Episode 26: Free Agent Frenzy - New Lineups Rundown

Join us for another episode of the Hogline Violation Podcast as we discuss all the new curling team lineups across Canada and Internationally!

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:26

Hello and welcome into a maybe a long-awaited episode of the Highline Violation. A little bit of a gap, but like I said in the last episode, we are going to be just kind of spacing this out over the summertime and then ramping it back up in the fall again. But I'm joined by King. Danny is going to be joining us shortly when he figures out some technical issues. But it's great to have King back after a long hiatus that we were all patiently waiting for him to come back. So, King, how's it going, man?

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Ah, not bad. I know it's been a long-awaited return. I'm sure all the fans have been uh eager, ready to hear my voice, as uh I know a lot are for sure. But no, it's just uh grind of a work period, but now we're back, ready to talk with the important stuff in the the curling world. Lots of lots of team changes that we're gonna uh get into here today. So it should be a fun little uh discussion. And and with that, Daniel is here. Daniel, uh how's it going, big guy?

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Uh no, not too bad, you know. Getting getting near those summer months, getting near some uh important events over the next month or so. So just in general excited, and obviously some uh some Chrome to talk about, I guess, with some recent changes and a lot of some some people opting for the new Rock League as opposed to uh staying on the tour. So I think that's a trend we're gonna see continue.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

It's true. Fair point. Seems to be a lot of people kind of stepping away a little bit and folks on the Rock League, but that'll be near the end of this, I think, as we get into the Euro side of things. Um I guess uh Joel, we can get right into it. I think there's been a lot of changes in the past. We're gonna kind of go, I think, west to east in Canada, kind of starting team-wise, um, and then we'll jump over internationally kind of after the fact. So uh Joel, you kind of leading the the charge here on the team change tracker. Uh, where do you want to start with us here uh today?

SPEAKER_05 2:25

You know, if we're going west, uh we might as well st uh talk about, you know, kind of a pod favorite, someone who seems to always uh have his name mentioned throughout the uh tournaments um and the episodes of this pod. So we'll start with the new team, Matt Blandford, right off the hop. Um originally saying that they were just kind of splitting parting ways like as a group, um, but three of them have come back to uh together uh and adding a kind of an interesting name, someone else that we've also talked about a lot, and that we saw at the Briar in 2025, uh and Cam DeYoung adding him at third. Interesting move. I mean, Cam has some great experience. Obviously, Matt has some great experience and would be the elder statesman in that group, but also I guess I just want to question like would Matt ever consider I like I know he like talks of like he has seems like he has a different team every year a little bit, so I mean I know he's like talking to a few people, it must be. Uh, do you think he would ever consider like playing third for someone and going about it that way? I mean, obviously there's been some struggles, like the last bit of like trying to get out of the province in BC, so you know.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Yeah. I mean it's it's something to consider, I would think, uh for sure. I mean, obviously, like you said, he's been kind of moving around a bit. Cam Deoung is is a guy, like you said, we talked about a bit last season. They had a pretty decent year until the the provincial where they kind of shit out, and like there seems to be a bit of an opening in BC for the you know Briar spot um with not really any dominant teams um around. So the you know, this opportunity there and and picking up Cam Young, or Cam Young, sorry, watched a lot of golf here. Uh Cam D Young um to the squad is like a good addition. He he was great at the Briar when we watched him or well played against him. Uh shit kicked uh team Delilo, and where Daniel, me and Daniel were part of, but uh I know Joel got the best of best of them. But you know, it's an interesting uh pickup. I mean it'll be interesting to sit. I mean, Cam having some skipping experience, obviously, if they maybe you know switch it up during the year if uh it doesn't isn't going as planned, but pretty decent squad. What do you think, Danny?

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Yeah, definitely a bit intriguing. I know Matt was pretty freaking good on tour this year. I think a lot of good performances uh were qualifying for pretty much every event. So seems like other than the tankard, which was obviously a huge disappointment for them, I don't think anybody that was paying attention expected them to do as poorly as they did. Um, so with that always comes team changes. So um I think like they should be probably one of the favorites to get out of BC, but if you're the favorite, nobody cares. You still gotta get it done. Um and I know Monty's still gonna be chopping at the bit. I don't know if they're changing up their team at all or anything, but that's a team that uh will be will be obviously there as well. So I don't know. Uh just sort of shuffling the deck, I guess, like uh like many teams are.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

Yeah, it's it's interesting in this kind of like B tier, you know, not the Grand Slam tier. There's usually a lot of just like inter shuffling with players across different teams. So especially in BC with this bit of an opening, it'll be interesting to uh to see. What do you think, Joel?

SPEAKER_05 5:37

No, I think BC is a very interesting province, and I think if you asked pretty much anyone out there, they would all say that it's wide open, it's very wide open. I think, like you said, there hasn't been any dynasties recently. I think really you think about like the last like what I would consider a regular going to the Briar, like was um Jim Cotter. But the last time he went to the Briar was 2020, 2021. I'm not sure exactly, but right around there. And I'm pretty sure they've had a different winner for the past like six to eight years. Like every year has been someone different, and no one has repeated at all. So I think everyone is trying to find that combination that's gonna work, but it seems like it just comes down to that one week and who's playing good because uh, like we said, Blanford and even DeYoung for that matter, like they were both like two of the favorites going into that tankard, and neither of them made the playoffs. So, I mean, maybe joining forces is gonna work here.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Yeah, and good luck to them. And but you know, Monty, Monty is still uh in the way. And I think what is he like six or seven uh front-errup finishes or a couple back-to-back runner-ups. So, you know, I think he's he's due. That's the guy there. Um, is there anything on the woman's side in BC you wanted to mention? Like, I think I'm not sure if we would have talked about it on the prior pod, but obviously Val joining up with uh Caleb McMillan team is is pretty big pickup for them. And you know, the like we talked about a lot last year, the uh the back uh the sorry, the BC woman's kind of provincial play down is is something pretty exciting. Um obviously TRH is uh got the auto spot into the skies this year, so a bit of an opening. I'm not sure if there's what the deal is with the Corinne Brown team exactly. That's one that I'm now thinking of. I know they've had some movements, Joel. I'm not sure if you have any info on that one.

SPEAKER_05 7:20

I think right now Corinne is like the only one that's not on a team from her team. I think the other three have found positions elsewhere that we'll discuss. Um but it right now, like that Kayleigh Millen team adding Val is huge. Uh for Tier H, like, she's obviously getting the buy to the Scotties this year, which is also huge. Like you get you gotta have a huge season to be able to uh be able to do that. Um and really Curly and Canada's looking for that next, like who's gonna start challenging Anderson and Homan consistently, right? Like, you know, you get the Christina Blacks that made a nice run, but they're doing that like once every couple years. Like, who's gonna be getting into a tier one slam consistently? Maybe it's one of those teams. I mean, Val's a player that uh can elevate a team multiple levels. Um, and not that Kayla is that far behind, but I mean like Val's gonna be a difference maker. Like how many Scots now? Like five or six or whatever it is, lost track. And like all the other things that Val's done, it's like you know, this is uh this is a move that can work, and then obviously backing it up with Lindsay Dubay and uh Lauren Lanantine is like that's a great sweeping team for sure. And um it's gonna be good for them. BC is like it's open, but at the same time, you know, I I like the villain's chances out of the Scott this year, just like off the hop, but you know, see if someone else can come out of the weeds out there.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

Yeah, for sure. Maybe we we jump one province over, I think. I can never quite remember the geography of the prairies in the west, but I think that's Alberta. And we can stick to uh the on the woman side with the the Kale Sterlich, maybe new team. Now, Joel, uh I you can maybe run down the the full lineup, but obviously some shake-ups there too.

SPEAKER_05 9:07

Yes, uh, like I said, this is where some of the um Krim Brown team landed. Um Kayla picking up uh one of the bigger prospects that Canada has at the moment on the Web side, Milo Plett. Uh she's gonna be jumping in at third. Um I think that could be a great back end combo. I mean, both of them are kind of big shot makers, difference makers. Um, that's important in the back end. Um, and like I said, with Corin's old teammates with um uh Sam Fisher playing lead, and um I am blanking on uh the other lady's name, but she used to play with uh Kerry Gloosh as well before moving down to uh BC. And now I've as far as I know, this mysterious woman that I'm forgetting is the one that's gonna be moving into Alberta and looks like King has a name. Do you have a name, King?

SPEAKER_06 9:58

Uh I'm trying to find.

SPEAKER_05 10:00

I believe it's uh Sarah Colton. Thank you. That is that is it. Sarah Colton is right. And that again, like that's a ton of experience for them playing in they played in trials, many Scotties, um dating back to all the years with Corinne. So I think that's gonna be a good team and we'll challenge the other some of the top teams that are in Alberta at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Yeah, that's uh it's nice for Platt to find a spot after it seemed like that whole team was sort of uh I don't know, done with curling, but done with the competitive side of curling, at least by the sounds of it, which is obviously a bit disappointing, I think, for anybody who follows curling hand closely. Um you gotta try to keep those teams together. Um, but I mean, out of all the skips that were available, I don't think you could have paired with a better one than Kayla. And I mean, writing it out with Colton and Sam Fisher. Um, like Joel said, that's some good experience. So maybe this parlays Plett um with a good uh quad with maybe Kayla. We'll see what happens. Maybe she ends up getting back into skipping at some point. But it's a great pickup, and uh yeah, it'd be interesting how that goes.

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Yeah, I mean, you you kind of mentioned it, but it seemed like at some point there was some some reporting, I guess, that maybe the Plett team was gonna sit back and Milo was gonna kind of focus on her schooling, which you know, obviously within everybody's rights to do, but would have been a tough um loss for Canadian, kind of the next gen of woman's curling. And it's nice that she kind of picks up with a team here that's been you know competitive, done well in the Scott, been in a couple slams. Like they're obviously really the only carryover from that is Kayla, but Kayla's a dog herself, so like she can kind of carry on. And like, you know, obviously her team in in the prior quad was was pretty solid, but I think this team has a lot of potential. And and like you said before about TRH, like the ability to maybe step up and and challenge Carrie and uh and Rachel in the in the next squad. So certainly uh a good looking squad that'll compete in Alberta. And yeah, I mean I'm not sure if there are any other big movements on the Alberta side in terms of the the relevant teams.

SPEAKER_05 12:05

I think you're definitely missing someone, and it's like one of the biggest most exciting teams that I'm excited that I'm looking forward to this coming year and for the quad is um String of Grey Withers adding Laura Walker to the lineup. And I really think that that's a team that's going if there's someone, like I said, to start filling that gap gap and challenging um a Holman Anderson situation consistently and trying and hopefully getting into the tier one situation, the slams uh time after time is Serena Gray Withers, who continues to like the trajectory of specifically her is very, very steep. And I mean that goes for the rest of the team, but just adding a Laura Walker type player is that's just I mean, we saw how Laura played at the Scotties this year, she still has it without question. So I'm really looking forward to that team.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Alfred is getting very steep. She definitely raises the floor by a bunch, I think, as well. And I'm assuming they've probably had a relationship since uh they play out of the same province, they probably knew each other pretty good, so there's probably some chemistry there as well. Um, so yeah, it's nice for a young team sort of trying to make the next push to get a nice uh vet to play with them, much like um the pickup of L Sweeting as well with McMillan. So sort of similar moves there for two teams that I feel like are on sort of the same path. Um, so those are two teams that I think could be clashing for the next several years at the Scott if everything aligns up right.

