Exceeding expectations

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This article was published 08/01/2025 (333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jordon McDonald expected some growing pains in his first full season on the Canadian men’s curling circuit.

The 21-year-old skip and his Assiniboine-based team had already stepped up in class last season while playing in several men’s events around the province, but a full graduation from the junior ranks meant they would face the other top teams across the country.

They were fully prepared to take their lumps as they got a feel for the tour and its travel schedule while gaining some valuable experience for the future.

As it turns out, their rookie season has gone better than anyone could’ve imagined.

“We’ve kind of surpassed our expectations with that for sure,” McDonald told the Free Press recently.

The budding team, with 20-year-old third Dallas Burgess, 20-year-old second Elias Huminicki and 21-year-old lead Cam Olafson, has ascended to No. 6 in the Canadian men’s rankings with two wins and seven top-three finishes in 10 events this season.

The team’s fearless approach has boded well for their season, which began with a win at the U25 NextGen Classic in Edmonton.

That victory qualified them for the PointsBet Invitational in Calgary, where they finished third, and promoted them to the province’s NextGen Program, which provides the team with funding through Curling Canada and access to its new high-performance training centre at the Heather Curling Club where the other top curlers in the province practise.

McDonald said the lessons learned last year have paid major dividends for their collective confidence on the pebbled ice. Perhaps no one is feeling it more than the skip, who said his team can compete with the best in the country.

“I feel like I, myself, I’m playing some of the best curling of my life,” said McDonald, the 2022 Manitoba under-18 and the 2023 provincial junior champion. “Just playing against some of these guys and going shot-for-shot with them, that gives me so much confidence and so much confidence in my team.

“Definitely last year playing Team (Brad) Jacobs in the Viterra, and then the start of this year just competing and having close games with some of the top teams, it’s given me a lot of confidence as a skip and as a shot-maker. It’s helped me realize that no matter what situation we’re in, I can help get the team out of it if I need to and that’s helped me become a better player.”

Team McDonald will put its strong play to the test when it debuts in the Grand Slam of Curling at the WFG Masters in Guelph, Ont., next week.

The lights are a little brighter at one of the biggest bonspiels on the GSOC calendar, with a $400,000 prize purse and a star-studded field that includes Jacobs, Brad Gushue, Mike McEwen, Matt Dunstone and Rylan Kleiter. The likes of Kerri Einarson, Kaitlyn Lawes and Rachel Homan will be on the women’s side.

McDonald will be grouped with a trio of European teams, led by Bruce Mouat of Scotland, who has won the last three GSOC men’s events, Marco Hösli of Switzerland and Niklas Edin of Sweden. They will also play a crossover game against U.S. team Korey Dropkin.

“I think the main thing for us is just enjoying ourselves, taking it in, just experiencing our first slam,” said McDonald, adding he was “bouncing off the walls” when he found out his team had qualified.

“I see it as an opportunity to kind of kick start our career, and if we happen to (win) that would be huge for our season and everything. But again, I think the number one thing for us is to just get that experience, have a good time out there, while still trying to win, but understanding it’s OK if we don’t win.”

There’s no telling what a win would do for a squad that entered with a jump in its step, but a seat at the table is already more than they could’ve asked for this season.

What was a team trying to find its way among the big players just a few months ago, is beginning to feel like they belong.

“We’re not a junior team anymore,” McDonald said.

“I think we all feel like we’re a men’s team, and I think just the maturity and the knowledge and just all the changes we’ve made and the resources we’ve been able to access in the last couple of years has helped us gain some success and help us feel like we’re ready to take the next step.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam