Tradition rules on Manitoba pebble

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This article was published 07/02/2024 (797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STONEWALL — Change versus tradition.

It’s a debate that plagues Canadian curling on so many different levels.

Manitoba is no exception, as some curlers from these parts believe the men’s provincial championship would be better off if it made some tweaks.

With 32 teams vying to wear the Buffalo jacket at the Brier, it’s the largest men’s provincial tournament in the country. It’s a number that seems a bit excessive when you see that Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario have just 12 teams in their playdowns.

This year’s annual modified double-knockout event kicked off Wednesday inside Stonewall’s Veteran’s Memorial Sports Complex.

Since 1959, Manitoba has typically had 32 men’s teams compete.

“There’s two, three, maybe four teams that have a realistic chance of going out and winning this week. I think it needs to be looked at, for sure, especially when you compare it to other provinces,” said last year’s Manitoba champion Matt Dunstone over the phone. The 28-year-old skip pre-qualified for next month’s Brier in Regina and isn’t in Stonewall this week.

“On the flip side, I understand the long history of this event and what makes it unique. But it’s getting to the point where the numbers really aren’t there anymore to support a 32-team field. Ultimately, do we want people going there knowing they really don’t have a chance to win? I mean, look at 10-15 years ago when you had David Bohn, Peter Nicholls, teams that would compete with the Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Stoughton, Robbie Fowler and Vic Peters. The landscape has changed a bit and we don’t see that as much.”

Veteran William Lyburn — who now coaches Assiniboine’s Jordon McDonald and occasionally fills in as an alternate — believes 24 teams would be the magic number. Curl Manitoba estimates there were roughly 60 teams this year vying for the 32 spots.

“I do think within the next year or two is the time to make that change. I think it would bring the qualifying events up,” said Lyburn.

“Right now, you just need to show up and win a game at a (zone qualifier). People say, ‘Why would I play in a berth bonspiel because I can go to zones, win one game and go to provincials?’ With the berth bonspiel, you actually have to win the bonspiel to get the spot. I’d really like having a few more of those events that would create more pre-competition for (provincials).”

Dunstone and Lyburn present strong arguments, but there’s two sides to the story. If Curl Manitoba cut back on teams, that would close the door to someone like Jeremy Sundell out of the Holland Curling Club. Jeremy, along with brothers Elliot, Paul and Daniel, and lead Thomas Huggart, are believed to be the first team from Holland to qualify for men’s provincials in 90 years. The Sundell boys — who opened with a 10-5 loss to No. 3 seed Braden Calvert of Fort Rouge Wednesday afternoon — know they’re in Stonewall for a good time, not a long time, and they’re OK with that. They had two dozen supporters in the stands who made the trip to cheer them on.

To qualify, they played in a five-team zone event in Clearwater that had three tickets to Stonewall up for grabs.

“I think it’s important, especially for people who haven’t been to this, to give them a chance to get some higher competition under their belt that will help them going forward, especially younger teams,” said Jeremy. 31. “Even if you’re not the best, it gets your wings wet.”

Elliot, 29, added, “If you never have a chance to do this in your hometown and compete against these guys, you’ll never excel, and the younger guys will never try, and it’ll be the end of the sport kinda. It would almost be kind of segregating.”

Reid Carruthers, who plays third for No. 1 seed Brad Jacobs, also sees the value in having 32 teams, even though it leads to no shortage of blowouts early on. They crushed Deer Lodge’s Brad Micholson 9-1 in the late afternoon draw.

“I do know how important it is. My Tuesday night fun team that I play with at West St. Paul, for them, if they had entered a team minus their skip — a.k.a. me — and won a chance to be in provincials, it would be huge to them whether they were the 32nd seed or 25th seed,” said Carruthers.

“Getting that experience on (arena) ice is cool and makes you want to work at getting back there and maybe improving for the next time around. That’s one bonus of having the field be bigger. And with it being a modified double-knockout, yeah, they’re in the provincials, but if they’re a lower seeded team and don’t do well, they’re not around for super-long but they are still gaining the experience of being at a provincial championship.”

The issue Carruthers has is the timing of it. Manitoba and Alberta are the last two provinces to hold their competitions. Men’s nationals run March 1-10.

“I don’t think it’s a benefit. But at the same time, if you play really well at your provincial, you’re obviously riding a wave. I just think from a practice preparation standpoint, it actually could be nice to give the winner more time,” said the six-time Manitoba men’s champion.

Curl Manitoba and executive director Craig Baker hear the chatter and there are ongoing discussions on whether changing things up would be a benefit.

“You talk to curlers, and they love it. We’ve had curlers come in here from other provinces with the free agency rule and they find it unique and different, but it works,” he said.

Baker is quick to say it doesn’t boil down to these five days of play, it’s about doing what’s best for the overall health of the sport in the province.

Wednesday also showed everyone, even the teams that barely squeaked in, can play. Steve Irwin of Brandon and Sean Grassie of Deer Lodge are ranked in the top eight but fell victim to upsets. Irwin, who made it to the final four in 2022, dropped a 9-7 result to Dauphin’s Greg Todoruk, and Grassie lost 8-6 to Jesse Janz from Baldur.

“When you’re holding berth bonspiels and regionals in every region in Manitoba, you’re helping support curling in those regions. You’re renting ice at clubs and you’re getting curlers engaged within their region and that has to be a part of it,” said Baker.

“Yeah, everyone sees provincials, but there’s multiple lead-ups to the provincials and that’s part of the economy of curling.”

As for holding the men’s event one week earlier like Saskatchewan does, Baker says that’s not possible. For starters, Curling Canada recommends provinces host their men’s championship this week. More importantly, that wouldn’t allow enough time to tear down the Manitoba women’s provincials — which wrapped up Jan. 28 in Morden — and transport the signage, rocks, equipment, etc. to Stonewall and get all of that and the ice ready.

Next year will be the 100th Manitoba men’s curling championship. The location is expected to be announced soon.

“There’s nothing against change at all, but right now, this ingrained tradition is working,” said Baker. “We’re excited for it to continue to work, hopefully.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31