Good news, and possibly bad news, on the local curling front arose during the Pinty’s All-Star Curling Skins Game at Fenlands Recreation Centre last weekend (Jan. 16-18).
The good news is that John Morris, or Johnny Mo as he’s affectionately known, is moving to Canmore. Local fans of the roaring game will then have an elite curler they can cheer for as Morris and his newly-formed rink of Calgarians Pat Simmons, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen compete in the upper echelons of the game under Alberta’s flag.
The bad news is that, should Morris decide to step away from the elite level of the game, the Olympic gold medallist and Brier champ may well look for a more local outlet for his curling fix. Local men’s leagues would likely never be the same.
On Sunday, the Morris rink faced reigning Olympic champion Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie in the Pinty’s final. Jacobs (see accompanying story) ended up winning the match and taking home $65,500, but Morris and his squad went home with $4,000 from the final and $19,000 won in a victory over former teammate Kevin Koe.
A Rocky View County firefighter living in Chestermere, Morris currently works out of an Elbow Valley fire hall near Bragg Creek, which puts him closer to a commute from Canmore.
“I’m going to be moving to Canmore pretty soon,” said Morris. “It’s an easy 40-minute commute so it makes sense.”
In the past year, retirements at the top of the curling world (ie. Edmonton Brier champ and Olympian Kevin Martin) has meant a shuffling of teams at the top level in Canada. In a Pinty’s semifinal, Morris’ new rink (he skipped a Jim Cotter squad from B.C. last year) and Kevin Koe (who hooked up with remnants of Martin’s rink) met, with Morris stealing $19,000 and a victory in the eighth end.
“That’s the skins game for you; it all boils down to right at the end. It all builds up and it was exciting,” he said. “We thought we were on top of them most of the game and had a big end at the end. Pat made two beauties and that was the difference maker.”
Morris said he enjoys the skins format, including the Pinty’s event.
“It’s a bit more intimate because the fans are so close and we’ve got a lot of friends here. And as I said, it all boils down to the last two ends, so you can sort of laugh it up and have a good time.
“Part of our role as players is to really make sure we interact with fans at an event like this; it’s a made for TV and made for fans event. We don’t want to be super serious out there, we want to have a good time as well.”
At one point in the game against Koe, for example, Morris polled the crowd on what shot to make. After cheering for a double takeout, which Simmons then executed, the crowd roared with approval.
With the Pinty’s event now over, Morris and his rink are looking at a brand new challenge – being the first Team Canada at the Brier.
At past Briers, all teams involved represented provinces or territories. For 2015, though, the change was made to have the reigning champ (Koe in 2014), earn an automatic berth as Team Canada. Being that Koe, though, hooked up with three-quarters of Martin’s old rink and that Morris joined Koe’s remaining three players, the honour now goes to Morris and his new rink.
“Our chemistry’s been good,” he said. “It’s just getting used to the dynamic of being on the ice together. We haven’t played a lot, so it’s taken a little longer to feel that. It’s taken us extra time because we’ve only played about half the number of spiels most of the men’s teams have played.
“But all these guys know how to win and and we just have to find what works best for us.”
Although the Morris rink is still working on chemistry, as Team Canada, they avoid the playdown system of earning a Brier berth.
“We don’t have the playdowns, but there’s always pressure in having the maple leaf on your back. But we’ve all been there before and played in a lot of big events and I don’t think we feel it as much as if it was our first time.
“We feel very privileged and honoured to be the first Team Canada ever and I’ve got a great bunch of guys to curl with and we’re feeling good. We struggled a bit in 2014, the first part of the season, but we’ve had a really good start to 2015 and we’re starting to really believe, so it’s looking good.”
