Which is the best men’s curling team in the world?
The obvious answer would be Jeff Stoughton’s team — after all, they are the reigning Brier and World Champions. But, while the curling season is still young, there is another Manitoban team that is making a strong challenge to unseat Stoughton’s throne and to change the answer to that question.
The Mike McEwen team, out of the Fort Rouge Curling Club, has had almost the best possible start by any men’s curling team this season. Consisting of skip McEwen, third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak, and lead Denni Neufeld, they have reached the finals of their first four events this season, winning three of them. In those four events, they have a win-loss record of 28-5. They have already defeated opponents such as Stoughton, Olympic gold medallist Kevin Martin, four-time World Champion Randy Ferbey twice, and have eliminated 2010 World Champion Kevin Koe from three tournaments.
Because of this start, the McEwen team is now No. 1 in the Canadian Curling Association rankings, the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit and the WCT’s money list. Going into last week’s GP Car and Home World Cup of Curling — won last year by Team McEwen — the team had 129.71 points in the CCA rankings. Second place was Kevin Martin, with 75.83 points. The McEwen squad has also won $66,000 on the World Curling Tour, almost twice as much as Martin and Ferbey (each winning $34,000 so far).
It’s not surprising that McEwen’s team is on the rise; they were the World Curling Tour’s rookie team of the year in 2008 and were named the Manitoba Curling Tour champions in 2008 and 2009. Last season, they won two Grand Slam of Curling events, the Grey Power World Cup of Curling and the BDO Canadian Open on their way to finishing the season ranked second behind Martin.
Despite the numerous tour wins, this team will not be satisfied — and will still be questioned — until they are wearing buffaloes on their backs next February for the Tim Hortons Brier.
The Safeway Championship, Manitoba’s provincial men’s curling championship, has not been kind to Team McEwen. They have reached the final in the past two championships and have lost final-end decisions to Jeff Stoughton’s rink both times. After the loss this February, McEwen made a controversial statement: “We still believe we’re the best chance Manitoba has to win a Brier.” Stoughton proceeded to disprove that statement by winning the Brier and the World Championship.
While last year may not have turned out the way they had hoped, it is quite possible that this will be their breakout year. Mike McEwen is now one of the best skips in curling, and at an average age of 28, this team may be successful for years to come. Their recent success may have come at the right time, as the Canada Cup of Curling, held in Cranbrook, B.C. later this month, has the first 2013 Olympic trials berth up for grabs. The trials will be held in Winnipeg, and a win there would cement their status as one of the world’s elite men’s curling teams.
The team is already planning ahead; the schedule on their website reads: “Victoria Men’s Curling Classic or World Men’s Curling Championship.”
Hopefully, for McEwen, it will be the latter.