SPEAKER_03 13:37

Yeah, for sure. And then like, I mean, it's nice just to see Laura back playing too. I mean, if she's been kind of involved in the double scene or the past quad, but you know, obviously a talent in in Canada, and you know, we can kind of use all those that we can get. So nice to see you're back in the in the ring and uh ready to compete. So yeah, between between that team, uh the screw like team, and then I think like Selena Stirm's team, I think it's still sticking together, right? For for the safe to say that Stermay's in trouble though, like yeah, like I think you could say as of like two years ago, they probably had the momentum as is being the kind of next up and like making the playoffs there. And I I think you know Kayla stole a bit of that last year, getting into the slams, and then obviously Serena stole a lot of that this year with like winning like every single event that she was a part of and doubled in and in uh four person, it seems like for the most part. So I I think you know that she's all the talent and ability Selena does to make a push and kind of jump back up ahead of that. But I think that's kind of like a three-way battle, and I'm sure there'll be other teams around that'll kind of compete and throw their their hats in the ring. But um, yeah, I mean I think it is fair to say that she's probably third in that totem pole at this point, but who know, who really knows until we uh you know start throwing the stones. Um okay, maybe we want to talk men's Alberta at this point. Now, I'm not sure if we would have talked about this or when this quick came out, but obviously, like kind of one of the biggest ones, I think, would be the the Kevin Cooy. Obviously, Tyler Tardy left that squad. We can talk about that a little bit more when we get out more east. Um, but Johnson Tao was picked up by uh Kevin Couy to play third, I believe. So bit of an like at a left field move, I think, at least to me. I mean, obviously, you know, we've played against Tim and in Junior and seen him, and he's we've had a really competitive year, like you know, good year on tour out of Alberta as a young guy, kind of fresh out of the the U of A program. But but it was surprised to me. I don't know. What do you guys think of uh that pickup for Kevin?

SPEAKER_05 15:32

Huge for Johnson, you know. Sorry, sorry, Danny. It's one of those like moves that like if you're Johnson that's like, yes, please, like that's freaking awesome. Um, I think for me, I'm just happy to see Kevin still playing. You know, that like it's easy to have with that Briar last year like energize you a little bit. Um, and really they probably could have had more of probably could have had more of a selection than maybe what they had. I don't know obviously who the people were that they were talking to other than this. Um but I mean Kevin seems I mean if Kevin is taking someone on his team, he must be seeing something that's that's very positive. So I mean, and like you said, we don't have anything other than positive things to say about Johnson and our experience playing against him. Um so I mean, like you said, it's it is a bit of a left field move, but Johnson, if if he's not one of the better players at that age around, I mean, I don't know what is, I guess, you know. Like if you're gonna go with a younger guy, I mean, who else?

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Yeah, and he's probably obviously the him and Tardy. Um, I I know they didn't have like the best years together for like a couple years, but it culminated in a great year last year, and obviously now Tyler's moved on. Um, so obviously I think Kevin and Johnson are probably both hoping for sort of the same path. Um, so maybe he feels more comfortable taking out another young guy. Um, although Johnson's obviously not as accomplished as Tyler was at that point, but uh he obviously can feel some comfort in that, so I'd say that probably played a big part in that.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

Yeah, for sure. I mean, he he clearly did, like you said, feel a little comfortable taking on, maybe taking a swing. Obviously, what if Kevin, like 51, I think, probably at this point. And Johnson's probably what, like 23 or so. So it's definitely more than double uh double his age. So it's interesting one, and obviously he's kind of sliding back in there with uh the same front end um that he had prior, but they had to keep the sandwich going.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

So they take the the 51-year-old, the 23 year old, and then the two like mid-30, 40 year olds in the sandwich on the net. I mean exactly.

SPEAKER_03 17:38

And like maybe maybe Sly Bomb slides up to third at the beginning. Like there is a little bit of flexibility there. Who really knows? But interesting team for sure. I mean, obviously, Kevin out made that big run at the Briar this year, so something to consider. Like, he had options, I'm sure that he he wouldn't have had to have taken this swing on kind of a young, unestablished person if he didn't need to, but he clearly has some confidence in him. So that'll be uh an interesting one to follow.

SPEAKER_05 18:04

Yeah, the the the sweeping with them is probably my is probably the one piece that I'm more intrigued in than anything. Like Slybom knockerings now, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Yeah, Cark's gonna be in his way through a lot of uh we're missing we're gonna miss Vick, the buzzing bees, all the time.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Oh man, Kark is gonna be working his ass off.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

I mean he's always working his working like a dog, but he's uh even even more this year, but who knows? Um very good. I guess is there anything else, Albertawise Joel, that we we miss on the men's side and the other uh squads you wanted to mention?

SPEAKER_05 18:45

Not not that I think I think like pod favorites like Libus is staying together, as far as I know. I mean, maybe I don't know. I don't know. Uh but that's another good team. I mean, we'll see some of these other teams. Obviously, Tao is not together anymore. I don't know, I don't remember where they landed.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Yeah, well, I think I think like Keenan Keenan Whip uh is the one team that he was with Tao, and I know he they won the U Sport, right? So I think he's kind of playing with that university team for this year in preparation for that university out, I guess is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

So like that I'm not one of them's gone to a different team and one of them's like not curling anywhere. I think Morin or Benjamin Morin, I think his name. I think he's not playing now.

SPEAKER_03 19:26

So you know, there's certainly some some movements to be had, and like it's it there's so much depth over there. Like, you know, you can say it about Alberta and like Manitoba and even Saskatchewan to an extent where like there's so many teams that kind of one or two of them generally will emerge like once the season starts and kind of like elevate from the others. Um, but it's hard to really know beforehand unless you're you know, we we like to say we're we're we're kind of rock knowers, ball knowers here, but can't say we're we're too uh exposed on the you know west coast of of Canada side. So it'll be interesting to see kind of early next season who establishes himself as that like kind of you know B tier, if we wanted to call it that, um, in Alberta. Um okay, maybe we just keep moving um west east, sorry, east. And I don't really know actually how this aligns. If we just make it take a quick stop um up north, um I think there were a couple movements, like obviously there's like the Kurd Rummond kind of leaving the Scoffin team to go play with uh Camber Bryce School. We'll talk about that a little bit more on the international side, but unsure how that impacts the Team Scoffin team at this point. It'll be interesting to kind of watch as we go. Um, but you know, uh either way, they've had they've kind of been a solid team with the Briar the last couple years, and they'll kind of be taking a you know a step back in theory uh on paper at the beginning. So interesting one to monitor. We'll kind of see how that team finalizes.

SPEAKER_05 20:57

Yeah, I wonder again, we can get into this after when we talk about the the all international situation, but you know, does Kerr continue to play Briar play downs with Scoffin, even though he's doing this? I mean, maybe that's possible. I don't know, but we will time will tell. We will see. It will.

SPEAKER_03 21:15

Um, okay, so maybe we just go over to Saskatchewan now. Um maybe the biggest, there's probably two kind of biggest moves uh on the men's side if we want to start there. The you know, Tyler Tardy, like we said, he left CUI going to join forces, kind of fill in Mike McEwan's old spot um with Colton Flash and then the Marsh, the Marsh twins, and then kind of in conjunction with that, Mike McEwen jumping in there with with Clyder and taking on a skipping role there with Matt Hall kind of shipping off to a you know undetermined team to us at this point. So between those two two squads, I guess maybe we just started this way. Like, who do you think is the the favorite um in Saskatchewan? Like get both your opinions and like maybe why? Give me a little uh explanation here.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

That's a good question. Very good question. I think probably if you look through the media lineup, I'd probably take Cardi's with Colton and the Marsh brothers just just in general. And I I'm more intrigued.

SPEAKER_03 22:30

Oh, yeah, I had a little technical difficulty there. I think you might have to cut out for a second, uh, but now continue on with your your thoughts on the uh the McEwan team.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Yeah, no, I was I was I don't know if you caught it, but I was saying obviously I'd feel more comfortable with the at the skip position with McEwan over tardy, at least now with the experience and everything. Um but uh even then I'm I'm excited to see Rollin play third, um and and maybe get comfortable there playing with Mike. Um and then I mean Josh is a good second, and and Trevor is one of the best sweeping leads, I think, uh in Canada for sure. So that excites me a bit. I I'm obviously I think Tyler's gonna be fine. Um it probably will be a bit of an adjustment. He hasn't skipped in a while. Um, and you get Colden, Kevin, and Dan. I mean, that's a solid team. Um, I think just the floor with Team McKeon is that much higher, just due to Magic Mike. I don't know. I mean, obviously the Briar last year wasn't his best in the whole season, really, but uh I think that's probably your betting favorite right now. But obviously things could change with how the season goes. But I'm uh I'm gonna take magic. Magic in this one kind of have to. What about you, uh Joel?

SPEAKER_05 23:41

I I think I'm gonna go the other way. I I think right now, just kind of like where Mike is at, age-wise and physically, I think that Tardy just has the ability to make a lot of shots that Mike may not be able to make. And then you throw in the always dynamic and flamboyant Colton Flash, uh, that is somewhat hot or cold occasionally, but you know, Flash has definitely brought his floor up, I would say, in the last few years. And then like they've consistently been in slams and whatnot. I really think that uh just that group together, like I think Tardy's gonna slot in there fine. I think can Flash stay out of his way? Time will tell. And I think that is a no. But the we will see how that shakes out and how much Tardy's just allowed uh, you know, how much rope he gets and how um how much he's gonna let it flow. I think if they do catch a wave, it's gonna be uh enormous in terms of the potential that they have and what they can do, including like Briar Medals and maybe more. Who knows? Obviously, there's some other teams. I guess we missed Jacobs and Alberta staying together, but that's just we all knew that anyway.

SPEAKER_03 24:55

Um I guess we all the boxer team, we also now that I'm realizing we we didn't really speak on, but it's kind of a big one.

SPEAKER_05 25:02

But yeah, I mean these were announcements that happened very long time ago. Um, so I think most people would understand now that like what the situation is, but I think for this specifically for Saskatchewan, I mean I'm with you there, Danny, though, in terms of uh I'm excited to see Ronald at third. Um I yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 25:24

I mean, playing with Mike is gonna be huge. Like he also hasn't played third before, which I mean I didn't really play into account. I I think he's always skipped.

