Territorial hissing in curling’s far north

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This article was published 28/02/2009 (6352 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VICTORIA — It’s not often that the Northwest Territories and Yukon make waves at a Canadian curling event.

But they’re making them this winter.

First, NWT/Yukon’s Kerry Galusha beat Team Canada’s Jennifer Jones in the round-robin at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts this week in what was instantly christened one of the biggest curling wins in the history of Canada’s territories.

And now comes word that Jamie Koe’s Yellowknife team, which will compete in Calgary at the Brier starting next weekend, has touched off a resignation and protests because of the origins of one of his players.

Vice-skip Jon Solberg is from Whitehorse and the lone player on the Koe team not from the Northwest Territories.

Until this year, it was illegal for players from the two territories to form one team, despite the fact they compete under the same banner. But the NWT Curling Association changed that rule recently and that allowed Koe to poach Solberg.

The Yukon Curling Association has filed a protest and asked the Canadian Curling Association to intervene, while the president of the NWTCA has resigned.

And caught in the middle of it is Koe, who doesn’t understand all the fuss.

"From our perspective, from what I can see, we’re effectively one territory; we represent both territories," Koe, 31, told the Calgary Herald’s Al Cameron this week. "I understand it’s a big loss for them, but we’re still going down not just to represent Yellowknife and the NWT. We’re representing the Yukon, too, even more so because we have a player from there."

— Paul Wiecek