Curling lawsuit overshadows the STOH
The Curling News
Volume 38, Issue #4
March 1995
Despite Calgary’s history in women’s curling, Cowtown has only hosted two previous Canadian Women’s Championships with fans in attendance.
It will be noted the “bubble” event of 2021 was held in Calgary, in the very same arena as this week’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but the circumstances of its existence, and incomparable experience for those who competed, is a singular moment which requires its own Buried Treasure flashback many years from now.
In addition to the Calgary Curling Club hosting a prominent women’s cashspiel since 1978—the Autumn Gold—the city also claims two Olympic medallist teams skipped by Shannon Kleibrink in 2006 and Cheryl Bernard in 2010.
The first women’s national championship held in Calgary was in 1970 at the Stampede Corral. Dorenda Schoenhals (born Stirton and now Bailey) skipped her young team from Saskatchewan to victory in a dramatic three-team playoff. Dorenda shares stories from that week and more on the most recent episode of the Curling Legends Podcast.
As the 1970 CLCA championship took place two years before my birth and was an event not televised or recorded, it’s best to have the scene explained by a legendary scribe (Calgary Herald and The Curling News) named Larry Wood.
In the first article above, published before the playoff, Larry mentions the record-setting attendance. Why then, did it take another 25 years for the championship to return to Calgary?
Here’s Woody’s final report.
The 1995 Scott Tournament of Hearts was held at the Max Bell Centre. The March issue of The Curling News featured a small “PLUS!” in the top left corner, announcing the championship win by Manitoba’s Connie Laliberte.
This was Connie’s third and final STOH title. She was joined by sister Janet Arnott for all of them while second Cathy Gauthier, now a TSN analyst, shared in their victories in 1992 and 1995.
Third Karen Purdy, who won STOH silver with Laliberte in 1994, fractured her leg in an ill-fated slip after winning the ’95 Manitoba championship and was unable to compete in Calgary. Her replacement was a young up-and-comer named Cathy Overton.
During this era, The Curling News was a colourful glossy magazine—this issue a whopping 40 pages (if you include the cover). However, there was only enough space for two articles on the Tournament of Hearts, for a total of … two pages.
The recap below is from George Karrys, twinned here with a column by the sidelined Purdy, who shares her emotions from the experience.
The cover graphic showcases the pending court battle between curlers, represented by Russ Howard, facing off against the Canadian Curling Association (CCA).
A photo of Warren Hansen was used to represent the nation’s governing body. It’s interesting to note that Warren is not quoted in the article, despite it being a lengthy six pages.
The cover story was penned by Perry Lefko, the Toronto Sun curling scribe at the time.
Lefko would eventually write the book Sandra Schmirler: The Queen of Curling, which was released after that team’s triumphant Olympic run to gold at Karuizawa, Japan in 1998.
In the end, the curlers—all of them male, with the exception of Marilyn Bodogh, Heather Houston and Lorraine Lang—did not prevail in their attempt to win a “restraint of trade” verdict with regards to sponsor cresting.
Tensions continued to build, and when IMG Canada founded the Grand Slam of Curling Series in 2001 the infamous “Slammer boycott” went into full effect.
Another seven pages provide a preview of teams for the upcoming Brier in Halifax. It was considered one of the greatest fields ever assembled, and included five former Brier-winning skips—Rick Folk, Al Hackner, Ed Werenich, Kevin Martin and Kerry Burtnyk.
In total, the competitors combined for 21 Brier titles and 17 world championship crowns heading into the championship.
What did The Curling News have to say about some of these legendary skip’s chances? We didn’t, actually … these were provincial Tankard reports, but they did include some amazing quotes ...
I’ve got to admit I get a big kick out of being called the old magician, the wily veteran.
– Ed Werenich
He’s the best curler there’s ever been. Eddie was the guy I copied. I copied his delivery, I copied the way he played. I copied the way he did everything. He’s still my idol. To beat Ed Lukowich in a game to go to the Brier is just fantastic.
– Kevin Martin
(A job) was something I did between games. (Curling) consumed an awful lot of time at that point in my life. That was the only thing I took seriously. I probably didn’t think much past the next day.
– Kerry Burtnyk
My guest in episode 87 of the Curling Legends Podcast, Jim Waite, provides a curling quiz on international i.e. World Curling Federation rules (above).
These questions are now nearly 30 years old and many answers are no longer correct … so don’t wager with strangers at a bar in the hopes of pocketing extra cash.
This issue also offers an “Ontario News” insert. Karrys confirms that regional inserts made occasional appearances in this glossy mag era of the publication as extra content, and were distributed to readers in that province.
Other inserts comprised “Atlantic Canada” and “Quebec.”
Headlining the Ontario News insert is a photo essay from the Ontario Tankard, won by Werenich.
That 1995 affair has long been considered one of the great Ontario men’s shootouts and is confirmed by the three playoff matches I managed to find and upload to the Curling Legends YouTube page.
A recap of the 1995 Canadian Juniors features a couple of young faces that will be seen again and again.
Kelly Mackenzie would later move to Kelowna, B.C. and with the (aptly) married name “Scott” would appear in eight STOH championships. She and Sasha Bergner (later Carter) won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007—and also suffered a shocking loss in the 2005 Olympic Trials final.
Meanwhile, crouched behind winning Manitoba junior men’s skip Chris Galbraith is James “Jimmy the Kid” Grattan. Two years later, in his first appearance at the Brier, James would lose the semifinal in an extra-end to Vic Peters.
“The Kid” has now been on our television screen for over a quarter century and will represent New Brunswick for the 16th time at the 2024 Brier in Regina.
Saskatchewan’s men are seen sweeping gloriously with green corn. This had to be one of the last times corn brooms appeared in a Canadian championship, right?
The above article by Saskatchewan 1991 Brier finalist Randy Woytowich examines the tactic of intentionally splitting a Free Guard zone centre guard with hammer to force play behind corner guards.
Unlike hair brushes—which took Canadians perhaps a hundred years to eventually adopt from the Scots—competitive teams began to recognize the advantage of this tick shot strategy less than 20 years later.
Curlers are not always quick to innovate; if they had invented the wheel, we might still be riding a unicycle.
Finally, because it’s difficult to fill 40 pages with new written material and two pages of Scotties coverage was already considered “extensive,” the issue wraps with an excerpt from Bob Weeks’ new book The Brier. This classic, nay, sacred text is a must read for any curling fan.
The cover features Ontario’s John Kawaja, who will exit the curling scene just three years later for a successful career in the U.S. golf industry.
John is my guest on the next episode of the Curling Legends Podcast.