Brier Upsets, Heartbreak and Dubious Records

REGINA—Watching Nunavut almost take down the Alberta champions yesterday got me thinking about granite heartbreak. Shane Latimer’s crew had a three-point lead and held the lead right down to the wire, which would’ve been that territory’s second-ever Brier win since joining the event. It had us all on the edge of our seats.

Then upsets were the norm this Monday morning—three in total.

NWT, skipped by Jamie Koe, knocked off Team Canada and Brad Gushue by a 7-5 count, and the defending champs are now 2-2. 

Nova Scotia with Matthew Manuel at the helm finished what Nunavut started and took down the Sluchinski team 6-2. 

And who would have predicted Kevin Koe dropping down to 1-3, as Quebec’s sharpshooters hammered them 11-6?

This got me thinking about past Briers and the thrill of victory (and agony of defeat), to use the tag line from ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Curling was sometimes on that 1970s and 80s Saturday afternoon show.

Three legendary Brier heartbreaks stand out for me, but the ultimate broken heart story was the razor-thin journey for one of Canada’s best.

The dubious record

First was Kerry Burtnyk and his Manitoba team beating Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner in 1981. Hackner goes through the whole Brier not giving up anything more than a deuce, and Burtynk gets three in the 10th and final end of the championship game. That’s not the biggest one for me though, because Mr. Hackner does go on to Brier and world glory (twice).

Second on my list is in 1985. Pat Ryan and his Alberta team becomes the first undefeated team in Brier round robin history, losing only to Hackner in the final on what most curling polls say is the Brier’s greatest clutch shot to this day. 

It’s funny how we often forget that wasn’t the winning shot, as there was still an extra end to be played and stolen. But the Ryan Express also wins a couple of Tankards after that.

Netflix got a hold of this story in 2019 with a documentary titled Losers. Ryan’s story can still be found on the episode Losers: Stone Cold. The essence of the episodes is the silver lining of huge losses that can benefit the person and their sphere of influence, and how we all experience loss in life. 

Once again, sports as one of the best metaphors for living life.

Being in Sask I think of the 1999 semifinal with Yorkton, Saskatchewan’s Gerald Shymko losing to sensational draw to the button thrown by Quebec’s Guy Hemmings. The Jolly Grain Giant never returned to The Show. Being curlers, the two of them have become quite good friends over the years.

I’m sure most of you readers have your memories of those gut-wrenching losses and killers of dreams. But the nature of curling heartbreak may be slightly connected to the Buffalo Bills four straight Super Bowl losses—but over a 20-year life span.

Kurt Balderston out of Sexsmith, Alta. is arguably the best curler in Canada never to play in a Brier. He holds, or almost holds, the Alberta record for qualifying in the provincial finals (you know curling records haven’t always had the Sabermetric analytics and stats as other sports until recently.)

Kurt’s dream of Brier glory is as close as one gets. His teams lost four Alberta final games to four different teams that all went on to win Briers in those seasons. In order, the skips who got Kurt in the final were Eddie Lukowich, Pat Ryan, Kevin Martin and the Ferbey Four.

I believe it was Edmonton Sun Hall of Fame curling reporter and former The Curling News columnist Terry Jones who wondered if Kurt wished he curled out of another province during that era.

Why the Buffalo Bills comparison, if it isn’t already obvious? Kurt is a cattle rancher in Bison country and his brother-in-law-turned-curler is from Buffalo, NY (not Buffalo, Alta.).

How has this affected Kurt? One morning over coffee, it’s clear he has more than come to grips with the heartbreak. Disappointment lingers a bit, of course.

“I can only be grateful for the opportunities in a sport I love,” said Kurt. “We’ve lost to the best in each one of those seasons. It’s more gratefulness for the chance to go the Brier, not regret by any means. It’s all about perspective in the big picture.”

Kurt did play in a bunch of Canadian Mixed championships, winning a title in 1992. If a heartbreak loss does anything to us it can sure create an empathic soul, and as any curler who knows Kurt, has that in spades.

Mimes on ice

Vic Rauter of TSN came up with one of the better lines of the week on Sunday, while covering Koe’s tilt versus Saskatchewan. Russ Howard talked about Kevin putting this new team together made up of players who could be his young adult children; Kevin enjoyed his previous teammates but felt there was too much talking with each other on the ice. 

With his new team of Tyler Tardi, Jacques Gauthier and Karrick Martin the pendulum has swung almost to the extreme, given the respect these young guns have for their skip.

Vic pipes up” “It’s like he went from a team that never shut up to a team of Marcel Marceaus.”

Marceau, of course, was the famous French mime. TSN analyst Joanne Courtney laughed and said, “Some of the younger audience may have to Google that one up.”

Apology

Now for an apology to one of the game’s greats, who might provide possible inspiration for two of this year’s favourites.

In my event preview column I regret not listing all of the Saskatchewan-born and raised Brier winners since 1980. How in the world did I miss Pat Simmons, winner of back-to-back Briers in 2014 and 2015? He switched from third to skip with John Morris as Team Canada in 2015 after the team started off slow—and ran the table. It’s one of my favourite curling stories in Brier lore.

Please accept my apology Mr. Simmons, who is now a tireless curling developer with CurlSask.

Could Kevin Koe (now at 1-3) or Gushue’s Team Canada (2-2) be ready to follow this script? Team Simmons pulled their switch at 2-3, and never lost again.