Doubles dream teams hit Portage today

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This article was published 20/10/2015 (3958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — Sure, the men’s end of the Canad Inns Prairie Classic found its winner, but there are still a whole lot of rocks to be thrown in Portage.

The top women’s teams will roll into the Portage Curling Club this week, ready to shoot for their own share of a $60,000 purse. But first, fans are about to be treated to something a little different. Something Canadian curling fans haven’t seen very much of before.

Like what? Oh, you know, like a mixed doubles dream team of Brent Laing and Jennifer Jones, or Jeff Stoughton and Kaitlyn Lawes. Or perhaps like the frankly terrifying one-two punch of Rachel Homan and John Morris, who are among the pairs signed up to compete in the inaugural Mixed Doubles Classic.

The new event, which is fit neatly between the men’s and women’s halves of the Prairie Classic, kicks off today and will crown a champion tomorrow. It’s one of a new crop of mixed doubles bonspiels in the works, following the summer announcement mixed doubles curling would become a 2018 Winter Olympics sport.

And the teams? It’s taken a little time for them to get used to the idea, and Stoughton — who was recently recruited to lead Curling Canada’s expanding mixed doubles program — admits he’s been working his email contacts to bring people on board. Now, it appears, many ears are perked in the curling world.

“The buzz is starting to take hold a little bit,” Stoughton said. “It’s taken some time for people to realize that this is an Olympic sport now. I think next year it’s even going to be bigger… You see these teams that have won Olympic gold medals, and won championships with their teams, and now they’re giving this a shot. It gives them another opportunity in the game that they love.”

Though the mixed doubles scene has been growing in Europe, it’s remained mostly a novelty at the top levels in North America. Fans here mostly only see it played at the Continental Cup, Stoughton pointed out. Which makes the potential draw of some of these intriguing dream teams so important.

That said, it’ll be interesting to see how the scene develops. Curling Canada would prefer its potential Olympic duos focus on the fast-paced discipline heading into the trials, Stoughton noted. (For the record, his duo with Lawes is just temporary; he’s filling in for Team Koe vice Marc Kennedy.)

After all, it’s almost a whole different game. That’s why Prairie Classic semifinalist Charley Thomas, who alongside partner Kalynn Park also happens to be the reigning Canadian mixed doubles champion, isn’t too worried the heavyweights of curling are now circling the two-person game.

“They’ll be the first to tell you after this week it’s not anything like the four-man curling,” Thomas said, shortly after his regular team’s semifinal loss to Prairie Classic winner Steve Laycock. “You still have to make a lot of shots, but it’s a completely different game.”

Mixed doubles curling runs today and tomorrow at Portage Curling Club.

— Melissa Martin