Brushed aside, Gunnlaugson crew in limbo

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/11/2010 (5736 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

So, can a curler compete in the “Russian Brier” and the real Brier in the same year?

Good question and it was one that was being asked in curling circles all over Canada yesterday following word that 2010 Russian curling champions — and native Manitobans — Jason Gunnlaugson, Tyler Forrest and Justin Richter had been dismissed over the weekend from their jobs as the Russian national men’s team.

The problem is no one in curling was sure yesterday what the answer is to that question. And it is a matter of some consequence as the three Manitobans ponder whether they will resurrect their Manitoba curling team and take a run at trying to get to the Brier.

“We don’t know what that answer is right now and we’re asking the (World Curling Federation) today to clarify that for us,” said Danny Lamoureux, director of championship services for the Canadian Curling Association.

Lamoureux said the whole issue turns on a rule in the WCF rule book that forbids players from competing for a second country if they have already “represented” a first country in a given curling season in a WCF event or qualifying event.

Gimli’s Patti Wuthrich, the director of high performance for the Russian Curling Federation and the former team’s coach, said over the weekend that her interpretation is that Gunnlaugson, Richter and Forrest haven’t yet represented Russia in anything and should be eligible to curl in the provincial playdowns and, presumably, the Brier.

The three Manitobans were supposed to represent Russia at the European Curling Championship next month in Switzerland after they won the Russian national men’s curling championship two weeks ago.

But on Saturday, they were informed that the citizenships they’d require to represent Russia in Switzerland would not be issued and their services were no longer required.

The three made international headlines last spring when it was announced they’d been hired by Russia to head up the country’s fledgling men’s curling program in advance of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.

No reason has yet been given for the dismissals, but the team had struggled this season on the World Curling Tour.

Gunnlaugson said over the weekend that he was still reeling from the news he’d lost his job in Russia. But he also said he was open to the idea of perhaps hooking up again with Richter and Forrest, finding a lead in this province and resurrecting a Manitoba men’s team that was one of the best in the province last winter, curling its way to a surprising appearance in the Canadian Curling Trials.

“I honestly don’t know what we’re going to do. It’s really not something we’ve had a chance to think about at this point,” Gunnlaugson said.

Lamoureux said the CCA sent off a formal inquiry to the WCF yesterday for a rule clarification.

Shane Ray, executive director of Curl Manitoba, said the three curlers would appear to meet all the criteria for competing provincially this winter.

“To our eyes, they’re eligible,” Ray said, noting all three lived in Gimli even while curling as Team Russia and have maintained Manitoba residency.

Ray said the deadline for entering a team in the zone playdowns is Dec. 2 and he noted that the host committee of the 2011 Safeway Championship — which will be held in Beausejour — would “be delighted to have them.”

Richter is from Beausejour and the team curled out of that town prior to this season.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca