As the rock turns

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This article was published 17/04/2024 (829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The curling off-season has just begun and big moves are already being made.

The latest is out of Manitoba with Team Reid Carruthers announcing Wednesday that import skip Brad Jacobs is moving on.

The 38-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., helped Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski and lead Connor Njegovan win the 2024 Manitoba crown before a strong run to the Brier playoffs after topping their round-robin pool with a 7-1 record.

The shakeup comes one day after major news in Alberta where Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert announced they’ve parted ways with former Canadian champion skip Brendan Bottcher after two seasons together.

Jacobs, a 2013 Brier winner and 2014 Olympic men’s curling gold medallist, is expected to take over for Bottcher.

“Yeah, I was surprised,” Carruthers told the Free Press. “But you know, there’s no hard feelings. I’m grateful for the fact that he gave our team a try. It’s just disappointing that it didn’t work out. Now it’s on to the next chapter of the book.”

Jacobs didn’t respond to an interview request by press deadline but did post a statement online.

“It is never easy nor enjoyable to make these tough decisions. They welcomed me with open arms, treated me like family, were incredible teammates and friends. I truly cherished my time with all of them and will leave with so many fond memories of our time together,” said Jacobs.

Carruthers and Co. are uncertain what the future holds. Finding a replacement at Jacobs’ level at this stage of the cycle will be a massive challenge to say the least. Bottcher may seem like an obvious candidate, but it’s unlikely to come to fruition. There’s rumblings he could be in line to take over Kevin Koe’s team after the veteran skip’s dismal performance at nationals.

Jacobs started last season at third for Carruthers before taking over final rock duties at the midway point of the year. He spared for Team Carruthers on a few occasions during the 2022-23 campaign before agreeing to join full time last off-season.

“Curling is very much like a business. I’m getting near the end of my curling career and I have a wife, family and bills to pay at home. It’s one of those things where it has to make sense to put in the amount of time that’s required to beat some of the best teams in the world,” said Carruthers, 39.

“It requires tremendous support and effort to be able to do so. It’s not easy, and the business side of the game is one of the toughest parts. But you try to work through these things, move on, and then hopefully come out in the end on the terms that you want to be on.”

Carruthers and his remaining teammates aren’t promising they’ll be staying together. All options are on the table at this point.

“We all still have that fire in us. At the Brier, we were all very excited and very happy with the way things went up to the Thursday. We just had a bad Friday. We still feel we can compete at a top level, it’s just a matter of if we’re gonna do that or not,” said Samagalski.

“We’re just not 100 per cent sure on what’s happening yet. It’s all so fresh, we’re more in shock than anything. We just didn’t see this coming.”

Doering finds new team

Winnipeg’s Kyle Doering has latched on with another Alberta rink.

Doering, a 28-year-old who won a national junior title with Matt Dunstone back in 2016, has agreed to play second for Aaron Sluchinski out of Airdrie, Alta.

The Manitoban was on the look for a new opportunity after Edmonton’s Karsten Sturmay disbanded his team after a two-year run.

Doering recently earned a silver medal at the world curling championship as an alternate for Team Canada’s Brad Gushue.

The future of Team Jones

What’s next for Karlee Burgess, Emily Zacharias and Lauren Lenentine?

It’s one of the biggest stories in women’s curling at the moment as the three standouts need to make a move with skip Jennifer Jones retiring from the four-person game.

The curling legend from St. Vital had her final outing with them, after two years and two Scotties finals appearances together, at last week’s Grand Slam event in Toronto.

There’s not many skips on the market currently, but one to keep an eye on is Chelsea Carey, a two-time national champion who was without a full-time team last year. The 39-year-old Carey would, in all likelihood, jump at the chance to pick up where Jones left off.

They’re not the only team in the province with a hole to fill as New Bothwell’s Kate Cameron — who finished third at this year’s Scotties after ending Gimli’s Kerri Einarson’s four-year reign — needs a third with Meghan Walter announcing last week she’s taking a step back to focus on school.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

X: @TaylorAllen31