Curling Hall of Famer Middaugh makes triumphant return to Brier after devastating leg injury derailed career

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A year ago, Wayne Middaugh stood before the media at the Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston and talked about the devastating leg injury that prematurely “ended” his competitive curling career.

He was being inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame that day and he said he was at peace with the fact that his playing career was over, four years after he broke his leg in 11 places in a skiing accident.

On that day, he couldn’t possibly have imagined that one year later he would be back at the Brier, this time as a player in one of the deepest fields in the history of the Canadian men’s curling championship.

“It’s awesome, it’s unbelievable,” the 53-year-old Middaugh said Saturday after filling in at skip on the Glenn Howard team (Wild Card No. 3) at the bubbled Brier in Calgary.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ecstatic to have this opportunity to play again.”

In January of 2016, Middaugh’s life changed forever when he attempted a training jump while skiing and landed ‘very poorly.’ He underwent multiple surgeries on the leg, a titanium rod was implanted, and he spent two years recovering to the point where he could walk normally again.

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“I went from a month in bed, to three months in a wheelchair, to crutches to a year and a half of physiotherapy,” Middaugh said. “All that stuff paid off and it shows right now in that I can come out and play. I have to thank a lot of good doctors and a lot of good physio people and, of course, my family has stood behind me, my kids, my wife, my parents. Unbelievable what they did for me.”

Middaugh’s return to the Brier was due to another unfortunate accident.

Howard was involved in a nasty snowmobile accident about a month ago. He hit a tree and was thrown into the trunk with force. He spent a few days in hospital after he broke nine ribs and suffered a cracked sternum, severely hampering his hopes of curling in the Brier as the skip of Wild Card No. 3.

“I had a pretty serious accident but I’m here, I’m breathing, I’m standing,” Howard said. “Obviously I’m not curling, which is completely fine, I’m at peace with that. Just the fact that I’m OK, is crucial.”

Middaugh has won three world championships, playing different positions each time. In 1993 he was playing second and Glenn Howard was playing third on the Russ Howard-skipped team that won the Brier and the world championship. In 1998, he won both titles while skipping his own team and in 2012 he did it again while playing third for Glenn Howard.

He has all kinds of experience, but after the injury he suffered, it was hard to know how things would go on the ice at the Brier.

“Between the two bodies, we’ve got one pretty good one,” Howard said with a laugh.

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On Saturday, the foursome beat Greg Skauge of the Northwest Territories 9-5 to open the tournament. Middaugh curled 85% and made a terrific draw to the button against three in the sixth end to save the game.

“This is the difference between Wayne Middaugh and anybody else,” Howard said. “He hasn’t played a competitive game in five years but then he goes out and he draws the four foot when he needs to. That’s what we expected and that’s what we got from him today.”

Middaugh’s presence at the Brier is inspiring to many of the curlers in the 18-team field.

While he has stayed in the game as a high-level coach with the Anna Hasselborg team from Sweden, not many of his fellow curlers expected to see him back playing in an event like this.

“I looked over and I said ‘I can’t believe Wayne Middaugh is playing in another Brier,’” Northern Ontario skip Brad Jacobs said Saturday.

“It’s good to see him out there. Obviously, the guy’s a legend. We all grew up watching him, idolizing him … I loved how he approached the game and I always loved the emotion that Wayne brought to the game. I love seeing him out there.”

Marc Kennedy, who plays third for Jacobs, said seeing Middaugh on the ice brings a smile to his face.

“Just to know that he’s back playing game that he loves,” Kennedy said. “That was a pretty devastating injury for him. It’s just wonderful to see him out here. He’s a big reason why a lot of us loved watching curling growing up. Loved his emotion and his energy and how great he was. It’s just awesome to see him. Hopefully he misses a couple against us though.”

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There were times when Middaugh figured he never would get back to this point and it wasn’t just because of the injury. He found a passion in coaching and it kept him in the game enough to satisfy his curling fix.

“The first couple years I didn’t realize I missed it but then I got involved with Team Hasselborg and they really rejuvenated my excitement for the game,” Middaugh said.

“I went to some Slams with them, a European championship, a world championship and I thought: ‘This is what I do. This is who I am. I’m a curler.’”

Twyman@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Ted_Wyman

STANDINGS

POOL A

New Brunswick (Grattan) 2-0

Manitoba (Gunnlaugson) 2-0

Wild Card 3 (Howard) 1-0

Northern Ontario (Jacobs) 1-1

Wild Card 1 (McEwen) 1-1

Alberta (Bottcher) 1-1

B.C. (Laycock) 0-1

Northwest Territories (Skauge) 0-2

Yukon (Mikkelsen) 0-2

POOL B

Wild Card 2 (Koe) 2-0

Canada (Gushue) 2-0

Quebec (Fournier) 1-1

Saskatchewan (Dunstone) 1-1

Ontario (Epping) 1-1

Nova Scotia (Murphy) 1-1

P.E.I. (MacKenzie) 0-1

Nunavut (Mackey) 0-1

Newfoundland (Smith) 0-2

SATURDAY RESULTS

DRAW 4

McEwen 8, Northern Ontario 5

Manitoba 9, Yukon 5

Alberta 13, N.W.T. 5

New Brunswick 7, B.C. 5

DRAW 3

Koe 7, Newfoundland 6

Canada 11, Quebec 7

Ontario 6, Saskatchewan 3

Nova Scotia 11, P.E.I. 4

DRAW 2

Howard 9, NWT 5

New Brunswick 6, McEwen 3

Northern Ontario 11, Yukon 3

Manitoba 5, Alberta 4