SPEAKER_03 25:31

So yeah, which I think it's definitely a shake up. I mean, like he's he's like a lifelong skip, but you know, people I would say a lot of people would think you know, lifelong skip the switch to third, and like having to sweep would be difficult, but like from what I can tell, like he's he's a physical like kind of beast. Like he's definitely a great athlete. So like I I think he'll be in a good position to be a good sweeper, so you don't really have that risk um going from skip to third. And I think like it kind of makes both teams better, I think, in some way. Like the team with Mike before, like Mike and Colton, obviously like they were good and they they did have a high ceiling, but like I think it was obviously like a short-term high ceiling, I guess, with with Mike. Um kind of you know, hot and cold. Same thing with Colton, really. Like their whole team was a little bit hot and cold, but now with Tyler, like I think he's he's a bit of the darling of curling can at this point. Like, he had a pretty big year last year, like obviously going to the Olympics and you know, big uh big on the the gram and the TikTok, and and you know, he's definitely buzzing in that sense. And like he he definitely took a step up at the Briar, I think, um, in terms of his like shot making and ability to kind of change games himself. So he he's always kind of felt like the the next a little bit of like the next great hope for Canadian men is like curling skipps, like obviously dominant junior player, won a couple world juniors, I think. And then um, you know, since then has been a little like wishy-washy, I guess, in terms of of quality. The Kooey team was rough there for a bit with him, but feels like he's definitely like the next guy who's supposed to break out. Now he has the opportunity and you know, skipping a team of his own with a pretty established squad around him. So it'll be interesting to uh see how it shakes out. But I think that'll be a nice battle. Like I'm not sure. I don't think either of those teams would have auto bursts. Is that fair to say? I don't think they would. So and I don't know if if there's gonna be like an extra spot. I'm not sure what the the whole do you know what the qualification is for the Briar next year, Joel, in terms of like the auto calls and who would maybe be.

SPEAKER_05 27:25

I think it's like if there's a team that should have gotten it and then they broke up, like they don't have three of the same four, then I think it would go to a like after play downs, whoever's top of the list at the time. I think yeah. Mike might like that old Mike team. I should it's confusing now because they're playing the same province still, but I think the new Tardy team potentially is up for one of those auto spots, maybe because it's three of the four. I'm not exactly sure. Yeah, but I think the one thing that I'm really looking forward to in terms of the collider team is Ryland, Trevor, and Josh have been together for what, like a decade probably, maybe more.

SPEAKER_03 27:59

More than that, I think, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 28:01

Yeah, and like for more or less it's been like the same. Um, because they brought in a second or third, and that's you know, at the end of the day, that's not changing the dynamic of the group like a ton. But now you throw in a very veteran skip uh and your skip has to go down and play third. You know, I think it's kind of a fresh start that could look great for them, and it's just gonna like build on obviously a decade of work already, but now it's you know you throw in someone that like has the ability to elevate the team like a substantial amount. So Saskatchewan is fun and the men's. Uh anything on the women's that we should chat about.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

Uh well, I mean, there's there's one one one whole Nancy Martin obviously used to be there. We can maybe chat on her on once we get to the Manitoba side, I believe.

SPEAKER_05 28:53

Saskatchewan really is, honestly. Like no more Nancy Martin is no more playing in the Scott in Saskatchewan.

SPEAKER_03 29:00

Yeah. I think, but I do think uh now I don't actually know that the team, I I may have heard this wrong, but I think Skylar Ackerman, I believe is her name, is back. She took, I know she was like taking a year off or was kind of away after having a bit of a run of the Scott, but now she's back. I'm not sure exactly what her squad is, but she was kind of like an up-and-coming player for uh for them.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

Yeah, yeah, actually, Skylar, Robin Silvernagle, Rachel, Big Eagle, Erickson, and uh Mary Little. Not familiar with Little Live, but go Mary. Let's go.

unknown 29:34

True.

SPEAKER_02 29:35

It's a good team though, Robin Silvernagel.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

Give a little little and big on the front end. That's that's pretty nice. Nice combo.

SPEAKER_05 29:44

Yes, for those who don't remember uh 2024 Scott, I believe, uh Ackerman was playing out of her mind after winning the province as a very, very young team, and then she stepped away for some school the last couple years, but now she's back with the Robin Silver Nagel and Rachel Big Eagle. I think it's like has to be the favorite in the province, I would assume, at this point in time, especially without Nance.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

Yeah, Penny Barker's still there, but I'd say probably the favorite.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:13

I actually who won the Scott for Saskatchewan last year? I actually can't remember.

SPEAKER_03 30:18

That's my bad. I'm not sure if either of you uh Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene.

SPEAKER_06 30:25

Oh, true.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Ah, fair enough. So there's an opening there. Very good. But yeah, I mean that's that'll be an exciting kind of team to follow. And never know. I mean, Randall Robin has been around for a while. Uh Silver Nagel, nice little veteran presence there. So could make a little run. I don't know how much like they'll play um on the tour, hopefully a lot, and they can maybe kind of jump into that. You know, uh we may mention this, I'm sure we'll talk about it a lot, and then once the season starts, but like these kind of like feeder events for the Grand Slams, um, like the satellite little events that'll kind of qualify in um to the big Grand Slams. Like that that feels like a team to me that if they get hot, like they could kind of go and win one of these kind of sub-events and then then find their way in. So be an interesting one to follow. All right. Um, maybe Manitoba time. Do you want to move over there? Um the elusive. I don't know. Do you want to start on that? Do we want to just jump right into Nance? Nance on the woman's side, Joel. Uh, I'm not too certain of the exact squad, but uh, do you got any comments on the new Nance uh Manitoba team?

SPEAKER_05 31:28

Yeah, I mean like very familiar for Nance. Obviously, she was playing with um Kadrian a lot, um, and she does live in Manitoba. Um, and then you have um oh, I believe she missed the Scotty this year because she was um pregnant and having uh her first child. Um the name will come to me shortly, but Jay uh Jalen Kissed. That's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:54

Jalen uh Kiss Stewart. Jalen Stewart, that's it.

SPEAKER_05 31:58

Okay, so she yeah, so she also lives in Manitoba and was I think they had a birthright slash free agent thing going on to go back to Saskatchewan, but now I believe uh they lost Chris Christy Gamble, uh Saskatchewan native, so now they picked up a Manitoba native, which I'm not sure exactly who that person is, I only saw it the other day. Uh so now Nance is the free agent. Very complicated, not really though. But now Nance is playing in Buffalo town, and um apparently the provincials are in Gimli, Manitoba, so that is the home of uh, as far as I know, Kaden a lot, but also that's why they kind of made that move to play in her hometown in Gimli, but also home to Carrie Anderson. Um, did you guys celebrate Carrie Anderson Day whenever that was last month?

SPEAKER_03 32:49

Of course.

SPEAKER_05 32:50

Personally, I took the day.

SPEAKER_03 32:53

Yeah, you have to. I mean, a legend like that, what is she? A five five time Scott champion? Yeah. You must. And I saw the Team Jacobs Away was uh recently placed as well, so I hope you uh you you celebrated the the Team Jacobs Road in the Sioux. That was big. I didn't see that. They had their own team going on there. I should have said Team Cups, Team Cups Way. I don't know why it was Jacobs, because it seems to be kind of seems kind of sucks. Bonebroth Boulevard.

SPEAKER_04 33:24

True.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

You should really pitch him for that uh next time. Uh yeah. Next time Brad Jacobs wins a gold medal, yeah. Yeah, next time it'll be Bonebroth. The fact that's the first one. Yeah. I mean EJ and Ryan, now obviously, like, you know, all they're all related, they've all been a part of Team Jacobs. They were both there when they posted when they like in the post from the city. So like I guess it's kind of like the culmination of Team Jacobs, like that led to the street name, but it seems a bit funny that they uh were both kind of in attendance right after they, you know, it was clearly relating to the gold medal they just want. To be fair, they probably should have gave them a street after the first gold medal.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Like, to be fair enough. Bragg had a second gold medal and they were like, ah, yeah, it's probably about time we do that.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

Yeah. I mean, fucking douche you've got a whole highway here.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

That's lots to compete with.

SPEAKER_04 34:14

Um, very good. So, I mean, is there any other thing on the on the woman's side in Manitoba we wanted to touch on?

SPEAKER_03 34:19

I'm not actually too sure. I know that there were some movements with uh Kate Cameron. I'm not sure where she went exactly, Joel. I feel like you might have this knowledge. She did.

SPEAKER_05 34:27

This is kind of an interesting one. Um moving into Quebec with Lori St. George, kind of a McEwan collider situation, but I guess to a lesser extent, but kind of the same situation. Lori skipped forever, uh, and now enter Kate Cameron into the mix. Bit of a wild move, if you ask me. I mean, Kate's like played on a lot of very highly quality teams, high-quality teams. And not that Lori's team is nothing less than very good, but you know, not to the extent that Kate has played. But here we are. They have a great chance of going to the Scott now as the favorite, but I'll but that leaves another team out of Manitoba. Uh, and of course, we have the new uh team Negavin um with Caitlin Law. Um, well, at this point, I believe taking a year off, see how things shake out. I'm sure she will be back. She said it wasn't a retirement, which is a good thing. Caitlin is very talented. Um, but there was still some teams. Uh Selena Negavin uh with with her husband. That's his name. And they are having twins at the moment. They are they are pregnant with twins, which is great for them. Uh, but they have a team with uh the last part of the Corinne team, who seems to be everywhere now, with um uh Aaron Pincott at third, with um, and then Margot Fleming moving over from Skirlik's team, uh, as well as man, I gotta get better at this. Kristen Karwacki, who was a bit of big name in the uh side of fifths for the last uh quad plus with uh Kerry Anderson. So that's kind of an interesting team. We'll see if they can kind of find some magic. Um yeah, that was uh the last quad with the Laz team really was I would consider a disappointment, and I'm sure they may as well. Um, but more or less a similar group of players that you know maybe maybe they can take a take a step. But I mean you got Nance in the province now, so watch the fuck out. So true.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

Gonna be tough uh to come back. And I guess we should probably just speak on maybe the the carry team. Um Anderson, that is, obviously Val um leaving.

SPEAKER_04 36:47

Well very similar squad. Um, but I believe it's just uh the Jocelyn got picked up there, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Um Jocelyn Peterman was still with um Carly Burgess and oh my gosh, Shannon Burchard. Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 37:04

And I guess I think Shannon's playing third on that team. Is that the yeah?

SPEAKER_05 37:07

Shannon Shannon and Carly are moving up, no problem there. Shannon is one of the most talented curlers that Canada's ever seen. Um and she has previously won a Scott at third, so I have no issue with that. Carly obviously has won everything at second or third in her career, other than the Scotties this year. Not gonna be any issue there. Um and Jocelyn is, I mean, I hate the narrative that it's like, oh, we're gonna put her at lead in the house because of the doubles thing. Jocelyn's just a great player, and I think in this situation it makes sense that she's in this position. Um but I mean, like I said, I don't want to bring that narrative into things. She's gonna be great in the rings with Carrie, too. It's it's I think it fits really well. Uh Carlyle and Shannon as good a front-end sweeping duo as you can get, more or less. So I mean, I think it makes perfect sense the way that they've kind of mapped that line about. Um I'm surprised. One thing I was surprised with is obviously like uh building up to the Olympics and whatnot, I guess the teams are kind of doing the coach fifth thing, the whole kind of sixth-person uh kind of team in preparation for those things. They're all they don't have a coach or fifth at this point in time. Will they figure that out? I don't know. I Reed is not with the team anymore, which I thought was a bit surprising because him and Carrie seem pretty tight. Um, but he might come around to somewhere else or maybe back to Kerry at some point in time. We'll see. But interesting team. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:33

Yeah, it's fair. It'll be competitive for sure. I mean, but they're obviously like, you know, Rachel is still still uh queen of the castle, but um Kerry is is kind of second in terms of uh Canada, you know, woman's curling. So that'll be interesting. Um just quickly, I kind of we missed this one on the BC side. Uh Sarah Daniels back in BC, skipping a team. Another team to add, you know, Abby Ackland, Calissa Daly, and Dana Demand. So like interesting team on the BC Scott side. Let's just add everything we said before about BC Scott being you know a good competition. That's should be a decent team to battle. So just wanted to quickly take it.

