‘We’ve all had our bad moments:’ Brier curlers stand up for B.C. player who caused ice damage with broom smash

Article content

Curling is a sport that is normally all about decorum.

After all, the players are all wearing microphones for TV games and they have to watch what they do and say, or else face possible fines.

“We’ve had our wrists slapped enough times,” Saskatchewan skip Matt Dunstone said this week at the Tim Hortons Brier. “We’ve learned now.”

Still, it’s a tense and difficult game, played on a slippery surface, and on occasion, emotions get in the way of prim and proper behaviour.

Such an incident occurred on Thursday night in a game between Alberta and B.C., at the Markin MacPhail Arena in Calgary.

British Columbia third Steve Laycock, a veteran of 10 Briers, had a moment of anger in the fifth end, slamming his broom against the ice after a missed shot.

It’s the kind of thing that happens fairly often and is usually relatively innocent, but on this occasion, Laycock’s broom caused significant damage to the ice surface.

Article content

It took the ice technicians 45 minutes to repair the divot in the ice and a game of great importance to Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and his teammates was delayed.

“Stuff happens in a week like this,” Bottcher said after pulling off a 7-5 win to head into the championship round with a 6-2 record.

“We needed a little bit of ice maintenance and that took a little longer than we were expecting. It’s tough because you get up for these games, you’re kind of rolling and feeling good, and to have to stop midway through an end like that was a little bit tricky. But the guys rebounded well. Those are hard games to win, when there’s a bit of adversity and I think we battled through great.”

Curling Canada announced that Laycock would be fined an undisclosed amount for causing the delay.

While Laycock faced considerable backlash on Twitter, his curling peers had his back.

“There was a conversation and there was no ill will anywhere because it wasn’t even an intentional act,” Alberta third Darren Moulding said. “It was unlucky, if you ask me. People whack their brooms on the ice all the time. This time the head flipped on him and did a little bit of damage. I’ve done it a whole bunch and there are other guys who have done it. They just don’t pay that price that he had to pay. I don’t think it’s a huge deal, really.”

Broom slams have been relatively common over the years, especially in men’s curling, but are less frequent now that there’s a rule stating that a broken broom cannot be replaced during a game.

Article content

Causing damage to the ice surface is much more rare, but most curlers can still relate to the emotional outburst that created the problem.

“I’ve been there before, so it would be pretty hypocritical for me to hold ill will,” Moulding said.

“I broke my broom in the Olympic Trials and it was pretty embarrassing. I’m not a bad guy but people get emotional. (Laycock) wants to win out there, people want to win.

“I can’t count how many times I’ve whacked my broom. Sometimes you get away with it and no one notices. He got way more than what he deserved. It was a way bigger deal than what it should have been.

“If you ask any curler, they’ve probably all had their bad moments out there.”

Laycock’s team finished the Brier with a 3-5 record and did not advance to the championship round.

It was Bottcher’s team that called for the ice crew to come out and repair the surface. They could have asked to have the sheet completely resurfaced or to move to another sheet later in the evening after other games concluded.

“In the moment it all happens pretty fast,” Bottcher said. “After what happened, we all looked at each other and said ‘Are we gonna play the rest of the game in these conditions or should we try to get a little bit of ice maintenance?’

“It was a huge game for us so the decision was we were going to put the time in, even if it took a little bit extra, to try to get the conditions as good as we could. The crew did a great job. For the rest of the game, I couldn’t tell once, after that spot had been repaired, I didn’t notice it for the rest of the game.”

Article content

Moulding said the 29-year-old Bottcher’s experience with big moments at the Brier came in handy.

“It was just a situation that arose and there was some adversity,” Moulding said. “Skipper led us really well when things were slipping away a little bit. He just said to me ‘We’re not losing. Not tonight.’ ”

Twyman@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/Ted_Wyman

STANDINGS

CHAMPIONSHIP POOL

Wild Card 3 (Howard/Middaugh) 8-2

Wild Card 2 (Koe) 8-2

Saskatchewan (Dunstone) 7-3

Alberta (Bottcher) 7-3

Canada (Gushue) 7-3

Ontario (Epping) 7-3

Manitoba (Gunnlaugson) 6-4

Northern Ontario (Jacobs) 6-4

FRIDAY RESULTS

DRAW 19

Manitoba 7, Ontario 6

Alberta 8, Koe 7 (EE)

Middaugh/Howard 9, Dunstone 5

Northern Ontario 7, Canada 2

DRAW 20

Koe 8, Northern Ontario 5

Ontario 10, Howard/Middaugh 8

Canada 12, Manitoba 2

Saskatchewan 8, Alberta 7