Curling history is being made in Calgary and a Brandon product is part of all the hype.
Nolan Thiessen is throwing lead stones for the John Morris team that are the first rink to ever represent Canada at a Brier and gained automatic entry into the national men’s curling championship.
"Everyone else who comes to the Brier is just coming off of a provincial win and that excitement and those good vibes that you get. That’ll be the biggest challenge for us is just making sure that we get fired up just as much as everybody else, but it shouldn’t be too hard playing with the maple leaf on your back," said Thiessen.
Thiessen’s former skip Kevin Koe is representing Alberta, while defending Olympic champion Brad Jacobs and fellow gold medalist Brad Gushue are also in the 14-team field.
Reid Carruthers is skipping Manitoba after beating Mike McEwen in the final of the Safeway Championship.
"It’s one of the best fields I’ve ever played in a Brier for sure," added Thiessen. "You’d probably say McEwen is a better team on paper then Reid, but it’s not as those Reid’s team isn’t very good. Reid’s team has been doing very well this year. It’s a very stacked event and there are not a lot of free spaces on the bingo card."
Carruthers is calling the shots for the first time, but has been to the Brier on three previous occasions with Jeff Stoughton and won the Canadian championship en route to a world title in 2011.
Thiessen and the Canadians meet Manitoba in the opening draw on Saturday afternoon.
"Those guys are going to be good," said Thiessen. "Reid with that Brier title in his back pocket is using that. It seems like every time Reid gets in the skip position he plays really well. They’re going to be a tough out and we’ll give it all we got."
The 2015 Brier champion will go on to play for our country at the worlds in Halifax that run March 28th to April 5th.