SPEAKER_05 39:08

Yeah, there's more there's a lot of death in BC.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

They should be saying this is kind of fun too. I mean, she was always a killer in junior, so that'll that'll be fun to watch. Yeah, just back to her back to natural position after yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

Um, I mean, maybe we we can just get the big one. I'm sure people have heard this one uh at this point, but uh Dunstone, obviously, you know, they had the void of EJ retiring. There was a lot of like speculation. I mean, there wasn't really many options, really. Like by the time that you know the botch team came together and um you know a couple other of the higher quality teams came together. Um there wasn't many options really in terms of like teams that we like you know, competing for world championships for for Dunstone, but obviously they picked up Mark Nichols, free agent after Brad Yushu retiring. We're all you know very aware of that. But it's interesting to kind of see. I mean, he's I feel like he slot in pretty well. He's obviously on the older side um compared to the rest of them. I guess Ryan is Ryan Harden is a little older, but you know, if they were gonna find a high quality player, like kind of tier one player with experience, like he was the guy, and be interested to see how how that kind of works out for them.

SPEAKER_02 40:17

Yeah, I I I can see it working out pretty well for all parties. I mean, it's a veteran team that is coming off a huge win. Mark's had plenty of success at the Briar and playing good solid curling. So um definitely be a bit interesting to see how Mark adjusts to uh playing second and sweeping last rock. Um, but but should be no problem for him. I guess he all is uh he's recently getting active on social media because you can see he's training pretty hard. I'm loving the Mark uh social media air. I think uh I think everybody can get on board with that, so I'm eating that shit up.

SPEAKER_03 40:52

Yeah, he's a likable guy. I mean, of course, obviously we're you know biased, I guess, just being you know newfootliners, but and Labradorians, Joel specifically, of course. Uh exactly, that's what I'm saying. Joel Mark share that that bond is just you know you're kind of next up. It's a bit tough for you, Joel. You would have been uh you know one of the you know, I won't say the the top, but you you were kind of the guy in Labrador curling there now that Mark's gone, but now Mark's still around, so tough tough loss for you. You have to take him down yourself. But um, yeah, I mean, you know. I it'll be I I can't say I've cheered super hard for the Dunstone team of always kind of cheered for either Cupsy or or you know, Gushu, obviously kind of beforehand, but now having Mark on that team, I mean it's hard to cheer against Mark Dickles, who's you know, really nice guy and obviously really talented curler. So nice to see him maybe pick off another couple uh couple Briars maybe without Brad. I mean I felt a little weird at at the Briar this year. Obviously, you know, big send out for Brad Gushu um in Newfoundland, like was the whole thing obviously as deserved. But like in the back of my head, I was like, you know, Mark, like he's done all the same stuff as is Brad, and like it was kind of uncertain what his career looked like, his future, and nobody really said anything about Mark. It was all about Brad. I was like, you know, I kind of feel for him if he just kind of retires and and doesn't really get any of that notoriety, but clearly he's gonna make another run at it. And never know, might elevate himself. Yeah, I've got a couple more Briars than Brad Gushu would be kind of kind of nice.

SPEAKER_05 42:17

If Mark plays like obviously he's gonna be on Dunstone's team, and Dunstone's team is Team Canada next year at the Briar, and at the very least, they're gonna be a pre-qualified team the year after if Mark stays on. It's like if they if Mark if Mark plays like two, maybe three more Briars minimum, like who knows how long he's gonna end up playing for, he's gonna end up passing Brad in like all those categories. Like odds are they'll win one of the next two, probably. And terms of like games played and wins and stuff like that, Mark's just gonna have all those records now, which is kind of cool.

SPEAKER_02 42:50

Does Mark end up passing Brad as the greatest Newfoundland Labrador curler of all time? Um, if that happens, that's a discussion we'll have to have.

SPEAKER_05 43:02

Uh, when Mark's at the Olympics game when he's 50. So we'll see. I saw him talking about that on a John Cullen pod today, and that was uh like it's hard to comprehend sometimes, you know what I mean? Like uh Mark, he was talking about um the fact when they went to the Olympics in 06, he was playing with Russ, and Russ was 50, and he's like, Russ was ancient. And now, hypothetically, if that Dunstone team goes to the next Olympics, Mark is 50 and Mark is ancient.

SPEAKER_02 43:30

Mark will carry that 50 much better than Russ will though. Mark is top shade, no offense, Russ.

SPEAKER_05 43:36

Well, you know what, he beats him out just in the teeth alone. So, you know, that that's that's great. So we'll see how long Mark goes for. It's a totally different team without EJ on it. Uh Kazoo. Kazoo, yeah. EJ EJ brings a lot of certain uh things and skills to. A team that maybe Mark doesn't possess, but Mark has obviously been one of the best shooters in the game for ever. And um it's gonna be perfectly fine. They're gonna win a lot of games. They're gonna win a lot of games. Yeah, Colton Lott is very good. True.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

He showed up. I think the next Mark Kennedy written all over it, like in terms of like the dominant third in Canada.

SPEAKER_05 44:25

Well, he could be the next Mark Nichols, too, you know.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Yeah, he could also be the next Colton Lott.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

So it could also be the next uh uh Joel Pratz, who knows? Okay, maybe we just jump to another Manitoba team. Obviously, new, like interesting new colors for Mr. John Epping um with BJ Newfeld, Ryan Weave, and Ian McMillan. So that's an interesting one, I think, that we'll have to uh consider uh as you know, one of these like borderline slam teams, probably a slam team, um, you know, at least on paper. Ryan Weave has been with with Sam Moyberg the last couple of years, you know, making the Briar in 2025, uh having some success there pretty good on tour. And then, you know, McIan McMillan obviously has some familiarity with John Epping and then BJ Newfeld, uh, savvy vet uh on the on the curling scene. So interesting swad should be, you know, between them, obviously Dunston will have the auto birth. Like Jordan McDonald is still around in Manitoba, so that's you know, big team um for like a provincial battle, I would say. And they're both of those teams are probably ones that are up for that maybe you know free spot in the the Briar as well.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

No, I was saying, I mean, the three of them, three-headed monster going on in Manitoba with Brayden Calvert as well there. Um that that'll be a uh a good battle um for the Briar next year with Dunner getting that X uh representing his Team Canada um next year in the uh hundredth anniversary of the Briar in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Montana's Briere.

SPEAKER_06 46:06

True.

SPEAKER_05 46:08

Everyone in Manitoba should be happy that uh Doug Snowd isn't there for good reason, but also just for the fact that there's so much depth there at the moment, because even though they're not there, there's still gonna be two high quality teams that are not going to the Briar. And that is quite something because either all three of those teams could win at any time against each other. Very evenly matched at the moment, I would say. We'll see how the Epping situation happens. I think again, gonna quote Russ or sorry, I'm gonna quote Vic and say Johnny Epping every time that he makes a freaking intern angle raise, just cuz. But he's gonna maybe need some lightning in a bottle compared to these other teams, Calvert and McDonald, I think. I mean, you're gonna need to get full value out of everyone in the lineup, I think, to be able to make that happen. But I think it's pretty pretty tight all around, I think.

SPEAKER_04 47:03

For sure.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Nah, and I think there's there's probably some other kind of team changes on the margin on the men's and women's side of Manitoba. I mean, there's just so much depth there that it's hard to comment on everyone. And I'm like I said about Alberta, like there's gonna be one or two other teams that kind of emerge as is like borderline kind of slam or you know doing well on the tour if they're in the prairies um once the season starts. So it'll be interesting to see how that all shakes out. But um maybe we want to just quickly jump into northern Ontario before we go into Ontario. Um maybe I I don't think there's too much on the men's side. I think John Epping obviously was there, but the Horgons jumping over with Fotcher and then the team we just mentioned. So, you know, our guy Sandy McEwen looking pretty good as the favorite, I would think, in the Northern Ontario Briar uh play down this year. But on the woman's side, um, I guess maybe the biggest news, uh, I believe um Krista Sharp slash McCarville, she's kind of like retiring slash taking a step back, I believe, um, at this point. And then Cira Brunton is just kind of picking up a team there with I think it's Kendra Lilly, um, who obviously you know has been with Krista Sharp for a while. Um I'm kind of blanking out the rest. Either either of you have the rest of the team name.

SPEAKER_05 48:18

Laura Radula and Megan Smith. Huge team. Amy Smith. Huge team. Yeah. There was a lot of upside with that team. Like there's a like we could see them in tier one slams, I think, at some point in time. And like very much competing in Scotty's, and like for them, like without Krista around or like a version of Krista's team that's not put maybe not putting in as as much time as like they previously have, like, great opportunity to get to the Scott year in, year out. Uh, as long as they put in the work and things go the right way as they should. Um all the upside in the world. Kira is a very talented curler, along with the rest of the team. But I think Kira herself is gonna step into a skip role that's gonna make a lot of sense. She's won like multiple nationals at skip already, so.

SPEAKER_03 49:08

Yeah, it's fair. I mean, she obviously was in with Danielle English there for the last couple of years, and they've had some success. But um, you know, be nice to see her back in the in the skip roll. Um, okay, maybe we just jump jump right down to Ontario. Um on the I mean, maybe we should just share the men's side, I guess. Um the the T Moybrook team that we we kind of mentioned, Ryan we prior a part of, they have a new look. I think they got picked up Owen Purcell from from Nova Scotia, and I believe they they retained Scott Mitchell, and then uh have Gavin, I don't know how to say this last name, Lydate, Lydia, something like that, Joel. What do you what do you think it is? What do you think it is? I'm not gonna comment. I think it was one of those were close enough. Fair enough, but obviously that's like uh a bit of a new look team, uh picking up a couple. Well, I guess Owen's really the only uh you know, blue noser, I believe is what they call the the Nova Scotians are uh of them, uh, with Gavin playing out of there last year, but I believe he's from Ontario. So that's an interesting new look for Moore Brook. I mean, couple couple skips who've had success at the Briar, like and kind of on tour with Owen and Sam. It'll be an interesting duo to kind of put together. So I don't know if either of you got any thoughts on that, on that new kind of up and coming squad.

