Hey hey, the gang was all there

TORONTO – The donations continue to arrive as a final first-year total of $68,083 was announced for the Capital One Charity Bonspiel in support of SickKids Foundation.

24 celebrity curling skips joined 72 other curling fundraisers in early June for the inaugural event, which will return next year on June 2-4, 2011 at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.

Donations that continue to be collected will go toward next year’s event fundraising total. Contributors are invited to send an inquiry email to: sickkidsbonspiel@rogers.com

The list of curling superstars who appeared at the event included world champions Glenn Howard (Coldwater, ON) and Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg, MB) and their teammates; world champion Randy Ferbey (Edmonton, AB) as well as 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue (St. John’s, NL) and the 2010 Olympic sensation from the United Kingdom, Eve Muirhead (Blair Atholl, Scotland).

Who else do you recognize in the photo above? (click on image to increase size)

Information on the June 2011 event will be posted to the event website in the coming months. Apparently inquiries are coming from as far as Texas. Who might that be, we wonder?

[The Curling News photo by Anil Mungal]

Cheryl Bernard (left) and her 2010 Olympic silver medallists will battle the boys at the 2011 TSN Curling Skins Game.

Bernard and her Calgary women’s team will take on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic men’s champions from Edmonton, Team Kevin Martin, in one of the two event semifinals played January 22, 2011 at Casino Rama just outside of Barrie, Ontario.

The other semi will feature the 2010 defending champions, Team David Murdoch of Scotland, against the new world men’s champions from Edmonton, Team Kevin Koe. The two semifinal winners will compete in the final on January 23.

The Skins Game is a three-match, made-for-television competition featuring four teams in a unique style of play. Money – a total of $100,000 – is the key to scoring, and teams must either score two or more points with the hammer or steal a point to win a “skin”. The total amount of money earned determines the winner.

All three matches will be televised live in High-Definition on Canada’s TSN (The Sports Network).

“We’ve never had the opportunity to take on such a high calibre of men’s teams so we jumped at the chance to participate in the TSN Curling Skins Game,” said Bernard in a news release. “The venue, format and interaction with the fans will definitely make for a fun weekend of curling. But watch out guys – we are playing to win.”

Team Bernard is only the second women’s team to compete in the Skins Game. Two years ago, Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones battled Glenn Howard at Casino Rama and were crushed, scoring just a single skin over the eight-ends of play.

Bernard’s inclusion means Team Howard will not compete in the 2011 event. Howard, who resides in nearby Midland, has been invited to the three previous Skins Games and enjoys a large local following.

It also guarantees another summer and fall of off-ice debate, regarding the ability of female curlers to compete with their male opponents. Here’s an excerpt of a recent interview between Canwest News and Team Martin third John Morris:

CANWEST: If your team, the men’s Olympic champs, played 100 games against women’s champ Anette Norberg of Sweden, how many would you win?

MORRIS: Oh, I’m going to get myself in trouble for this answer, I bet. I would say 90.

CANWEST: Why such a disparity? Why such dominance by the men?

MORRIS: Well, you can compare it to (the gender difference) in tennis or golf. First of all, the sweepers are a lot better in men’s curling. And being able to throw the rock really hard can be a big weapon. So, the advantage of sweeping and the advantage of throwing the rock harder would be enough to unbalance the scale, I guess.

The Curling News has blogged live from all three previous Curling Skins Games, providing exclusive behind-the-scenes anecdotes and photos. You can catch up on previous coverage via our blog archive, during the months of January in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

After all, you never know what you’re going to see at the Skins Game. Like this.

[Anil Mungal photo copyright 2010 The Curling News. No reproduction is permitted]

Norberg (top) and Team Ostlund (below)

When news of her Olympic team breakup came just two weeks ago, legendary Swedish women’s curling skip Anette Norberg indicated she would stay involved with her sport, and seek to nurture young talent for the future.

Norberg has taken that one step further. The two-time world and two-time defending Olympic women’s champion has formed a new team and will embark on yet another run for gold at Sochi 2014.

Norberg has joined forces with Team Cissi Ostlund, the young Swedes who lost the bronze-medal game at this year’s 2010 Ford World curling championship to hosts Canada, skipped by Jennifer Jones.

Ostlund had lost the 2010 Swedish finals to Team Norberg, but the veterans declined to compete at the worlds, preferring to focus entirely on Vancouver 2010. Ostlund and company, the 2008 world junior silver medallists, did a great job in their first adult worlds appearance and the future clearly beckoned.

But so did Norberg, who despite decades of competition and a jammed trophy case – she’s also captured seven European championship titles in her career – just doesn’t want to quit. Norberg will be 47 in 2014.

“I would like to help build a competitive Swedish team, and these girls are already well on the way,” said Norberg in a statement.

Norberg had spoken to Reuters shortly after her Olympic team breakup and gave hints that her winning confidence is still very high.

“(My team’s retirement) doesn’t really make much difference,” said Norberg at the time. “If I continue playing, I will carry on as before. I still haven’t made a decision about the future, but if I decide to continue I’m sure I can win another gold medal.”

