Last call for curling glory before Olympics

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/01/2010 (5980 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

IT’S like a tasty appetizer before the main course. And the last thing Kevin Martin and his Olympic squad want is to leave Winnipeg and the BDO Classic Canadian Open this week with a bad case of indigestion.

As Canada’s reps next month at the Winter Olympics, Martin and his Edmonton-based Olympians of John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert will be front and centre this week when the BDO Classic opens Wednesday night at the MTS Centre.

And because the Classic serves as the last major international competition before the Olympics, what Martin & Co. want to take away from this event — aside from a good chunk of the $100,000 purse — is a sense he and his crew have got their game right with the biggest curling event of all now on the horizon.

"I’m not sure the winning part or losing part matters a whole bunch," Martin told a collection of national media on a conference call Monday. "We’d sure like to win, obviously, especially in that building (MTS Centre) because we’ve had so much success there.

"I’d really like to see all four of us play some good games (85-90 shooting percentages) as more of a confidence-builder type of thing before we really start training super-hard for the two weeks prior (to the Olympics).

"I don’t want to see us peak too soon for that, but to play some good solid games would be perfect."

Martin headlines a star-studded Classic Canadian Open field that includes two other Olympic representatives — John Shuster and his American team and Thomas Ulsrud of Norway — along with the usual collection of Canadian heavyweights like Glenn Howard, Brad Gushue, Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Koe, Wayne Middaugh and Randy Ferbey. Aside from Stoughton, the local contingent features Kerry Burtnyk, Mike McEwen and Jason Gunnlaugson.

Martin has admitted to being emotionally spent after winning December’s Olympic Trials in Edmonton. His team didn’t throw rocks again until early in the new year and now hope to get their game right before opening against Ulsrud in Vancouver on Feb. 16.

Using his past Olympic experiences — Martin won silver in Salt Lake in 2002 and finished fourth in 1992 — he and his teammates will arrive in Vancouver on Feb. 8, get set up in the Olympic village and soak up some of the atmosphere and the competitions before their first game.

Martin may be a vet, but his teammates — despite their considerable international experience — will all be rookies on the Olympic stage.

"That’s one part of being older… through these events before — in 1992 I had no idea how to do it and it was clear in the way we played," said Martin. "I just don’t think we were ready for such an event. In ’02, we did pretty well. I think we were ready to win, it’s just that sometimes in sport, you don’t.

"This time I think we’re doing it right.

"When you qualify for something as big as the Olympics, I think the first time it’s almost like you’re in a dream because you can’t believe it’s true. But when you get there and you see it and feel it and you get into that Olympic mode, then you know it’s real."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

BDO Classic Canadian Open

WHAT IS IT? The third leg of the men’s 2009-10 Capital One Grand Slam of Curling series and the last major international event prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

When: Runs Jan. 20-24 at the MTS Centre.

The prize: A $100,000 purse with proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba.

 

Pool A

"ö Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.): Defending BDO Classic Canadian Open champions; ’07 world champs; lost Olympic Trials final to Kevin Martin.

"ö Dale Matchett (Bradford, Ont.); Competing in third Grand Slam event.

"ö Mike McEwen (Winnipeg): Two-time Manitoba Curling Tour champs; WCT rookie team of the year in ’07-08.

"ö John Shuster (Chisholm, Minn.): U.S. 2010 Olympic representative.

"ö Pat Simmons (Davidson, Sask.): Represented Saskatchewan in four consecutive Briers beginning in ’05.

"ö Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg): World champ in ’96; two-time Canadian champ; seven-time Manitoba champ.

 

Pool B

"ö Brad Gushue (St. John’s, NL): Olympic gold medallists, 2006; won first Slam event two weeks ago.

"ö Kevin Martin (Edmonton): Canada’s 2010 Olympic rep; won silver in ’02 in Salt Lake City; world champ in ’08; four-time Brier champ; 10-time Alberta champ.

"ö Jean-Michel Ménard (Quebec City): Canadian champ in 2006; won silver at worlds.

"ö Wayne Middaugh (Etobicoke, Ont.): Won Canadian and world title in ’98; three-time Ontario champ.

"ö Chris Schille (Edmonton): competing in first Grand Slam of Curling event.

"ö Bob Ursel (Kelowna, B.C.): Three-time B.C. champion.

Pool C

"ö Ted Appelman (Edmonton): Competing in third Grand Slam of Curling Event.

"ö Kerry Burtnyk (Winnipeg): world champ in 1995; bronze in 1981; five-time Manitoba champion.

"ö Randy Ferbey (Edmonton): Three-time world champ; four-time Brier champ.

"ö Jason Gunnlaugson (Beausejour): Qualified for Canadian Olympic Curling Trials; competing in second Grand Slam of Curling event.

"ö Kevin Koe (Edmonton): 2007-08 Canada Cup champ; Canadian Olympic Curling Trials participant.

"ö Thomas Ulsrud (Oslo, Norway): Norway’s 2010 Olympic representative.

 

Draw times: Wednesday: 7:30 p.m.; Thursday and Friday: 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m.; 4 p.m., 7:30 p.m.; Saturday: 9:30 a.m. (tiebreakers, if needed); quarter-finals at 2 p.m., semifinals at 6 p.m.; Sunday: final at noon.