SPEAKER_02 50:26

Well, like I think it's gonna be kind of cool to see Owen play third for a little bit. Um, obviously a great shop maker at the skip position, but he can make out everything. So I feel like him filling in a third really kind of fits his game, to be honest. Um, so I'm kind of excited for that. On the sweeping side, I mean he used to sweep because I know Graham, uh former teammate, used to skip, and and Owen usually wasn't the house, so he obviously has the familiarity there. Um yeah, it's it's a good team. I mean, I know Gavin and Scott are pretty good sweepers, pretty big boys. So yeah, obviously they'll have another good chance to get out of Ontario. Um, and also got some other new look teams uh in the province, so um, including a Newfoundlander, and then uh just you know, usually the way it goes with Scott Howard, there's always a little jumble up there. So I don't know, should be should be fun, fun curling for all.

SPEAKER_05 51:18

I think uh one thing I was like everyone for me anyway, that I was like kind of looking at going into this offseason was there was a bunch of these next gen teams the McDonald's, Purcell, Moybrook, King, so and so, like all those type of category teams. Um all around the same age, all kind of in a similar situation in terms of world rankings and like where they're at. Um and then King and McDonald decided to stay together, which is great because I mean, both great teams. I don't see why you would make a change when everything is like just keep building on something that you have already. Moibrook and Purcell obviously wanted some changes, and I think this little I guess marriage makes sense. Um Ontario is tough though, like you said. There's like Ontario's got a lot of tough teams. Uh who knows? Cliffe might come back. We don't know. But yeah, I mean, we can probably see the usual suspects in there, and Team King is looking good and hard to beat. Uh Sam Moorebrook's a great skip, though. I think that move makes the most sense. Like, like you said, I think Owen at third for a bit is gonna be good. That's gonna be a complimenting duo there, I think. Moorebrook has that soft touch and draw game that everyone really would want. Um, and Owen just hits so well, and I think it's gonna be a great well-rounded team.

SPEAKER_03 52:42

So yeah, I mean we we kind of hinted there at a couple of other teams. We can just mention them. Uh Scott Howard, back with a familiar squad, I think. Maybe not the exact squad he's had in the past, but like, you know, a bunch of different teammates he's had in the past, with I believe it's Pat Jansen at third, and all uh Davey Mathers is back from the grave uh at second, and then Scott Chadwick, I believe, playing the lead. So a couple uh you know, pushy boys there ready to to take on a run at the the Ontario Tankard, and you know, Scott's the shotmaker himself, uh Howard obviously, so got the got that in his blood. So it'll be that'll be an interesting team, and then you you mix them with you know Moiberick and King that we just mentioned, and then um Nathan Young, obviously, you know, familiar with him out of Newfoundland and had a pretty solid run at the Briar this year, out of Newfoundland, but taking over um, I think the team that was you know formerly the team Keen, where Keen that is, um can't remember all the names. I believe there's a maybe a Spencer uh is there a Spencer Dunlop in there?

SPEAKER_02 53:42

Freddie Lonely. Spencer Dunlop.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

Yeah, so I mean they they had some success. I mean they made the I know they had made the pre-trials, um, played a lot of you know um events on tour this year, so I think they'll probably pick up uh a bit bigger of a schedule than you know Nathan would be used to just playing out of Newfoundland. Obviously, you know, we're all very familiar with you know how how difficult it is to have a you know a big tour schedule out of Newfoundland. So it'll be nice for for Nathan to kind of take on a bit more of a heavy role on a nice young team that again kind of fits into that like up-and-coming um category of teams that obviously you know a lot of talented curlers that haven't had like you know crazy amounts of success at this point, but have all the possibility in the world. So that'll be a nice battle in in Ontario there.

SPEAKER_05 54:31

Yeah, I don't know how much further on the men's teams. Anyone you want to jump over to the women's teams?

SPEAKER_03 54:35

Yeah, I mean I think uh there's one team that stood out to me. I mean, there's a couple teams uh on the women's side that we should mention, but team Madah, and I say this quite literally because it is three quarters is entirely Madda's, which I believe it's now the order and the names I may get a little wrong, but it's it's Sherry Madaugh Skip. Obviously, you know, she's been around for a while. Um, the the elder stateswoman, obviously, with her two daughters, I believe. Uh I'm not sure, maybe net nieces, but I think daughters. I know Kelly Madaugh is one of them. Um, and then I I'm actually blanking on the third Madda member of the team. Um Emily Madaugh, and then obviously, you know, you got Wayne, Wayne Midda as coach as well. So there are five members of that team, I think, and and four of them are are you know immediate family members. So that's that's an interesting one. You know, you know, you see LeBron and Brawny playing in the NBA, and now you got Kelly Midda and and Sherry Midda and all them playing in curling. So I don't know, that's just one kind of tickle of my fancy a little bit. It's interesting.

SPEAKER_05 55:41

Sherry's kind of grabbing and like Sherry's kind of grabbing a wave right now, too, uh, just personally, and like she was at she won the Canadian seniors this year and a bronze at the worlds just a couple weeks ago. Um and of course, you bring in the energy of like your daughters and Wayne Mida is gonna be great as a coach. I mean, how could he not be? I mean, I think that's it's an interesting team. We'll see. Like, they're gonna need some gelling to happen, and Sherry's gonna have to be curling very well for the most part. But I mean, why not? Sherry almost went to the Olympics one time. So and maybe also like four Scotty's bronze medalists. So that's quite the resume that is gonna compete very well for sure.

SPEAKER_03 56:27

Um, all right, Joel. Uh, I think there's another team you wanted to mention, maybe um on the Ontario side.

SPEAKER_05 56:34

Yes, the Daniel Inglis team, new Daniel Inglis team, uh, with um pop favorite Joanne Rizzo, who has been away from the game a little bit, another uh senior veteran of the game that is coming back to the women's. And yes, I did see her in the airport in Toronto in terminal three last week. I don't know where she was going. Um but I saw her there. And then you add the uh former lead of Team Skurlik, Jerilyn Ramsey, comes in at second. Uh she played some high-level curling in the last uh this last quad. Um, and then you have uh Joanne Tarvet, uh former uh not former, current goal line employee and co-worker of mine, uh lives in Calgary, and she was playing on the Amanda Slaczynski team. They were they finished third in Alberta Scottties last year. So coming in lead, solid lineup. And I mean, Ontario is just wide open, wide open, especially when you like take some players like pretty much all of Danielle Ingles' previous team is either not curling or gone to another province, other than Danielle. So that definitely helps everyone else, including Danielle's current team, new team, to uh make a run and see what happens. I mean, it's pretty wide open, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:54

I mean, the one team last year that we talked about uh a little bit kind of being uh next up, like the Ardachuk team. I'm not sure what their lineup is. I I think was Lauren Rajal on that team.

SPEAKER_05 58:05

I may be wrong in saying this, but Lauren and Megan Smith are now, yes, with uh Kendra and um Kira up in the north, and then you have um Calissa Daly with the uh Sarah Daniels team in BC, and I believe Cassandra de Groot is not curling competitively at that level right now. So um Yeah, I mean it'll be yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:30

No, they were pretty good, and then like it looks like I I just kind of had a quick scan, and it said that the kind of the the rest of the Arduchuk team were gonna look for new opportunities. Obviously, Lauren and and Jamie have found squad like we that we just mentioned, but Emma, you know, she's pretty good in a young team, and it doesn't look like she has anything quite lined up yet.

SPEAKER_05 58:49

Uh she she teamed up at third with Carly Howard. Okay, there you go. Bloody answer. That's another team that adds to the depth of Ontario, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

Yeah, for sure. So there you go. I mean, that'll be a fun little uh little run from the Ontario Scott. Um just quick quick jump. We already kind of talked about the the Laurie St. George and Kate Cameron uh of it all on the Quebec side. Um maybe quickly mention, I think this one was probably announced like prior uh on the men's side with with Felix Asselin. Obviously, you know, the the rest of his team with Menard, with JF, uh Sean Michel himself, and then Martin Crettal retiring um after the Briar this year, and he's jumping on with the old team Tromblay, I believe. So kind of Felix at Skip and then Julian Tromblay and Jesse Mullen and um another guy. I apologize, Mr. Lead. I forget your name, but Arsenal. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 59:47

Yeah, I think it's a Jean Michel a lot too. I think I read that they were gonna end up like playing up a lot of events. Um huge favorite. I think right now the senior, the men's situation in Quebec is very, very competitive. But in terms of anyone between that age group in the 50s and Felix's team, it's pretty slim pickings in between there. And I, you know, Felix is gonna they're gonna have to win a lot of games because apparently last year they had to win like 13 games to go to the Briar at the provincial tankard. Like what a mess. But you know, they're gonna be the favorite, especially just for their age. And I mean, they're gonna be playing a lot on tour, like that's gonna just elevate them again.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:28

Yeah. I think there were uh there's a couple teams on the junior side. Did the junior men's team from Quebec win the national recently, or did they lose the final? I can't quite remember.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:37

They won the bronze, they won the under-18 nationals, um, and they won the bronze at the juniors. They picked up a couple kids from they had a couple guys age out, and they picked up a couple guys from out of province. Um Tyler McTavish from Ontario, who I've seen at nationals over the last number of years, and uh I think he's going to that team now in Quebec, which is should be a good team. I think more so on the junior side, like on the women's, we saw team Julianne Fortin at the Scott this year. Um they won the juniors, and they're gonna be Team Canada. I I don't know what the dates are in terms of the Scotties and the World Juniors, but I mean if that team is in the Scott play downs, like why not beat Kate Cameron, you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:23

Like Yeah, I mean they be they beat Lori this year, and yeah, they're clearly they're good. So all right. Um we want to finally jump into the Atlantic provinces here. Um Nova Scotia-wise, maybe we can start. I mean, a couple of the you know better teams in Atlantic, I guess, are certainly from there. Obviously, Owen, Purcell, like we mentioned, left. Um his, you know, a couple members of his team um joining up with uh Markeen, we prior mentioned, so I believe there's a team out of Nova Scotia with Markeen, uh Luke Saunders, Nathan Gray, who was you know former uh Canadian junior champion, uh, and then Ryan Abrahams also on that squad. So, you know, interesting new look for Nova Scotia, Joel. I know you're you know familiar with the Nova Scotia curling scene. What do you uh think of that team?

SPEAKER_05 1:02:11

I was wondering where Mark was gonna land. I thought I heard he had something going up in Ontario, but I guess that didn't that kind of fell through. Um I think it's a good fit. Um that team definitely with Luke and Ryan specifically, like they deserve to find a player that was at that has been playing at a certain level, and Mark has been doing that over the last bit, obviously qualifying for the pre-trials and former uh Briar competitor as well. So I think that's gonna be a good fit. The scene here kind of softened up a bit, I would say, a bit. I mean, like Owen leaving and haven't heard any word on what Matt Manuel is doing, but also I've also heard that he hasn't really been thinking about playing, so I don't really know how that's gonna shake out. Um but great opportunity for Team Keen to get to Ryan. I mean, Nathan Gray's a beast on the brush, so that's gonna be a good addition uh in that sense, too. So I think that's gonna be a good team.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:07

For sure. And I guess you can quickly mention, I guess, that like the where Nathan Curry came from team uh Call and McKizac obviously recently made a run at the World Juniors. Pretty solid performance, but they made the playoffs there. Um so good run. Nathan was on that team. He left. I believe they have Nick Mosier, is that right to say, um, joining in, kind of feel stepping in for Nathan Gray's role. So another kind of good young team that's had some success that uh, you know, wouldn't be surprised to see them make a run at the tanker on tour. Kind of everything. Like we need one of those kind of young teams. Any any team that's won, you know, Canyon Juniors on the men's side. Uh interesting one to follow. Nova Scotia's been a bit of a a factory for for junior curling in the in the past couple years. So could be some uh steps to be taken there by them. Um I guess we can we can jump to the woman's side there. Biggest team, obviously, Christina Black. Um they pick up Lindsay Burgess. So obviously, Nova Scotia Native. They've been playing in Alberta with Team Great Withers the last couple years. Um obviously, you know, got got replaced by Laura Walker over there, but good pickup for um for Christina, I think. Great sweeper, young, kind of energetic player. Um, you know, bitter on the block, playing at high high quality curling for a little while. So um I'm I'm not sure exactly who I know they were running a five-person team. I think they'll still be running a bit of a five-person team, but or they never mind. I take that back. I guess it was their front end. Is it Carly, Everest, and Jen Baxter?

