What I’ll Remember From The Curling Bubble Season

Like many, I spent a lot of time watching live curling on TV over the past few months as the best curlers in the sport entertained us from both the Calgary and Aberdeen bubbles.

As someone who also covers the sport for my podcast, it can be easy to get lost in games results, upcoming schedules, how many wins needed to qualify for playoffs, and so on. However, over the years, I have learned to take time and appreciate all the moments, big and small, from curling events that I’ll remember long after I forget how many wins it took to get into the playoffs at a given event.

Here’s what I’ll remember the most about the curling bubble events in Canada and Scotland.

I’ll remember … the familiar voice of TSN’s Vic Rauter welcoming us into the Calgary bubble for that first game of the Scotties—reigning champions Team Einarson against the reigning world junior champs, Team Zacharias of Manitoba. It was a battle between Canadian curling’s present and its future, and it seemed to be the right game with which to launch a parade of coverage from the three-month site.

I’ll remember … Laurie St. Georges “joie de vivre” and her shot-making ability as she competed in her first Scotties. I'll also remember how much fun it was to see the curling community fall in love with her over a few short days in Calgary.

I’ll remember … watching Rachel Homan lead her team to the Scotties while eight months pregnant and then lead them to a Slam title some three short weeks after giving birth. I’ll also remember thinking that Baby Bowyn will someday have quite the story to tell about how her Mom went into Superwoman mode in Calgary.

I’ll remember … Wayne Middaugh becoming one of the best stories of the Brier, leading Team Howard to the championship pool at an event that most of us thought he’d be watching, Caesar in hand, from the comfort of his living room.

I’ll remember … watching the Brier semi-final between Alberta’s Team Bottcher and Saskatchewan’s Team Dunstone and thinking we might see those two teams play each other in a bunch of important games over the next few years.

I’ll remember … Darren Moulding trending on Canadian Twitter when he pulled out of the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship just a week or so before representing Canada at the World Men’s Championship. Yup, Canadians care about their curling.

I’ll remember … quietly smiling to myself as Kadriana Sahaidak, some three years after I first referred to her as “Canada's unknown curling star,” introduced herself to the larger Canadian curling community while reaching her second Canadian Mixed Doubles championship final with partner Colton Lott.

I’ll remember … ice technician Jon Wall making the “shot of the bubble” while testing the ice between draws. I’ll also remember that most of the ice crew was in the bubble for the better part of three months. Thank you!

I’ll remember … Team Edin of Sweden winning the men’s worlds ... again! A third straight title for a foursome that is now part of the conversation as one of the best teams in the sport’s history.

I’ll remember … Team Jentsch of Germany, playing three-legged after two of their players tested positive for COVID-19 upon arriving in Canada, and falling just short of qualifying for the playoffs and the Olympics. An inspiring effort from a team that could have easily given up under these exceptional circumstances.

I’ll remember … Kerri Einarson, who won not one but two national championships in the bubble, saying the one thing she wished she could do after her tough start at the Women's Worlds was to hug her girls.

I’ll remember … watching Alina Paetz of Switzerland’s Team Tirinzoni during their successful defence of the world women’s championship and thinking, “…man, I wish I could be ‘in the zone’ like that just once on a curling sheet.” She stayed in that zone for the better part of a week.

I’ll remember … the emotion from Tomas Paul and Zuzana Paulova of the Czech Republic when they qualified their country for the mixed doubles event in Beijing; the first time their country will compete in curling at the Olympics.

I’ll remember … Bruce Mouat, both with and without his now-famous hat, excelling in both the Calgary and Aberdeen bubbles, reaching the final in all four events he played and winning three of them, including the World Mixed Doubles Championship with Jennifer Dodds.

I’ll remember … Nolan Thiessen of Curling Canada, a week before players entered the bubble, telling me that organizers felt they could host all these events successfully and, despite a couple of short delays, they did. Well done.

Finally, more than anything, I'll remember how good it felt to watch curling again.