Curling, Etcetera_ A Whole Bunch of Stuff About the Roaring Game - Bob Weeks [45]
• Hackner believes that if Ryan played more aggressively early in that final game, he would have won the game easily.
• Although happy at winning, Lang felt remorseful at defeating Ryan, who was the best team that week. “There was almost a feeling of guilt,” Lang admitted. “We know how Ryan’s team felt because it happened to us [in 1981]. It really took something away from winning.”
WORLD CHAIR
In 2002, the World Curling Federation sanctioned the first World Wheelchair Curling Championship. Although there were not a lot of competitors at first, the discipline has grown over the years, and made its first appearance at the Paralympics in 2006.
World Wheelchair Curling Champions
2002 Switzerland
2003 No competition
2004 Scotland
2005 Scotland
2006 no event due to Paralympics (Canada)
2007 Norway
2008 Norway
Curling Fact
The oldest sporting club in North America is the Royal Montreal Curling Club, founded in 1807.
STATS
The best teams don’t always win the championship. At least not when it comes to statistics. The Canadian Curling Association has kept individual and team shooting percentages at its national championships since 1982, and often times, the team with the best average isn’t the champion.
Here’s a look at the all-time top team shooting percentages and the teams’ final positions:
Women
% Team Year Finish
85 Canada (Jones) 2002 First
83 Saskatchewan (Betker) 2007 Second
83 Saskatchewan (Lawton) 2005 Fourth
83 Ontario (Hanna) 2005 Second
83 Alberta (King) 2002 Tied fifth
83 Ontario (Middaugh) 2002 Third
83 Saskatchewan (Schmirler) 1997 First
83 Canada (Peterson) 1995 Third
83 Canada (Peterson) 1994 First
Men
% Team Year Finish
89 Ontario (Middaugh) 2001 Third
88 Alberta (Ferbey) 2004 Second
88 Ontario (Werenich) 1990 First
87 Alberta (Martin) 2007 Fourth
87 Alberta (Ferbey) 2003 First
87 N.B. (Howard) 2003 Fourth
87 Manitoba (Stoughton) 2000 Second
87 Ontario (Howard) 1993 First
86 Ontario (Howard) 2006 Second
86 Alberta (Ferbey) 2005 First
86 New Brunswick (Howard) 2004 Fifth
86 Ontario (Corner) 2000 Fifth
86 Quebec (Roberge) 2000 Third
86 Ontario (Middaugh) 1998 First
LONG-DISTANCE CURLING
Some teams will do anything for a shot at the Brier, but Bob Chilton and his rink, from the End of the Rail Curling Club, might take top prize if there was one for perseverance. The team played out of a club in Moose Factory, Ontario, a native reserve on an island across from Moosonee on the southern tip of James Bay. To reach their club to practise, the team travelled three miles across the Moose River by snowmobile—which meant they had to wait until mid-December for the freeze-up.
In 1987-88, to reach their zone playdowns, the rink had to fly to Timmins (about 250 miles as the crow flies), but because of a snowstorm, the plane almost didn’t take off. Timmins was only the first stop. After arriving there, the team had to drive three and a half hours through the blizzard to Kapuskasing, arriving just minutes before their first game. They won their zone that year, advanced through the association level, and made it as far as the provincial championship before losing.
RYAN’S EXPRESS
One of the most dominant curlers of his era, Pat Ryan had a lengthy and distinguished career on the ice. A three-time Canadian champion, he continues to compete to this day. Some notes about Ryan:
• He is one of just two curlers to play in Briers in four different decades (’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s). The other is Peter Hollett of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• In 1985, thinking he had won the Brier after his last shot, Ryan came down the ice with his broom in the air in celebration. However, Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner played what is often regarded as the most dramatic last shot in Brier history to tie the game and then beat Ryan in an extra end.
• He won back-to-back Briers in 1988 and ’89 on the strength of an extremely defensive style of play, playing a vast majority