SPEAKER_05 1:04:35

Baxter step away from the game, and Carly is now like full fifth, which yeah, okay. I think just for Christine in general, it doesn't really matter who the four players are. I think this is a good fit just fine for people that are gonna be in the lineup all the time and just work from there. Huge pickup. Marley Marley Powers at second full time is gonna be great, solid player star in the Rock League, obviously great mixed doubles player as well. Uh, and then adding Lindsay, who's I mean, we saw what they did in Great Weather. It's like talk about Serene all you want, but I mean that's that was a team effort with that team. So I mean big pickup. Also, we should mention that now Christina, even though they've had they had a good season last year uh in some big events, but they are they did not get a pre-qualified spot. Uh Tier A to snabb that one. So they are back in the play downs. Um and you have Taylor Stevens who is staying with the same group that we saw at the playoffs at the Scott last year. So that should be a good battle, though, I think between those two teams for who gets over the who gets uh to the national Scott.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:47

Yeah, definitely will be. Um yeah, I think those are probably the two biggest burnlers. I know there's a few young teams that are uh trying to make a push. I think Blades and and some other ones, but yeah, those those are gonna be the two. Uh The two ones to look out for for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:03

Yeah, for sure. So that's nice little uh self-scoach rundown. I mean we can quickly mention uh on the New Brunswick side, obviously, Joel, you know, you filled a void there on uh or well created a void on the Gratton team, picked up John Buke. Obviously, you know, they have a bit of experience with Team Grattan, I believe, right? Playing uh a couple years back. So, you know, don't need to dive too deep into that one, obviously, um, but you know, worth mentioning. Uh let's see anyone, Daniel or Joel, any kind of additional thoughts to share. We can jump over.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:34

I mean, obviously, uh pretty big hole left, but I mean I feel like James and Andy, uh pretty pretty veteran team. I mean, they can probably over overcome whatever whatever happens, really. And I know Joel said they've have prior experience with Jonathan uh Buke as well, so should be pretty comfortable. And another year of Noah um developing as well. I mean, that's that's still an insanely strong team, and then they should get out of New Brunswick. Um, so yeah, in terms of see how they do, I mean, I think they'll be plenty fun.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:06

Yeah, they always had uh James and Andy always had good things to say about John, so it wasn't a surprising move to me uh at all, but good pickup as well.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:14

So for sure. Um I mean quickly, I mean we'll I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:20

I just want to touch on the other there's one other men's team that uh Scott Jones grabbed a new men's team with um one of his former teammates with Brian King. In this sense, the other Brian King shared out King's dad, Brian. Uh and then you have um Alex Beasley and Sam Forrestal, who are kind of just staples in that curling community, uh, and have been played many tankards. So that'll be probably the number two team there, and to see who else comes out. The I don't know if I don't know if the UMB team, who we played the last couple years at the end of the tanker, I don't know if they're still in school or if that's still together. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. But we time will tell. And if they are, they will also be a very solid team.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:06

Of course.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:15

And of course, Grant O'Dachan, Mark Lecoque will be there, and that is still one of the top teams of the province. So they always give me hard time.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:24

I've happened to not be bling then anymore. They're gritty. They grind you, they'll grind you down. They're weird with the defense, and they'll get the puck behind you and they'll make you work for them. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:33

It's true. Um, all right. Last uh, well, we can touch on new flan a little bit afterwards, but Joel, big news out of PEI, I think you wanted to hit on hit on. Give us the PEI rundown on the Scott side.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:46

One of my other favorite um announcements from this offseason, the legend Suzanne Burt is back. Uh obviously, the Scott this year is in Charlottown. Should be a great time. We should have lots, no lobsters to be had at all. Um a lot of seafood. Obviously, small town uh events like this are always awesome. Down east, just in general, it's just great for curling events. Um, so of course, naturally, you Suzanne will come out of retirement uh after a couple years off. Um, but I think it's great. She's grabbing a couple of her former teammates, uh, which of course makes sense. Um actually, I think they've all sort of played together at some point in time. I think you like you had Marie Christensen in there from Nova Scotia for a while. Uh she's not part of this team, but you have um uh Michelle Shea, which is uh Michelle McQuaid, uh formerly, and uh you have um Megan Hughes, who we saw with with her a number of times, and um uh Sunid Dolan. So I think that is a great team to get out of the province. Obviously, you've seen uh Veronica Main and versions of that team the last number of years at the Scott. Will they win? Potentially. Uh Suzanne, I don't know how much they've been curling over the last couple years or if they've just been like totally off the ice, but um Suzanne is a very talented curler that should have won a Scott in 03 or something, 04, when she went 10 and 1 in the round robin, should have won. Uh and former Canadian junior champion as well. So very good team. Um and adds to the depth in Atlantic Canada again. It was definitely someone we were missing over the last uh number of years.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:37

For sure. Nice to see her back. Uh then from from all we can tell, team Tyler Smith at a PDI will be kind of running it back. So nothing really more to add there. Well, I mean, running it back with three, maybe. Oh, fair enough. Yeah, I guess we'll have to see what they do for that fourth spot if uh Chris Delang comes back or whatever it may be. Um I guess you know, Newfoundland currently is very relevant to us. We can kind of mention that. Um obviously team Kratz will be around. A couple new new squad team Greg Smith um picking up the front end from Nathan Young's team, um, Nathan Locke and Ben Stringer to play with Carter Small and Greg Smith. Good team there, kind of a mixed of a couple squads that have been you know playing some pretty high quality curling the past couple years. Um you got new team Trickett. Uh Steven Trickett is around. Um he's played you know pretty high quality curling again in Newfoundland and Atlanta, Canada the past couple years. So him with Spencer Wicks, um Zach Young, and Mike Mosier. Um any other teams we wanted to mention here? I think.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:44

I think for the most part it's status quo, right? I mean, I believe we saw that Simmons was staying together. I mean, I guess that's not confirmed, but I think that's what they said.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:52

I don't think they've said anything on it. I I know that I know that on a post about Super Legion, they said they're here to run it next year. So I'd assume that means they're staying together. I I I figured that that that's the case. Um I know he wants to.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:08

Leaving us guessing. They did recently win seniors. Shout out to Ron Helsin.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:14

Recently saw Keith too, so we probably should have asked him then. Um when we were up ball now, me and King putting that work in. Um trying to realize it would be Adrian. But I noticed that after a couple of jump shots, that yeah, it might not be time. Um, I'm getting past my prime now, so the legs aren't as good as they used to be. So I might have to call it quits on that career, but it was lucrative, so that's fine. We'll be able to retire nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:38

Yeah, I I actually peaked in grade six when we won the the West Coast uh basketball provincial championships over uh Daniel Bruce's Sacred Heart something. Well, they didn't even make the final, but we still beat them, so it's a bit tough.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:52

We'll take it, honestly, for the Sacred Heart Sabres.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:56

The Tigers were on top, baby. Um all right. We want to finally get international. This is kind of where the fun fun lies. I know we're we've got a long recording here today, but this is probably the most juicy part of all of this. I mean, uh I would say maybe we just start, Joel. I'll let you make a little run on the Nicodine retirement and that kind of subsequent team shakeup. Maybe that's kind of a big one, obviously. You're you're a very big proponent of Nicodine goat curler, I believe. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I know you've you've kind of had that opinion before. I'll let you maybe run with it. That's fine.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:31

Yeah. Um, I know that maybe a certain member of this podcast that is not in attendance tonight would probably differ, and that's okay. Uh, and many others alike like him in Newfoundland will disagree with me. But for me, Nicodine is the goat, and I'll could go on about it for an hour, and we probably will at some point this summer do a Nicodine special episode because I mean the goat deserves an episode. I think that team is it's kind of interesting. I mean Oscar stepping in at skip, but not throwing last, it kind of seems like it seems like Rasmus is going to be throwing last just based on how they have it listed online. I don't know if that's true or not. Uh Oscar uh lost to Kevin Couie at the 2014 Worlds in the final as a skip with Christopher Sundrin on the team. I think that's the last time Christopher Sundren was second, and he might not even have been second. I don't know when the last time Christopher Sundrin played second, to be honest with you. Um I don't have an issue with Rasmus throwing last rock. I mean, he uh played many world juniors as a skip. Like, I don't have any issue with that. Also, gold medalist along with all the other medals that he has. I guess he has four Olympic medals now, which is crazy. Um but that's so great for them. And um Christopher Sundren at second is maybe a little concerning to me a bit. Like, that's probably the biggest question mark for me. I mean, I'm not really familiar with the guy that they brought in to, I'm not saying replace Nick, but just fill the fourth position on the team. I think he was their alternate at the worlds and the election.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:12

Simon Simon Olofsen, just for the record.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:15

There you go, Simon. Um regardless of who they brought in, it was probably gonna be bringing someone in at lead, and whoever it was gonna be was going to be solid enough. They could have their choice, obviously. It's like whoever they ask is most likely gonna say yes, I think. Um, but I think the biggest question mark is Sundranette's second. That's such an important position these days with the aggressive play style that everyone is kind of taking on and playing with right now. It's like those runbacks need to be made, and that we're gonna see if he can live up to that. I obviously that's gonna be a big part in the training, but I mean the back end with with Oscar, who you could say is up there in terms of some of the best thirds to ever play the game uh already, and Rasmus's I mean, two-time gold medals. What do you what else do you need to know? Right. So um it's gonna be an interesting team. I think they're gonna take a step back before they take a step forward, but I feel like that's okay with kind of a newish team and losing like your leader for that you've had forever, basically. So we'll see where they're at as the season goes along. But I think there's gonna be a small step backwards first, which is okay. Again, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:31

You're gonna go and the GOAT is leading their team, so it's gonna be a little bit exactly.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:36

I mean, they're still gonna get all the game. They're like if they're not in the slams, they're gonna be close to the slams, and by the time later in the season comes around, they'll probably get their spot in the slams back. They're gonna be going to the Euros, they're gonna be going to the worlds because they're still like easily the best. They can play a play down. I don't care, they're gonna win it. So they're gonna get all those games in, and they're still gonna be good. I mean, those other three guys with Nick have won all of the world championships that Nick won. So I they're also like gonna be good at the worlds, too, especially with this new format with the 18 teams. Like, they're gonna be good in that. So we'll see how it works out. Without a doubt.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:16

