Four-time Brier champion Howard livid after not being told about ‘papered’ rocks prior to Saturday’s games – Toronto Sun

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Five teams were still in an epic battle for the Tim Hortons Brier title Saturday night, but it was a controversy that exploded earlier in the day that had everyone talking.

Glenn Howard, a four-time Canadian men’s curling champion, was furious after the Curling Canada ice technicians “papered” the rocks prior to Saturday’s action, but did not inform all of the teams.

Howard’s team, which has Wayne Middaugh at skip because Howard is recovering from injuries suffered in a snowmobiling accident, was planning to protest the result of its game against Team Canada’s Brad Gushue because they were unaware that the rocks had been “touched up,” a process that is designed to increase curl in the stones.

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Howard’s team ended losing Saturday night, as well, by a score of 7-4 to Calgary’s Kevin Koe and wound up missing the playoffs.

Koe’s win gave him first-place with a 10-2 record and a bye directly to Sunday night’s final. There he’ll face the winner of a semifinal between Matt Dunstone of Saskatchewan and Brendan Bottcher of Alberta, who both finished at 9-3.

Gushue, the defending champion who has won the Brier in three of the past four years, was eliminated after losing to Alberta, at 8-4, same record as Middaugh/Howard.

Curling Canada admitted in an e-mailed statement that there was a “communication breakdown that Curling Canada regrets” before Saturday’s games.

It said none of the teams were officially informed that the rocks had been touched up. However, it said two of the eight teams playing on the afternoon draw spoke with chief ice technician Greg Ewasko and were aware of the situation.

“I have no problem with papering the rocks at all,” Howard said. “The ice men are doing their due diligence to make the conditions the best for us. The fact that all the teams don’t know is still unacceptable to me. I can’t get my mind around the fact that some teams knew and some teams didn’t.

“It’s not the reason why we lost the game. This isn’t sour grapes because all this happened prior to the game. It just doesn’t sit well with me.”

Curling Canada said the rocks were treated with sandpaper on Friday night after some curlers reported there was less curl in the rocks in the later ends of games.

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Many of the teams on the ice Saturday said they talk to the ice maker before each game to see what might have changed and that’s how they learned about the rocks.

“You can always go ask the ice maker,” said four-time champion Kevin Koe, who was in first place with a 9-2 record heading into the final round-robin draw on Saturday night.. “We did and we knew. That being said, it’s not an issue out there. The ice is fantastic.

“Should they have papered them? That’s not up to me. We’re playing good and we don’t have an issue. Some people might say it’s because we’re winning but we didn’t have an issue with it.”

Saskatchewan skip Matt Dunstone, who improved to 8-3 with a 5-4 win over Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, said the papered rocks come with the territory.

“Maybe the timing of it wasn’t necessarily the best but the whole game of curling is about making adjustments,” Dunstone said. “You’ve got to be able to do that. Whatever the rocks and everything throws at you. It’s just about making those adjustments.”

The Howard team, with 53-year-old Middaugh leading the way despite playing on a leg that was broken in 11 places five years ago and is held together by a 15-inch titanium rod, was right in the mix for the three-team playoffs heading into the final draw. They were sitting at 8-3, tied with Saskatchewan, Canada, and Alberta.

Saskatchewan second Kirk Muyres described Friday night’s draw as a “bloodbath,” as teams jockeyed for first place and a bye to the final and spots in the semifinal.

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Howard was so livid about the situation that he asked Curling Canada to allow his team to redo practice, including the last stone draw, which determined hammer and is used cumulatively to break ties in the standings.

“Some people may think it’s no big deal but the draw to the button is massive,” Howard said. “If we have hammer against Brad Gushue, it’s a whole different animal. He comes out and gets his deuce and we’re behind the eight-ball the whole time. And it’s cumulative as well. I just didn’t feel like we got a fair shake.”

Howard’s comments drew responses from many of the curlers in the event, including a strong defence of the ice-making crew from two-time Olympic gold medallist John Morris, the second on Koe’s team.

“There’s no one under more pressure in this entire event than the ice making crew and the head ice maker,” Morris said. “You might think the curlers are the ones who have all the heat on them. It’s the ice-making staff. They’re up at 5 a.m. every morning, they go to bed at midnight and they’re barely working on any sleep. They’re doing a fantastic job.

“When it comes to papering the stones, I would say half of the major championships I’ve been in, including both Olympics, there’s been papering going on during the event. It’s something that goes on. It’s not like the ice makers come out and say ‘Hey guys, we papered the stones,’ but it’s something that usually is known to the teams. It’s not like they’re telling certain teams, that they like. These guys are doing a heck of job. We want to see curl out there. It’s what gives the fans fantastic games to watch.”

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Morris said curlers have to be able to deal with changing ice conditions and changing rocks in order to win at this level.

“I don’t know who said what but reading ice is a skill of the game and reading rocks is a skill of the game and it’s pretty vital,” Morris said. “You have to be able to adjust to perform and be one of the best teams. As curlers we try to find sometimes, something to blame, and I feel that I’ve heard it before and sometimes curlers aren’t accountable enough. I’m not naming any names but I don’t think we should be putting any blame on ice makers.”

Howard, 58, is the oldest player in the Brier. He has only thrown a couple rocks this week because of his injuries, but he’s been to 18 Briers and has never seen anything like this happen before.

“I know what happens when they do the rocks,” Howard said. “It changes everything. You prepare your practice differently because it’s so much different from what you just played on. Now you’re coldcocked.”

Alberta’s Bottcher, coming off an 8-3 win over Ontario’s John Epping, didn’t see things the same way as Howard.

“It’s pretty obvious,” he said about the papering of the rocks. “You throw one rock in practice and it’s pretty clear what’s happened.”

The controversy cast a bit of a pall on a championship weekend that has been incredible and promises to be exciting through Sunday’s final.

Five of the top curling teams in the world were in the hunt and everyone was relishing the opportunity.

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“It’s about as good as it gets,” Dunstone said. “Isn’t this amazing? Every matchup out there, every single draw, is a complete coin flip. It’s such a great thing for curling and to be a part of it, to be around seven other world-class teams, watching them do their thing, competing at 90%, what a treat it is to watch and to be a part of it. It’s a total treat to be a part of this.”

Howard was equally impressed but still miffed.

“To change the surface that drastically and have not all the teams know is just beyond unacceptable,” he said. “I don’t know what they can do but I want to make my point clear that we’re playing for a national championship and it’s beyond the realm of comprehension for me. I just can’t believe that we weren’t told.”

Twyman@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Ted_Wyman

STANDINGS

CHAMPIONSHIP POOL

y-Wild Card 2 (Koe) 10-2

x-Saskatchewan (Dunstone) 9-3

x-Alberta (Bottcher) 9-3

Canada (Gushue) 8-4

Wild Card 3 (Howard/Middaugh) 8-4

Ontario (Epping) 7-5

Northern Ontario (Jacobs) 7-5

Manitoba (Gunnlaugson) 6-6

y-advanced to final

x-advanced to semifinal

SATURDAY RESULTS

DRAW 21

Canada 6, Howard 3

Saskatchewan 5, Northern Ontario 4

Alberta 8, Ontario 3

Koe 12. Manitoba 4

DRAW 22

Saskatchewan 9, Manitoba 6

Alberta 8, Canada 2

Koe 7, Howard 4

Northern Ontario 9, Ontario 3