Rules of Tradition in Manitoba Stone – Winnipeg Free Press

STONEWALL is a change against tradition.

It's a debate that plagues Canadian curling on many levels.

Manitoba is no exception, as some curlers in these parts feel the men's provincial championship could do with some tweaking.

32 teams will compete to wear the Buffalo jacket at the Brier, the largest men's provincial tournament in the country. That's a number that seems a bit excessive when you see that there are only 12 teams in the game across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

This year's annual modified double knockout event kicked off Wednesday at the Stonewall Veterans Memorial Sports Complex.

Since 1959, Manitoba has typically had 32 men's teams compete.

“There are two, three, maybe four teams that have a real chance to come out and win this week. I think it's definitely worth a look, especially when you compare it to other provinces,” said last year's Manitoba champion Matt Dunstone by phone. The 28-year-old has pre-qualified for next month's Brier in Regina and is not at Stonewall this week.

“On the one hand, I understand the long history of this event and what makes it unique. But it's gotten to the point where the numbers really aren't there to support a 32-team field. After all, do we want people to go in knowing they have no chance of winning? I mean, look at 10-15 years ago you had teams competing with David Bohn, Peter Nichols, Kerry Burtnick, Jeff Stoughton, Robbie Fowler and Vic Peters. The landscape has changed a bit and we don't notice as much.”

Veteran William Lieburn — who now coaches Assiniboine's Jordon MacDonald and sometimes fills in as an alternate — believes 24 teams will be the magic number. Curl Manitoba estimates there were about 60 teams competing for 32 spots this year.

“I think it's time to make that change in the next year or two. I think it's going to raise the stakes,” Lieburn said.

“Right now, you just have to go in (in the regional qualifiers) and win. People say, “Why am I playing in a berth when I can go to regionals, win one game and go to provincials?” says. With Bert Bonspiel, you really have to win to get a seat. I'd like to do a few more events to create some competition (for provincials) beforehand.”

Dunstone and Lyburn make strong arguments, but there are two sides to the story. If Curl Manitoba were to cut teams, that would close the door on someone like Jeremy Sandell from Holland Curling Club. Jeremy, along with brothers Elliot, Paul and Daniel and captain Thomas Huggart, are believed to be the first team from Holland to qualify for the men's provincials in 90 years. Opening Wednesday afternoon with a 10-5 loss to No. 3 Braden Calvert of Fort Rouge, Sandell's boys know it's not a lot of time at Stonewall, but a good time, and they're fine with that. They had two dozen supporters in the stands who made the trip to cheer them on.

To qualify, they played in a five-team regional tournament in Clearwater, where three tickets to Stonewall are available.

“I think it's important, especially for people who haven't been here, to give them, especially the younger teams, an opportunity to have a high level of competition to help them progress,” Jeremy said. 31. “Even if you're not the best, your wings get wet.”

Elliott, 29, added: “If you never get the chance to do it in your hometown and compete with these guys, you're never going to be the best and the young guys are never going to try and that's the end of the sport. . It would almost be secession.”

Reid Carruthers, who plays third for No. 1 Brad Jacobs, also sees value in having 32 teams, but that doesn't mean there's a shortage of early hits. They defeated Deer Lodge's Brad Mickelson 9-1 in the afternoon tie.

“I know how important it is. My Tuesday night cheer team that I play in West St. Paul would be huge for them, barring the skip, which is if they get on the same team as me and win a chance to be in provincials. 32 seed or 25 seed,” Carruthers said.

“It's great to have an experience like that on the ice (arena) and you want to work to get back out there and improve next time. That's one bonus of having a bigger field. Because of the modified double knockout, yes they're in the provincials, but if they're a lower team and don't do well, they're not there for very long, but they're still winning. the experience of being in the regional championship”.

Carruthers' problem is his timing. Manitoba and Alberta are the last two provinces to host races. The men's national team will be held on March 1-10.

“I don't think it's useful. But at the same time, if you play well in your province, you're obviously riding a wave. “I think it would be good to give the winner more time in terms of training,” said the six-time Manitoba men's champion.

Curl Manitoba and executive director Craig Baker hear the conversation, and discussions continue about whether it would be beneficial to change the situation.

“You talk to the curlers, they love it. We have curlers coming from other provinces where we have the free agency rule, they think it's unique and different, but it works,” he said.

Baker says it's not about the five-day game, it's about doing what's best for the overall health of the sport in the province.

Wednesday also showed that everyone can play, even the teams that barely entered. Brandon's Steve Irwin and Deer Lodge's Shawn Grassi finished in the top eight but fell victim to sentiment. Irwin, who reached the final four in 2022, fell 9-7 to Dauphin's Greg Todoruk, and Grassi lost to Baldur's Jesse Janz 8-6.

“When you host berths and zones in every region in Manitoba, you help support curling in those regions. You're renting ice at clubs and you're attracting crawlers in their area and that should be part of it,” Baker said.

“Yeah, everybody sees provincials, but there's a few pointers to provincials and that's part of the economics of curling.”

As for holding the men's event a week earlier, as in Saskatchewan, Baker says that's not possible. For starters, Curling Canada is proposing to the provinces to host the men's championship this week. More importantly, it will help break down the Manitoba Women's Provincial, which ended on Jan. 28 in Morden, and bring signs, rocks, equipment, and more. Not enough time to ship to Stonewall and prepare all that and the ice.

Next year marks the 100th Manitoba Men's Curling Championships. The location is expected to be announced soon.

“There's absolutely nothing against change, but right now it's ingrained tradition that works,” Baker said. “We're excited, hopefully, that it will continue to work.”

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Taylor Allen
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Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor began working for the Free Press on June 1, 2011.

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