Winnipeg’s Petursson leaves as key Curling Canada official

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/03/2019 (2728 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — Dave Petursson felt the muted wrath of Russ Howard and the rare warmth of Ed Werenich when both were in their passionate primes.

The Winnipegger has been the man in the middle of some curling controversies over the years — and now he’s stepping aside to let others make the tough calls.

Petursson, who’s career as a official goes back the first edition of the modern-day Brier in 1980, is working his final Canadian men’s curling championship here this week.

He’ll go out in style. The 65-year-old retired engineer with Manitoba Hydro is being inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame with the class of 2019. Petursson will be honoured during a ceremony this weekend at Westoba Place.

“It’s a huge honour,” he said, between draws Tuesday. “It’s been unbelievable 40 years. I never imagined I would be involved so long. I’ve been happy to contribute and I’ve met so many good people, so many great curlers, great volunteers. It’s just been wonderful.”

Petursson and his wife, Anna, were living in Calgary in 1980, he was club curling, volunteering and coaching when he was asked to be join the first-ever Brier umpire crew. That year, curlers policed the game themselves, while newly recruited officials charted the position of rocks and monitored what infactions were being committed but overlooked by competitors.

“We didn’t get involved that first year, we just tallied up what we were seeing,” he said. “Hog-line violations, moving violations, sweeping violations… all those violations we charted showed the need for umpiring going forward.”

Petursson helped develop the original Curling Canada officiating manual in the early 1980s.

He would go on to work at approximately 60 major championships, including 24 Briers, seven Scotties, six world men’s championships, the ’88 Olympics in Calgary (curling was a demonstration sport) and the 2014 Games in Sochi when the Brad Jacobs and Jennifer Jones foursomes both won gold for Canada.

He’s had some memorable moments as an official, including earlier this week.

Two-time defending champion Brad Gushue was battling Ontario’s Scott McDonald) on Saturday when there was an absolute tie on a rock measurement. Petursson used the measuring stick a couple of times and couldn’t detect a difference, then handed it off to another umpire who came up with the same determination. So, the stones cancelled out.

“What was going through my mind during that measure? ‘Do it right,'” he said, laughing. “In 40 years of doing this, there’s been about half a dozen ties.”

Petursson recalled another storied rule squabble, with Howard — legendary skip and TSN commentator — at the epicentre during the ’89 Brier in Saskatoon.

“Russ had a problem with his voice and he wanted to use radios to communicate, and that became a bit of a furor and I was deeply embroiled in that one,” he said.

Howard said he remembers the fuss he created — the heated discussion the Curling Canada umpire crew — like it was yesterday.

“I lost my voice. It was self-inflicted, I just yelled a lot and didn’t take care of my voice. So, I couldn’t yell to my sweepers,” he said. “We went to Radio Shack and picked up these devices so we could communicated. I had the mic and we put one in (second) Tim Belcourt’s ear. They decided it was illegal. But I said, ‘Show it to me in the rulebook, and of course it wasn’t there. So, they put a rule in.”

Howard said competitive curlers owe debt of gratitude to hard-working officials like Petursson.

“Good on him. It’s fantastic he’s helped our sport out for so many years. They’re the unsung heroes. They don’t get any of the credit for a well-played event,” he said. “That’s a crazy hard job. They are under extreme pressure.”

Petursson said respect, not praise, was the only thing he hoped to earn from Canada’s curling community. But some words of encouragement from another of the sport’s icon have stuck with him.

“I actually did get a compliment — as much of a compliment could be given — from Ed Werenich. It was the end of a Brier, and he and Paul Savage approached me and Eddie said, ‘Dave, you know I think all umpires are blankety-blank, well as far as they go you’re not bad.’ That’s as much as you’d get from The Wrench.”

The Hall of Fame class of 2019 also includes curler Dennis Thiessen of Sanford, one of wheelchair curling’s most decorated athletes.

In addition to being a three-time Canadian champion (2011, 2014, 2017), Thiessen is also a Paralympic gold-medallist (2014 in Sochi) and world champion (2013, also at Sochi). He added a Paralympic bronze medal in 2018 in South Korea for Team Canada.

“When I got the phone call for this, I was just absolutely speechless; I had to ask if they had the right Dennis Thiessen. I’m thrilled beyond belief,” Thiessen told Curling Canada. “But as I think back over the years, I really I have to say that this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some amazing people, beginning with my family, who allowed me to chase these dreams. As well, I’ve had amazing teammates and coaches, and I’m proud to share this honour with them.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell