying for the Olympic Trials. TSN will provide live coverage of the women’s and men’s A finals on Thursday, the B finals on Friday and the four C finals on Saturday, Nov. 14. Curltv (www.curltv.com) will also offer its subscribers live coverage of each draw.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

The Road to the Roar

A brief scouting report of the four Manitoba rinks participating in the Road to the Roar in Prince George, B.C. Nov. 10-14:

TEAM STOUGHTON, NO. 1 SEED

Home club: Charleswood Curling Club

The squad: Skip: Jeff Stoughton; third: Kevin Park; second: Rob Fowler; Lead: Steve Gould.

World Curling Tour ’09-10 winnings: $15,000.

WCT ranking: 15th

WCT record: 13-6

Notable: Won Manitoba Lotteries Curling Classic in Brandon in mid-October; lost to Jason Gunnlaugson in semifinal of the Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic in Portage in late October; missed playoffs in Cactus Pheasant Classic In Brooks, Alta. last weekend.

TEAM McEWEN, NO. 4 SEED

Home club: Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club

The squad: Skip: Mike McEwen; third: B.J. Neufeld; second: Matt Wozniak; lead: Denni Neufeld.

World Curling Tour ’09-10 winnings: $17,255.

WCT ranking: 12th.

WCT record: 18-12.

Notable: Lost in quarter-final of Radisson SAS Oslo Cup in Norway in September and the Twin Anchors Invitational; lost in first round of playoffs at Westcoast Curling Classic; missed playoffs at Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic; lost to eventual champion Glenn Howard in semis of Cactus Pheasant Classic.

TEAM BURTNYK, NO. 5 SEED

Home club: Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club

The squad: Skip: Kerry Burtnyk; third: Don Walchuk; second: Richard Daneault; lead: Garth Smith.

World Curling Tour ’09-10 winnings: $22,750

WCT ranking: 7th.

WCT record: 19-11

Notable: Lost in semifinal of the Twin Anchors Invitational in Vernon, B.C. in Oct; won Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic; missed playoffs in Cactus Pheasant Classic.

TEAM GUNNLAUGSON, NO. 12 SEED

Home club: Beausejour Curling Club

The squad: Skip: Jason Gunnlaugson; third: Justin Richter: second: Braden Zawada; lead: Tyler Forrest.

World Curling Tour ’09-10 winnings: $21,150.

WCT ranking: 9th.

WCT record: 21-12

Notable: Lost in quarter-final of Shorty Jenkins Classic, Manitoba Lotteries Men’s Curling Classic and Cactus Pheasant Classic; runners-up in the Meyers Norris Penny Prairie Classic