Ontario curling icon Howard honoured to wear Buffalo jacket

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This article was published 21/02/2023 (977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KAMLOOPS — After decades of battling the biggest names in Manitoba men’s curling — Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Stoughton, Mike McEwen, and Reid Carruthers, just to name a few — Glenn Howard never, ever imagined that he would one day wear a Buffalo jacket.

He’s now learned to never say never.

The 60-year-old curling icon from Ontario is in Kamloops this week for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts to coach Team Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones.

“It’s funny, it didn’t hit me until I was flying here, and I got to thinking ‘I got to put a Manitoba jacket on with the Buffalo. Are you kidding me right now?’ I used to despise that jacket because they were so damn good,” Howard told the Free Press moments after Jones improved to 5-1 after beating Yukon 10-5 in Tuesday afternoon’s draw.

“But this is really cool. It’s an honour to have the Buffalo on from what it’s meant to me over the years playing against great teams, and then, of course, the great Jennifer Jones, obviously. Being a part of the team with the girls is surreal.”

The four-time world champion was asked to join the fold back in the fall when former head coach Viktor Kjell stepped down to accept a national coaching position with the Swiss Curling Association.

Howard previously coached Scotland’s Eve Muirhead for three years, which included a fourth-place finish at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

“When you get the GOAT (greatest of all time) giving you the call to coach, how do you say no?” said Howard.

Howard is one of many notable names coaching at the Canadian women’s curling championships. Niklas Edin (B.C.), Joan McCusker (Wild Card no. 2 Casey Scheidegger), Reid Carruthers (Canada), Ryan Fry (Ontario), Pat Simmons (Saskatchewan) and Lisa Weagle (Wild Card no. 1 Kaitlyn Lawes) are also sharing their expertise at the 18-team event.

“The role has really changed. Back in my day, I didn’t have a coach. The coaches we ended up having were more like team managers,” said Howard.

“I love the fact that it’s a brain drain of sorts that you’re getting a lot of experienced people who have been around the game, in the game, have been successful in the game, who are being brought back to use that experience and pass it on to the new teams coming up. Just because you’re a good curler doesn’t mean you’re a good coach and I totally understand that. I’ve learned already what I hope it takes to be a good coach. You read up on it, you do your research, but experience in this game comes a long way.”

With 19 trips to the Brier, Howard could fill an entire storage locker with his Ontario jackets, but he’s only kept four from the years that he won (1987, 1993, 2007, and 2012). If Jones wins this week, Howard plans to add his new brown and gold uniform to his collection.

“That would be a new one. A Scotties one would be really cool, absolutely. I would definitely keep it,” he said.

Yukon’s Hailey Birnie — who had the upset of the tournament so far by knocking off Scheidegger 10-3 on Monday — is under the tutelage of a former Winnipegger in Gordon Moffatt. Moffatt, 75, grew up a block away from the Wildewood Curling Club in Fort Garry. Moffatt lived and coached in Swan River for 14 years before accepting a job in Whitehorse in 1989 and he’s been there ever since.

Monday’s win was Yukon’s first since 2019. The territory had a 2-36 all-time record at the Scotties heading into this year.

“I think I got about 30 texts and the girls probably got 100 each,” said Moffatt. “The fans are always happy to see an underdog perform like they can and they did. (Monday) was a wonderful day for us.”

In 30-plus years in the community, Moffatt has coached Yukon at the Brier, Scotties, Canada Winter Games, and junior national championships.

He was inducted into the Yukon Sports Hall of Fame in 2021.

“I have a very tolerant wife (Gwen). We didn’t have any winter holidays until I retired,” said Moffatt.

“She let me go to all these national events and it’s just been wonderful.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31