The notion of turnover within the high level curling teams in Canada is certainly not a new concept – though it seems to be happening with increasing regularity with every passing year.
That said, there are still those cases where the merging of four ultra-compatible personalities, bringing together curlers who share the same mindset, approach and goals for their game does allow for at least some stability in the lineup, year over year.
Team MacEwan – Sandy MacEwan (skip), Dustin Montpellier (third), Lee Toner (second) and Luc Ouimet (lead) – seem to be quite pleased with the recipe that they have discovered, now at the starting gates of their fourth year together (fifth if one includes the year lost to Covid).
And with a quarter-final appearance in a field of 19 teams at their very first bonspiel of the season – the KW Fall Classic from September 14th to 17th in Kitchener – the gents have reconfirmed that their team chemistry is working.
“We’re all just so easy to get along with and that’s such an important thing in curling,” said MacEwan, a 38 year-old graduate of Lasalle Secondary School and current educator. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for all three of them – and it makes curling that much more enjoyable.”
Yet for as much as they can do so with a smile on their faces, the representatives of the Northern Credit Union Community Centre (NCUCC) are in it to win it, so to speak. “You’ve got to find a way to get better, regardless of whether you win at provincials or finish last at provincials the year before,” said MacEwan.
For the record, Team MacEwan dropped a 7-5 decision to the Tanner Horgan rink in the NOCA final in Kenora last January, with a berth at the 2023 Brier on the line.
“You take from last year’s provincials, take from last year’s season and build on that,” noted MacEwan. “That’s what we want to do.”
And while there is definitely a familiar feel to the 2023-2024 schedule for the local rink – they will contest four bonspiels before Christmas, as has been their norm since inception – it is nice to switch things up a little, with Team MacEwan among the entries who will compete at the Soo Curlers Fall Classic at the end of October, a World Curling Tour event.
“There will be some big names there, some big teams,” said MacEwan. “That will be nice for us.”
With entries from Japan, Korea, Sweden, Italy and the United States as well as the likes of Kevin Koe, Reid Carruthers and Matt Dunstone on hand, MacEwan and company will need to combat the pitfall of being awestruck, even in the least, facing opponents with serious world championship aspirations.
“When you see them on TV, they appear almost unbeatable,” acknowledged MacEwan. “It’s tough to compare yourself to them. Once you get out there and you’re playing on the same sheet and you realize that you can compete, then it’s just a game.”
It’s a gap that rinks like those skipped by Sandy MacEwan and so many others who do not compete regularly on the Grand Slam circuit aim to close, as much as is realistically possible.
“We’ve learned a lot about ourselves as a team over the last two or three curling seasons,” he said. “We’re trying to apply what we’ve learned, both individually and collectively, towards this season.”
So far, so good – based on the results in Kitchener.
“My voice is gone and we’re all pretty sore, but it was nice getting back on the ice and into the swing of things.”
******************************************************************************As we reported a couple of weeks ago, local curler Tracy Fleury and the Rachel Homan rink also kicked off the 2023-2024 season in style, running the table at the Saville Shootout in Alberta with eight straight wins and their first bonspiel title of the new year.
And while the team is excited to carry the same four-person roster into their second year together, the recent birth of the third child for Homan and her husband necessitated a reach out – one which worked very well as accomplished western skip Heather Nedohin threw last stones for Team Homan in leading them to victory.
“She was on fire,” beamed Fleury recently, the team enjoying a weekend off before tackling the 2023 PointsBet Invitational in Oakville next weekend. “I’m transitioning to the third position and we thought it would be great if, right at the start of the season, I got some experience at third with the sweeping.”
“I was happy with just letting Heather do her thing; she knows the game so well.”
In fact, despite sliding in as the skip of her rink for the better part of her curling life – certainly since we first crossed paths when she was still a senior at Lockerby Composite and starting to take the junior curling scene by storm – Fleury walked away from the first crack at her new role feeling pretty darned good about the situation.
“I was pleasantly surprised just how much I enjoyed the position,” she said. “It’s faster paced and with more communications, talking with your (front-end) teammates more. And it’s nice to get a little bit of a mental break after so many years of high pressure situations.”
“It helps having an amazing skip and shooter in Rachel, knowing that she can make those last shots.”
******************************************************************************No slowing for the competitive crew this week as the new-look Tanner Horgan rink (Tanner (skip); Jacob Horgan (third); Ian McMillan (second); Scott Chadwick (lead)) are in Cornwall for the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic this weekend, with Kira Brunton (Team Inglis), Jamie Smith (Team Ladouceur) and Abby Deschene/Stephanie Barbeau (Team Mann) all there as well, competing on the women’s side of the draw.
Finally, congratulations go out to Krista McCarville, Andrea Kelly, Kendra Lilly and Ashley Sippala as the Thunder Bay based rink captured the KW Classic last weekend, posting a record of 6-1 and defeating Rebecca Morrison from Great Britain 7-3 in the final.
