The Wait Is Over
December 5, 2009
- Article by Brad Norman
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After an agonizingly long selection process, we are now in the home stretch of finding Canada's 2010 Olympic curling teaems. The Roar of the Rings begins tomorrow, and the world's curling community will turn its eyes to Edmonton Alberta to finally see who will represent curling's world power at the Olypics in Vancouver.
Even before the event has started, there are some huge surprises. There are some teams in the field that people would never have dreamed to make it this far this year. Perhaps the best example of this is Manitoba's 25-year old Jason Gunnlaugson. "The Gunner" shocked the curling world when skipped his team to victory at the pre-trials last month. The Gunnlaugson crew entered the week as the bottom seeded team, but that didn't stop them. They toppled some of the best teams in the world to earn their spot at the Olympic Trials.
Some people may be rolling their eyes at a 25-year old playing at the Olympic trials, not really giving them much of a fighting chance. But let's not forget a very similar story from four years ago. You'll recall another skip in his 20s, by the name of Brad Gushue, was also laughed at during the Olympic trials. In fact, Jeff Stoughton will forever be plauged by a comment he made during the trials that year, saying that Gushue "doesn't belong" at the Olympic trials. As we know, that Gushue rink went on to win the trials and the Olympic gold medal. So you can be sure that everyone will be taking The Gunner very seriously this week, knowing that anybody to make it to this point is a real threat.
Speaking of Gushue, the reigning Olympic champ is the center of another massive surprise at this year's Olympic trias. The 2006 gold medalist and his team from St. John's, Newfoundland, will be absent from the trials this year. Gushue, who had been having the best season of his career heading into the pre-trials, left Prince George empty handed. The red-hot Gushue rink had been winning World Curling Tour events nearly every week at the beginning of the season, but they picked a horrible time to fall into a slump. Gushue and his team picked up only a single win at the pre-trials, which just wasn't enough. This eliminated them from the Olympic slection process and killed the dream of repeating as Olympic champion.
One team who will certainly be looking for redeption at the Roar of the Rings this year is Jeff Stoughton. Stoughton was forced to eat his words in 2005 when he was defeated by Brad Gushue in the final match of the Olympic Trials that year. This year he'll be looking to get back to the finals and pull off that one extra victory to send his Manitoba rink to the Vancouver games. I had the opportunity last week to have a chat with Ryan Fry—former team-mate of Jeff Stoughton and currently playing the second position for Brad Gushue—and asked him to make a prediction for the upcoming trials. "I think Stoughton will take it", he told me.
And of course, no big curling tournament would be complete without the classic Martin vs. Howard battle. Both of these heavy-weights will take to the ice this week. With a career as brilliant as Kevin Martin's, you'd think that he has nothing left to prove. But the only thing missing from The Old Bear's trophy case is Olympic gold. He took home a silver in 2002, and has been hungry for the gold ever since. Glenn Howard, however, is also striving to strike gold in Vancouver. Howard has won Briers and World Championships, but never has taken the trip to the Olympics. After watching his big brother, Russ Howard, come home with gold as a member of Gushue's 2006 squad, Glenn will be looking to walk in his brother's footsteps this year.
The rest of the field is just as strong and just as hungry to win. Randy Ferbey, Pat Simmons and Wayne Middaugh are always dangerous teams and all frequent the Grand Slams. But one team in particular, Kevin "The Bridesmaid" Koe, is ready for his moment in the spotlight. Koe has been knocking on the door for a long time, being the runner-up at Grand Slams, Alberta Brier play-downs, and several other big events. After perfecting his strategy over the past couple seasons, Koe is ready for a big win and is hoping that will be his week.
The action all kicks off Sunday. Stick with Curling Scoops to get all your news on this great event.
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