Like father, like son for Martins at Brier

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This article was published 05/03/2017 (3106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — One would think the six letters printed across his back create a heaviness that, at times, might be tough for a young guy to bear.

Not so for Karrick Martin.

The eldest son of legendary Edmonton curler Kevin Martin says he feels no added pressure competing at his first Brier — a championship his father won four times.

“For me, it’s great. He was one of the greatest curlers of all time. He helps me a lot,” said the 27-year-old lead for Team Alberta at the national men’s curling championship. “But now I’ve just got to keep working hard and try to get better. It’s nice to have the name but it doesn’t change anything for me.

“It’s a hard game either way.”

Karrick, who served as fifth player for his dad’s team at the 2013 Brier in their hometown of Edmonton, is joined on the Alberta team by skip Brendan Bottcher, third Darren Moulding and second Bradley Thiessen.

Kevin, now 50 and retired from competitive play, coaches the Bottcher foursome and works as a commentator on Sportsnet. He was actually in the broadcast booth during the provincials when his son’s team edged Ted Appelman in an all-Edmonton final in mid-February in Westlock, Alta.

Karrick was just a toddler and was bundled up and taken from club to club by Kevin and his wife, Shauna, when his dad starting racking up purple hearts in the early 1990s.

The Old Bear, as he’s been nicknamed, would go on to a hall-of-fame career on the pebbled ice, capturing 12 Alberta championships, four Canadian titles, a 2008 world crown and two Olympic medals, including gold in Vancouver in 2010.

With success came celebrity status, something that became routine for Karrick and his sisters, Kalycia, 24, and Mykaela, 15,

“For me, he’s just dad. But for a lot of people, it’s different,” he said. “You still can’t go to a restaurant or mall with him without people saying hi or taking pictures and getting autographs. But that’s how my life has been with him, so it’s pretty normal for me.”

Karrick rarely curled while growing up, sticking to the hockey ice instead. He was a forward in AAA midget in Edmonton and then played a few seasons with the Beaumont Chiefs of the Capital Junior B Hockey League while attending the University of Alberta.

In school, he stepped back into the hack, hooking up with Bottcher, Thiessen and Mick Lizmore, and the team won the 2012 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championship and a bronze medal at the 2013 Winter Universiade in Trentino, Italy.

“That’s where the transition away from hockey started,” said Karrick. “We were having a lot of success.”

Kevin figures his six-foot-three, 200-pound son turned to curling at his own pace.

“It was a bit of a surprise for us to see him take curling to heart like this; we didn’t expect that,” the senior Martin said. “I don’t think (being Kevin Martin’s son) bothers him. I don’t think it ever has. It may have been why he didn’t look at curling at a young age, maybe. But he’s pretty solid; his mind, his confidence, is pretty solid.

“As an athlete, he’s tenacious. Darren (Moulding) at the last practice says, ‘Man, this guy doesn’t like to lose.’ His mom doesn’t like to lose and I might be worse, so that’s probably his best asset. Plus. he works really hard and he’s a good teammate.”

Stationed behind the sheet during games, Kevin watches intently and offers plenty of words of encouragement, but won’t go overboard with advice as the team struggles to find its way after three straight defeats to start the nine-day event.

“Just being here, experiencing it, that’s how you learn,” he said. “The skip is 25. He’s the youngest here. He’s got years and years to go. There’s so much learning to do at Briers. It’s not just shooting; it’s between the ears. It’s so tough.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell