Once-in-a-lifetime chance to humiliate Canadians

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This article was published 06/04/2009 (6369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONCTON, N.B. — It’s a delicious opportunity, one that won’t come around again for a generation or more.

To win an Olympic gold medal in curling is one thing; to do it in the most curling-crazy nation on the planet, and break millions of Canadian hearts in the process?

“That,” said smiling Scottish skip David Murdoch, “would be sweet.”

More so on the men’s side than on the women’s, where the rest of the world has drastically narrowed the talent gap, Canada remains the gold standard for the rest of the world.

It’s understood that regardless of which team prevails at next December’s Tim Hortons Olympic Trials in Edmonton, it will head to the Vancouver Olympic Centre two months later an automatic favourite.

“Canada’s the benchmark, without a doubt,” said Murdoch. “These guys are playing at a really high level. It’s always sweet to beat Canada. There’s the old rivalry, dating back to the Richardsons (of Saskatchewan). I grew up a traditionalist, and there’s always going to be that rivalry.”

“Of course, we expect (a Canadian team in the men’s final),” added Swiss skip Ralph Stoeckli, who’ll skip his team in a best-of-seven series against Stefan Karnusian in October for the right to play in Vancouver. “But there’s a lot of pressure on them because everyone expects them to be in the final. Anything can happen, but they’re definitely the favourites going into the tournament.”

But beating a team besides Canada in a gold-medal game wouldn’t take anything away from the experience, suggested Murdoch.

“Getting the gold medal is the priority,” said the former world champ, who’s expected to be handed the skipping duties for the team from Great Britain on May 1. “That’s what we’re hoping for, that’s what we’re planning for, for sure. That’s the reason we spend so much time over here curling against Glenn (Howard) and Kevin (Martin) and Randy (Ferbey) and all these guys.”

A few of the Europeans got their first look at the curling venue at the Vancouver Olympic Centre last month when the world juniors were staged as the Olympic test event, and while they have high hopes for the arena as finishing touches are applied over the next 10 months, they admit they expected a grander setting.

“To be honest, it was a chance to really show the whole world how big the crowds could be in Canada and how big the sport is,” said Murdoch. “Obviously, they want the legacy and they don’t want to be left with an empty 15,000-seat stadium, and that’s perfectly understandable. But it’s such a great opportunity for curling.

“When the place is full, it’ll be great, and it’s the Olympic Games; when you’re on the sheet, you’re not really thinking about crowds. But it sure would be nice to be in a huge stadium and beaming that around the world.”

— Canwest News Service