The home team really needs a win

REGINA—I’m a born and bred Saskatchewanite who grew up on the curling, watching the Brier with my family since ... well, a while back now.

I remember Harvey Mazinke winning the Brier in 1973 and Rick Folk in 1980, and thinking my home province would win a bunch more. Curlers all talked about the Richardson run when I was a little tyke, too young to remember much of anything.

That was a lot of Brier wins over two decades, or 25 years if you count the Campbell team. But I only remember the Mazinke and Folk wins.

Don’t get me wrong, I understood the provincial passion. When my Stanley Cup and Grey Cup dreams died (rather quickly) the Brier was the target. When my mom introduced me to Ernie at Richardson’s Lighting when I was about 10 years old, I was quite taken aback; Ernie was on par with Gordie Howe, and the Ronnie and George show in our Saskatchewan eyes. What a gentleman he was (is), he reminded me of Mr. Hockey when I met him at the age of eight.

My parents were great at introducing me to my heroes. So, 44 years and counting. Goodness, our Roughriders have won three Grey Cups over that time. That’s a dynasty in the 306!

Could this be our year? When Winnipegger Matt Dunstone recently skipped our Saskatchewan foursome, I thought maybe our time has come. Mazinke was originally from Manitoba, so maybe this would break the draught. Nope … Dunstone lost back-to-back Brier semifinals in 2020 and ’21.

Mike McEwen is also a Manitoba product so perhaps his team of twins Daniel and Kevin Marsh along with former Brier winner Colton Flasch might be the answer.

It’s not that some Saskatchewan men haven’t won the Brier in these last 44 years. Colton was with Koe in Alberta. Don Walchuk was the runback king for Kevin Martin and Pat Ryan, winning a handful of Briers. 

How about the Nova Scotia skip Mark Dacey, Saskatoon-born and raised, who interrupted the Ferbey Four dynasty in 2004 at Saskatoon.

Others include WHA/NHL sniper Morris Lukowich’s brother, Eddie, from the metropolis of Speers. 

Then there’s arguably curling’s most colourful lead, Ben Hebert, four-time winner, back with Team Bottcher’s Alberta crew. 

One can still run into Ben at Mosaic Stadium cheering on his hometown CFL team which shares the parking lot at this year’s Brier. Regina is still a mid-sized city with a small-town feel.

Then there’s the man who needs his own paragraph, Rick Folk. The last Saskatchewan Brier-winning skip, 44 years ago. 

Folk then moved to the Okanagan and won another Brier for B.C. in 1994.

And don’t forget Rodger Schmidt from Neudorf, who was a former teammate with Folk before moving to Germany and winning world silver in 1987, losing to TSN’s Russ Howard in the final at BC Place. 

Rodger is a true Saskatchewanite even though he now lives in Athens, Greece—he’s a diehard follower of the Green and White in every sport.

I believe it was Canada’s most famous Canadian—according to the CBC—Tommy Douglas who said, “Saskatchewan’s greatest resource is our people and greatest imports to the world beyond our borders.” I heard some rumors Douglas played the granite game at a rec level during the Richardson era. Who didn’t curl back then in this province? 

Us baby boomers remember those days when small towns would get some 48 to 64 teams in bonspiels. Cities like Yorkton and Swift Current would sometimes cut off the team limits at 128. Regina and Saskatoon could get 256, the perfect draw.

Is 44 a lucky number? In Saskatchewan it does have meaning. Roughrider Hall of Famer Roger Aldag from Gull Lake wore #44. Aldag could throw the high hard one in the winter months. He is one of only eight Roughriders to have his number retired; high school football offensive linemen in this province still covet that number.

That’s Eugene Hritzuk, the man with the most green jackets. Gene has represented Saskatchewan in men’s, seniors, mixed and masters, and has won gold for Canada at the world seniors. When he skipped Saskatchewan to the Brier his team was based in Loreburn on Highway 44.

But as luck would have it, his team lost the Brier final in Chicoutimi when the ice went out in the 10th end against Pat Ryan. It’s a Saskatchewan thing, as Mazinke lost the Silver Broom final in hometown Regina when the ice turned to slush in the final end versus Sweden.

(Nowadays Hritzuk is a sweeping scientist, with a World Curling research contract.)

But hold on, #44 is associated with never giving up. Aldag eventually won a Grey Cup and Eugene did win national championships in non-Brier events along with his world title.

Is this the year, versus another stacked Brier field? You know McEwen will be in the hunt. He’s another heartbreak kid that never gives up. 

As every farmer and rancher in my home province quotes Shakespeare year after year with a new crop or fluctuating cattle sales, “Hope springs eternal.” Remember Saskatchewan has some culture and not just agriculture.

44 years and counting. My favorite #44 in the sports world was the home run king, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, who had that prairie never-say-die attitude: “My motto was always to keep swinging,” he said. “Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging.”

I am looking forward to my 19th Brier, in my home province, still wishing I was on the ice and not in section 23 row 34 seat 9, where 325 glasses are required (now you have a media pass, Guy – Ed.) But I digress. 

I look forward to watching the green jackets, along with another 1.1 million residents, as they keep swinging away. Regardless of what happens, what a field of teams we get to enjoy.

To close with a recent chat at Timmys from another Roughrider legend—the current Blue Bomber coach and a curling fan who still resides in Regina:

I’m looking forward to the Brier and will show up for a draw or two. I so enjoy watching excellence in any sport or genre of life. I could sit and observe excellence all day long. The four major TV sports, curling or someone excellent at customer service at a Montana’s. See, I know who the new sponsor is.

It reminds me of the work that goes into excellence. The love, the passion, the stick-to-it-tive-ness. And I do hope 44 years is enough, like the ‘11 years is enough’ motto of those 1989 Grey Cup champions.

That was Richie Hall, a 38-year veteran of the CFL.

Let the 95th Montana’s Brier begin. Be inspired as you observe excellence at the Brandt Centre in Regina off Elphinstone Street.

44 years is enough!