Nah, it's good good points made there, Joel. I don't think they're gonna take any massive, you know, long-term steps back. They'll still be solid. Um, I guess we can just stick on in Sweden on the woman's side. I believe like Hasselberg is running it back, I believe, with with her squad, but um team Rana made a little change, I think, changing up at the lead position, uh, I believe, or or at least, you know, dropping back one of their leads, picking up Moa Dryberg, who I believe was a world junior kind of level skip for Sweden the past couple years. Two times kind of taking a step up. There you go. Two times silver medalists at World Junior. So she's kind of making a step up to the Isabella Rana team that obviously, you know, she she won the Olympic gold in in doubles and uh and had a good run at the world as well. So um interesting little shakeup there, not not super consequential, I don't think, like, but uh it probably uh increases their ceiling a little bit. Obviously, this Moa driver girl, I can't say I know too much about her play, but obviously, you know, two-time medalist in the world juniors with a skip. She has a lot of talent, so nice little influx of more young talent. Obviously, that team is pretty young themselves, but kind of continue to get better. I don't know if either of you have any more thoughts on that, or we want to jump on through.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:30

No, I just think that go ahead, Danny. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:33

No, I I'm not too familiar with Moa, so so I I don't know. Um, I don't know if it was like a mutual move or anything like that, or Linda was like thinking about stepping back. Um, I'm not 100% sure. Seems like it's like a little swap at lead. And I don't know if Dryberg um sweeps or anything. I don't know what that situation will be like, but I'm sure they'll want to keep Almeda in the house um advice. So it'd be interesting to see. I mean, definitely young. Maybe there's some potential there for her to move the lineup at some point, but um, yeah, I don't I'm I'm not quite sure what the rationale for that move was, but I don't know if they announced it or anything. I don't think so.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:09

No, I think like I agree. I think like one for one it might be an upgrade, but I think this is more of a I'm gonna hedge my bet long term because Moa is pretty darn good. I mean, I when I was at the worlds, we saw her when she was I don't know if they I think they were 15, uh honestly, like 15 or 16, and they were like in the final of the world, and that was like pretty cool. So very good. I think the biggest question is like where the lineup is gonna be. Like, we're asking these questions, but I you gotta assume they are too, you know, like what that actually is gonna look like. I think it's probably a situation where Moa's playing third at some year in down the road, but do I think that's this year? Probably not the best choice in terms of like they're on the upswing right now, and you gotta ride like Isabel just won the Olympics, and they just had a great showing as a bronze medalist that the world's like just you need to keep trending in the right way to be able to keep up with Hasselberg. Because guess what? Hasselberg won the gold medal like a couple months ago, too. So, do I think moving Moa Dryberg to third right now is the way to go? No, probably not if you want to try to keep growing. But I mean, at some point down the road, I think you'll see her at third, most likely.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:25

Yeah. Interesting too for Isabella, like she's kind of like taking out her competition before it really exists. Like, obviously, Anna is her is her competition now, but like once Anna moves on, maybe that Dryberg team is like next up and would be competing with them in like future Swedish nationals, and she's like, you know what? Let's just nip this in the bud and take their skip right away later on. So works out a little bit that way.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:48

Yeah, I think um sorry, can I want to say one more thing here? The I don't know. I mean, Hasselberg can play for as long as they want. I gotta assume that this is probably the last quad they're gonna be like very, very competitive, playing a gold medal like level curling. Um, because they are nearing the the age of 40, I believe, like near the end of this cycle, I mean. Um and then you have Isabel who's like what like eight to ten years younger, and they're going into their prime at the moment. You know, it's just gonna get I feel like it's gonna get harder and harder for Houseburg to keep up. But right now, obviously, Houseburg is still ahead, but I think at some point in time you're gonna see that tide shift. I don't know when that's gonna be, but it could be sooner rather than later, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:30

Yeah, for sure. Um, all right, let's just maybe hit this is honestly maybe even the most interesting, like the whole federation is that you know as a whole. Um, but the way these teams shook out in Italy is something to discuss. So I mean we can maybe start on the men's side. Obviously, there's a bit of just like a couple two-person swaps-ish for the most part, and on the men's side. Obviously, Stefano Spiller like stepped in at world, skipping for Retornaz, him and uh I believe I can't remember which of the containers.

SPEAKER_05 1:22:05

Well, I think for he stepped in for the lead, Matteo Giovanelli, I think. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:11

At worlds. So like there was a bit of uh familiarity there with Amos um and Sebastiano with Stefano at World, and I think that was maybe like an inkling as to what would was to come, but you have Stefano Spiller stepping in uh with his brother, I believe it's like Cesar O'Spiller, uh something like that, and then Amos and Sebastiano, who are you know previously with Joel's team, and then Joel uh picked up Alberto Pimpini and then the two Gilli brothers, I believe, um, who were previously with Spiller um as a team. So for the first time in a while, we'll have some legitimate competition, I think, on the men's side in Italy, like where Tornaz had kind of uh ran the show himself, you know, being almost an auto birth at world in the Olympics in prior years, but now there's a bit of competition, so that'll be interesting one to follow. I know Joel, you've kind of uh seen those those players around recently in worlds and and around. I don't know what you uh have to say about all of them.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:09

Well, I mean, just talking about this worlds this year, Stefano was fantastic at the worlds. Like they they played Canada early and they looked like shit, and then obviously, as you would, it was like your second game with Mozanor and these guys out of men's worlds, and you're 21, and you're playing against Matt Dunstone in Canada. So, I mean, like, no surprise that that game probably didn't go their way. But they ran the table pretty much after that until they saw Canada again, and Stepano missed the brain dead shot at the end, unfortunately, to kind of give Matt an easy one. But if he does anything else, he's gonna win that game and they might win the world. I mean, now it's Nicodine, but I mean they might go to the final of the world.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:50

That was our top literally put it anywhere except for where he put it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:55

But regardless of that, he was fantastic. No surprise that's who they decided to go with. Like that brother duo that was together, the Spillers and the Jillies. I mean, they won the world juniors and lost the final of the juniors the year after that. So, I mean, very, very good. Stefano won the world junior mix last year. Um, so two world juniors in the same year now that he won. And uh, I mean, he was great at the men's worlds this year. I think there's gonna be a little bit of a learning curve, but the ceiling is quite high with the team, I think. Like Mozanor and Amos, um, Arman are just they're very good.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:30

Oh, they're both mutants, too. They gotta be both above like 6'4, 6'5.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:35

Yeah, I mean, we'll get into the Retornas situation a little bit if you want, but I think like this is the team, the spiller team is who the Federation is gonna be putting the dollars into for a little bit of time, anyway.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:48

Yeah, it it was a nice fit, I think. The fact that you could create two teams, like that the the junior team with the spillers and like the Gilly brothers, they're obviously good, and like the the four people I I know Gio Vanella kind of stepped into a third team in in Italy, which probably won't be quite as competitive. But um, the fact that they have like you know eight good men's players now that'll kind of stick together and be able to compete against each other, kind of make each other better. Probably a bit of a rivalry there, too, I would imagine, like with Retornas. I don't really know. It seemed like a bit of an odd situation when he uh didn't play worlds. Like I think he said he was kind of stepping back to prep for Rock League. That's fine. It just seems yeah, it feels a bit weird. After the Olympics and being in Italy and and like they didn't quite do the greatest, I think maybe like the Federation just finally got sick of Joel. I don't want to like just say that. Um you know, although I just did just say it. It is all speculation, but you know, it I do think the spiller team it's it's best for Amos. Like Amos and Sebastiano are are kind of on a younger side, certainly much younger than Joel, who's been around for you know more than two decades here now. But should be a couple of good battles in Italy, like it'll kind of increase the competition within the country, and then I think I think both of them could be pretty successful on tour. Um it'll be interesting to see how much both teams play, like you know, on the Canada side, but it'll be it'll be interesting when to follow. I'm looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_05 1:26:14

Um, yeah, I guess we can jump over to the women's situation a little bit. Um biggest move. Constantini, I I don't know. I'm just I'm gonna say this now because it's just like because we're talking about a little bit of speculation. Um it kind of seemed like there was a similar vibe with her and the Federation as to what we're kind of alluding to, maybe with Joel. I obviously this is all just assumptions, and we don't have a like I said, I would have loved to be in the room just to like hear those conversations because it's like the gossip out of that. But here we are, and we're just making assumptions like we do on the pod. And I think there might be a situation that that was the same thing with Constantini. I mean, all of a sudden the other three are still playing together and she's floating in the wind. Like, how does that make sense? Like, dude, that he's um like and I mean, like, I I kind of have this opinion as well. Like, she's a top five like last stone thrower in women's game, like in the world right now.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:12

Like, very like she won an Olympic gold, obviously not this year, but like in doubles with Amos there, you know, five years ago at this point. There was that weird, like we talked with the Italian Federation a lot, like, and we know nothing about it, but like before the Olympics, where like they took, you know, I think it was somebody's daughter like as the fifth or something on the team, and that probably sparked some, you know, I don't think they were too happy with that. I think Constantini, and maybe there's some backlash to that that led to it, but like I can't, it's not like on the men's side where there is like eight good players who can kind of create two teams, at least from what I can tell. Like, it feels like Stefania's kind of just on the outs, and like maybe she just focuses on playing doubles with Amos, but it feels weird that somebody like of that caliber would basically not have a team. Now, maybe like I know John Collinsman talks a lot about these mercenary teams a little bit recently. recently it's like maybe playing out outside of country, but I don't know if that's the situation here. It'd be interesting to see, but I don't know. It's just a head scratcher, I think, with with that whole uh whole situation with with the Constantini.

SPEAKER_05 1:28:11

How is how is Stefania Constantini like I don't like I think it probably you're probably right, it probably stems from when uh they cut uh Angela Romey who was like that's their best friends as far as I know Stefania and her. That obviously would have stung for a bit. I mean you just had to deal with it at the time but I feel like that's that throws resentment in like right from the start of your career. Like she's only like what 26, 28, something like that, not even. It's like and now you have a player like that is just not going to be competing at any world championships.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:43

Like maybe doubles I believe with with Amos but not playing four person women's curling like nothing to do with Rock League did it like she it didn't have like a personal announcement that she wanted to focus on Rock League like Joel did.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:57

No not not no not not like Joel or other players no so doesn't make any sense there's there's something I guess now Joel you're better at saying her name you just want to mention I guess who's actually taking over and Giula something right team yeah Lassadelli but that's only half of it I mean I think they'll still be a decent team but like it feels like their ceiling is probably taking a bit of a hit and also the floor so Zardini Lassadelli that's the name Zardini Lassadelli.

