Learning from the master

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This article was published 31/01/2018 (3118 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINKLER — They could be curling’s version of the old sitcom My Three Sons.

Pat Simmons, the 42-year-old skip from Moose Jaw, Sask., and his 22-year-old rinkmates — third Colton Lott, second Kyle Doering and lead Rob Gordon — are the No. 4 seeds at this week’s provincial men’s curling championship.

On the face of it, the age discrepancy could have a negative impact on team chemistry, right? Yet all four teammates insist the age range is anything but — Simmons, a two-time Brier champ, is as big a kid as any of them.

You want an example? Well, take the time Lott brought his PlayStation to a bonspiel earlier this season.

“We got into a game where you shoot zombies,” Gordon said Wednesday following a 10-2 victory over Swan River’s Brandon Radford on Day 1 of the Viterra Championship at Centennial Arena. “And Pat loves it more than any of us. He’ll sit in the hotel room and shoot zombies for hours. He’s got two younger kids at home, too, so he’s exposed to that as well. And he’s taken on that role with us, too, and embraced it.”

“You’ve got to adapt, right?” said Simmons of his zombie target practice.

The three younger teammates are often ribbed for curling with their ‘Dad.’

“We get that quite often — a lot of the curlers say that, too,” said Gordon, recalling the time the three Winnipeggers showed up a day early for a Grand Slam event in Lloydminster, Sask., without Simmons. “And (Kevin Koe third) Brent Laing came up to us and said, ‘Oh, you boys are here without your dad.’

“We don’t care. It might bug him a little bit.”

Added Doering: “That’s a funny thing to say. We’re in West Edmonton Mall. I sent a snapchat to my girlfriend of the three of them walking and she said, ‘It looks like dad with the two kids.’ But it doesn’t feel that way at all.”

Simmons, a chiropractor by profession, is unfazed by it all. While still living in Moose Jaw, he travels to meet up with his teammates for bonspiels and practice sessions with Gordon and Doering, both university students, and Lott, who is in an apprentice carpentry program at Red River College.

“It’s been good, I’ve enjoyed it,” said Simmons. “Obviously, we’re at totally different stages of life. It’s been great except for them not being able to rent vehicles and stuff like that… it’s lots of fun. They’re just a great crew and obviously great curlers.”

Just how Simmons, who played third for Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher for a portion of the 2016-17 season, came to join his current team last fall was one of the more interesting free-agent stories of the off-season.

Lott, Doering and Gordon, provincial and Canadian junior champions with skip Matt Dunstone in 2015-16, played the 2016-17 season with Jason Gunnlaugson at the helm. When Gunnlaugson opted for a change — joining Alex Forrest, Ian McMillan and Connor Njegovan — they considered their options, locally and out of province, and Simmons was at the top of their list.

“At the end of the season when Matt (Dunstone) decided to leave us, he said if you’re ever looking for someone I think Pat is available,” said Gordon. “He gave us his contact information. We thought it was kind of a joke. So we sent Pat a message, and he ended up playing with Bottcher last year.

“It didn’t work out, but we kept it in the back of our mind. And then when things didn’t work out with Jason, we approached him again. Again, just threw it out there. Didn’t think anything would happen. And (Simmons) came back from the Brier (in St. John’s, N.L., after coaching Adam Casey of Saskatchewan) and said he was going to talk with the family and call us on the Tuesday. And we got kind of excited, because it sounded promising. And sure enough, he called us and we hashed things out. It all transpired the way we’d hoped.

“I mean, first full season out of juniors and we’re playing with a two-time Brier champ, one of the legends of the game. You can’t really ask for more than that.”

Curiously, the three Winnipeggers knew Simmons — a five-time Saskatchewan champion and a Canadian champion in 2014 and 2015 with Alberta teammates — only by his reputation.

“Our first time meeting him was through the summer,” said Lott. “He’s very mellow, doesn’t show much emotion. He’s always got a sharp focus. It also brings all of us together, and focusing on our goal and achieving our goal.”

Simmons may be young at heart but he hasn’t competely escaped the ravages of time. He’s not currently practising as a chiropractor because of a frozen left shoulder. He’s right-handed and insists the injury does not affect him on the ice. His loves his role as a roving curler, almost always on the move.

“I’m used to this,” said Simmons. “I think we make the most of our time when we get it, whether it be an event or what have you. The key is you’ve gotta be doing your stuff on your own. There’s obviously a trust level there, everybody’s gotta be doing what they need to be (doing) but also use our time valuably when we are together. I’m a bit of a believer that it never hurts to do some practising on your own.”

Simmons and Co. face LaSalle’s Randy Neufeld today at 8:30 a.m.

“There’s obviously a learning curve, especially in a season like this with the pre-trials we had a few months back,” said Doering. “We really didn’t have much time to grow as a team, we were just thrown into it. We had to work quickly.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14