SPEAKER_05 1:29:34

Yeah you're right it's gonna be a step back for a bit I mean you're just losing your best player like there's nothing else to be said like it's gonna be tough.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:42

Tough all right um it'll be interesting to follow but we can probably hit on I think there's maybe just one or two more to really mention at this point. We can just quickly talk about Switzerland. Obviously you know big news was Sylvana Tier and Zoni retiring. I don't think there's really been any formal announcement in terms of like the new pets um Washhanke and Holvald team obviously Jennifer Schwaller is sticking together after this winning world so like they're probably just now the favorite which feels a bit crazy considering how good Tier and Zoni team was and like I'm sure you know that that new team with whoever they do pick up will be competitive but um unknown at this point. So not really much to add there until until the announcement is made. On the men side I I think Swaller is kind of sticking together.

SPEAKER_05 1:30:33

Obviously they were the biggest team I think there were maybe a couple other level changes um around Joel I don't know if you have any knowledge of those but I don't think it was anything too relevant to the no I mean like the the big heavy hitters you know um Schwaller they announced they're staying together Hosley announced they're staying together um I think there was a new team of uh like Kim Schwaller and Jan Illsley and a couple others um because uh team Brunner uh he retired himself so I think someone will moved over to that new Kim Schwaller team but not a whole ton of movement going on just kind of waiting for pets to figure it out I mean it's a tough spot. I kind of thought we kind of chatted before the show about this too that maybe that was a chance to get in on a mercenary situation. Um I don't know if anything's gonna come of that maybe not but at this point in time like obviously Elena is one of the best women's curlers to ever curl and they've had a lot of success in the last bit with at worlds and now getting Olympic medal too. So it's like how do we but at the same time you have Zenia Schwaller who just won the world it's like how do you justify not sending Xenia to everything now especially with Tier and Zonigan right um especially with how four camera worlds too and that's a young team that's going to continue to get better it's kind of like yeah the timeline is kind of adding up but I mean it's kind of tough to push out one of the best curlers in like your country's history are probably the best. Well if you're looking if if you're looking at this as the Federation it's like why would I put my money into uh this new Elena Pets team when she's been there done that and done everything and kind of slowly getting to the end of her career and you have the Zenia Schwaller team they're all still 23 and they won the worlds already and it's like you're they're gonna be a team forever at this point for like the next like decade right next two two cycles minimum I would assume right so assuming they all play which I I don't see why not so Elena Petz is I that's why I thought you might go to the mercenary thing you know if the association kind of told her now right now they're playing play downs you know for a lot of their stuff um but maybe that changes so yeah interesting um okay a couple quick ones we do need to talk on the Cameron Bryce situation which we'll do at the end but wanted to mention go to Nepsted leaving retiring in Norway Team Randsville so no announcement I think on the replacement there yet but quick one to mention um and then kind of like like Daniel mentioned earlier these these people who are stepping away kind of focusing on Rock League um Mark Muscatowitz in Germany leaving that team obviously we're kind of an up-and-coming team and now Benny Capp will be kind of taking over a skip I think everybody's basically just moving up one position.

SPEAKER_03 1:33:29

I think they had a five person team or you know a fifth on there before everyone steps back up to uh kind of where they played in junior I know Joel you played against them uh on the junior side so uh you've kind of went head to head with them before Joel uh what do you think of that move and kind of how it'll impact everything they're they'll be very good at that position uh at those positions I mean they were in the worlds multiple times and in the final with that lineup more or less with maybe one difference at lead um but losing Mark Muskotowitz is big like that's uh he played a huge part in where this team is at right now uh they won a Europeans I don't really know if that's happening without him you know I don't know I'm again this is just a thought that I'm having that is not real in any way potentially uh that maybe the association kind of forced him out too it was like thank you for getting the team here but we're gonna move with the four younger guys I don't know but I think that's a hit for sure like it's not an upgrade not having him on the team no absolutely not he's a freaking shot maker too um and it seems like they just kind of it was a good vibe around the team obviously a disappointing year for them this year um coming off a a big high of one of the the Euros in 2025 um and everything like that but I mean kind of kind of like not not all that surprising that there was a little down year like had like the young team and everything that can happen.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:02

Yeah I mean Benny Capp made a pretty ridiculous shot playing skip last year and he was like so so seeing some of those shots would be kind of funny he's he's obviously very good but uh yeah some loss in quality there for sure but I mean they're still gonna make it out of Germany so that that won't be an issue.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:18

Yeah fair enough so they they weren't too hot for me for my fantasy team last year so still kind of pissed with them about that for that but what's she gonna do? All right the kind of last country I think that we'll hit on here in in Scotland um just quickly in the front end uh recently Rebecca Morrison I think uh noted she's stepping away from curling so she obviously has been around a little bit I think she was at the Olympics uh this cycle it's not this cycle yeah I mean it would have had to have been the cycle with Eve but um Faye Henderson obviously still around I think they're running it back so and I'm not sure about the rest of Morrison's team but you know losing uh you know Olympic skip there's just combined those two teams now knowing the association like Faye is going to be the next skip but I mean they're probably gonna take some from here or some from there.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:04

Tough loss for the association really to lose Morrison like good player.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:08

A lot of association talk going on there is federations, associations, all these uh fancy words. But uh last but not least we hinted this a couple times um the mercenary team that we have with team Bryce um they obviously had a pretty solid year I think playing a couple slams you know making a good run at a couple events they picked up um Kurd Rummond who obviously notably played he he is from from Scotland I believe but has been playing at a Northest Territories or sorry Yukon Yukon with Thomas Goffin uh Northest Territories Yukon. I don't know why Daniel's nodding at me this seems a bit odd but it is definitely definitely is Yukon um in the past couple years and you know play with Aaron Sashinski before that. Picking up him and then Carson Sirme who I believe he is living in Scotland so that's a bit more of an on you know in location team um but he is you know more well known for his time in Canada and Alberta. So interesting team there I mean Joel I know you kind of hinted at this before but but um Bryce basically giving up national championships which like you know you have Roth White and Bruce Moet ahead of them realistically speaking you're never getting chosen I know that and they're basically you know they they do decide and there's no play down so it's not like you can just like bet on yourself and win the national and make it to world like they're not going to get chosen over Bruce or Roth like Sora and they realize it which is good. I mean the self-awareness is is great there. So they're just like you know what fuck it how can we best you know compete on tour and make a lot of money I guess it was it was with Kurt Drummond and Tracks tournament so interesting team I think and and could open the door for for future teams um to maybe dabble in the the mercenary it's kind of out of country slash out of you know province I guess how it works in Canada like out of province teams.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:00

I know that's been a big focus but I don't know what do you guys think of uh that whole whole change it's uh it's kind of fun I don't know it's something different I know Carson's been away from the game for a while but it's cool to see him kick back at a kick in the can I mean he's he's a pretty good curler um playing the third position which I don't know if he's really done much before either so um that's that's just fun. I mean Kurt Drummond um that's interesting when we were discussing I think before we started recording does that mean he's not gonna be playing for you anymore I'd assume he we wouldn't be playing with Scoffin now like yeah I don't I don't really know because I I don't think that would for any reason like cancel him or not allow him to play like because he's playing out of country so it's not like he's it's just a weird situation.

SPEAKER_03 1:38:45

Maybe he just plays a couple events with Bryce and like Scoffin doesn't really play on tour. So like I don't know maybe the opportunity is there we have to ask him but interesting thing to consider it would be funny if you go play it in like Scotland and then also just play it at the UConn go to the prior I think the only way it would ruin it is if you play like actually lace it up in an international competition.

SPEAKER_05 1:39:08

So I think like he's fine to like they're not going to play even play downs in in Scotland right I would assume or maybe Carson is in on that and that maybe they just play respected nationals but obviously not going to the worlds for for the Bryce but I think one thing that uh it opens the door for is like it kind of leans into that kind of prof more professional aspect of things because obviously if you're not playing they're not playing for any big championships you know like gold medals and things like that obviously so really all you're doing is going to play curling for money and world rank right so like I think it could work out for them on tour like I mean literally every event is the best event for them you know what I mean like it's not you're not playing Briars so you're gonna be playing tour events and the more money you win that's literally what you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 1:39:58

So yeah I mean money is kind of interesting. You know what it could be force to be reckoned with also you have good players anyway so yeah it'll be interesting to follow and it could open the door for that that to happen more in the future like I know people have kind of talked about within Canada like we've had these kind of provincial guidelines for for Briar qualification Scotty's qualification that people generally follow. Obviously with these like auto spots and stuff like it it's kind of been going by the wayside a little bit on like the A like the kind of slam tier but in like the B tier you could say it hasn't really because I I do think for most teams in Canada like making a run at the Scotties with the Briar is still probably the you know what you look forward to the most as opposed to points and you know even money to be honest. But if this team has some success um not so much focusing on um national international play like could open the door to other teams found up being willing to try that um and you know however you can put together the best four people I think obviously it hampers a little bit when you're not physically together um being able to kind of like practice as a team but however you can make that work I think is important and and could pay dividends so interesting to see how this one plays out all right do we have any other thoughts on any topics tonight?

SPEAKER_05 1:41:18

I know we've been going for a little while here and there is maybe one of those watch not that we care because we're pissed off that the sends are out but well the Haves just gave up a goal one minute into the game.

SPEAKER_03 1:41:28

So haves are down one nothing Ryan is probably pissed off about that um but you know that's it it's definitely one of our longer episodes if not the longest one we've had but there's just so many team changes so like what are we gonna do? Alright I mean with that obviously we'll we'll kind of be a little sporadic over the off season curling off season like hopefully going to come out with a couple like special projects like Joel kind of hinted at an Dean episode something like that. I'm sure there'll be some more off season talk we'd have some more kind of interviews going on you know Rock League happened.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:59

We haven't touched on that too much but you know there's probably some stuff to comment on there at some point we may do a little Rock League episode pretty much out in the open you know we're all uh living busy lives other elsewhere and otherwise so um when curling isn't quite uh on the mind it's definitely something we're you know trying to figure out um in terms of what people want to hear and and how we want to talk about in the offseason but looking forward to everything's come so any uh final notes from from either of you lads curling is over actually one more thing before we go the world championship doubles Canada's in the gold medal game and the game is over so what was the score of the game world junior doubles right we're talking about world junior doubles yeah they were the final just happened and now it's not live anymore but I gotta find the all right well they reveal I'm sure anybody listening probably already knows this result but we're about to find it live so boy live reaction here we go okay let's see it was against Japan they lost they lost that sucks what was the score well I don't know I just saw on Instagram it said congratulations I was like oh did they win and then it says on the silver medal so you know good effort undefeated until the final and and Owen Henry good good squad so all right what do you think Owen Henry's favorite chocolate bar is I don't know kick cat like an arrow or a crunch definitely not a million dollar bar I don't know that's that could be a good question to ask him somebody should ask that at the Briar Quix perhaps who knows all right we're gonna off the rails here so we should probably uh wrap this up all right uh good night everyone hope you enjoyed the team change podcast we did it to live violation so I have said those exact words is like if I go another quad I'm gonna be 50 and that's what I I've said it to my wife I don't know how many times is like I I I can't be because when when we went to the Olympics in 06 like Russ turned 50 at the Olympics and he was ancient like like right yeah it's like I it was like and that could like I'm not saying that we're going to the Olympics but like imagine they go four more years and something happens and I go to the Olympics and then now I'm Russ. Like 50 at the Olympics that is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:57

How do I violate