Norberg had also spoken highly of her apparent heirs, telling Svenska Dagbladet that “There is nothing to prevent Cecilia Ostlund from being as good as we are… (if) all four stay together and make the effort required, they have absolute potential and possibility.”

Norberg now joins forces with Ostlund, Sara Carlsson and Lotta Lennartson, the girlfriend of Swedish Olympic men’s skip Niklas Edin, to represent the Karlstad Curling Club. Former Ostlund teammate Anna Domeij has left the squad and will reportedly take a break from high-performance competition.

[Anette Norberg photo by Anil Mungal, copyright The Curling News 2010. Team Ostlund photo by Victoria Times Colonist]

Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club played host

TORONTO – They came, they curled (and played golf, tennis and croquet) and now they’ve departed… and the SickKids Foundation is a lot richer for it.

24 celebrity curling skips joined 72 other curlers/fundraisers and, together with a fine collection of event sponsors, raised over $65,000 for charity at the Capital One Celebrity Bonspiel in support of SickKids Foundation.

Not bad for a first-time event, which had an initial hope of some $30,000 in monies raised.

“We are delighted with the response from the participants and our sponsors,” said co-chair Jeff Steski. “We were also pleased to announce the return of the event next year, on June 3-4, 2011.”

Capital One marketing honcho Ian Cunningham confirmed his company’s continued support next season.

“We’ve been involved in the sport for three full years now,” said Cunningham. “And one thing that continues to impress us is the people.

“Curlers and curling fans are fantastic, they love to give their time and effort for great causes and we love to work with them.”

Funny? You should see the pics before this one

What turned into a multi-sport weekend in T.O. finally ended when Laura Crocker’s team upended L’Equipe Brenda Nicholls (funny photo at left) to capture the title. The second event went to the Glenn Howard foursome, while Geri-Lynn Ramsay and friends earned third event honours.

In the Odyssey White Ice Challenge, event qualifiers attempted to putt a golf ball down a sheet of ice into a carved-out button. 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue came closest, stopping the ball directly on the tee line… albeit in the 12-foot rings.

In addition to major sponsors Capital One, The Dominion and Callaway Golf, the event was supported by Campbell’s, iShares, Mackenzie Investments, Bruno’s Fine Foods, DELSO Group of Companies and Paulin, plus a host of team sponsors, including The Curling News.

As U.K. Olympic ice queen Eve Muirhead declared, “It’s for the kids!” And it certainly was.

[The Curling News images by Anil Mungal. Click on an image to increase size. See event website later today for additional images]

The new era of curling/golf cross promotion has begun

Prior to the release of today’s incredible Tiger Woods curling footage (link below) there already was a connection between the golf legend and the Roaring Game.

U.S. curling athlete Bill Todhunter won bronze at the 2007 world men’s championship with Team Todd Birr. Later, Todhunter was curling with Beau Welling, a USA Curling board member from South Carolina… who happens to design golf courses.

“Beau was curling with me in Green Bay,” Todhunter recalled. “It was his second bonspiel. We were talking curling and golf and he sent a text message to Tiger to remind him about the Ailsa Craig.

“Tiger’s response was something like, ‘it’s funny how I already know that’”

Todhunter eventually met Woods, and the two discussed curling for about 10 minutes.

So, what’s the Ailsa Craig, you may be asking? As faithful blogreaders know, we wrote about Tiger’s recent experience with the Craig at the British Open, here and here.

Now for today’s news.

This morning, a video promo was released by Electronic Arts, and the unthinkable has finally happened: Tiger went curling.

Without further ado, here is the link.

Toronto will soon be All About Eve

Big news is about to be revealed with regard to the new celebrity/charity curling event scheduled for June 4-5 in Toronto (see previous post).

The Curling News has learned that the phenom from Scotland –  2010 Olympian and world silver medallist Eve Muirhead – has been added to the roster of skips.

Muirhead and 2009 world junior champion teammate Anna Sloan will both be jetting across the Atlantic to the event, which supports the SickKids Foundation.

The pair join a field including Brad Gushue, Randy Ferbey and three-quarters of teams Jennifer Jones, Glenn Howard and Brad Jacobs, plus many more.

Muirhead is en route to this weekend’s legendary Bavarian Open Mixed in Oberstdorf, Germany and could not be reached for comment.

Co-organizer Peter Steski played coy, saying “We have a few exciting announcements still to come about this event.”

It will be Muirhead’s third trip to the Greater Toronto Area since last fall. In September, her British Olympic squad captured the Ontario Curling Tour Championship at Oakville, and in October her team returned to win the inaugural Three Nations Cup event at Mississauga’s Hershey Centre.

For a quick look at the extent of the young starlet’s growing fame, check this out.

[Eve Muirhead photo by Anil Mungal, copyright 2010 The Curling News]

by Margo Weber

It’s Koe Day in Halifax!

This morning, brothers Kevin Koe of Alberta and Jamie Koe of the Territories (CCA photo by Michael Burns) face off against each other in a much anticipated match at this year’s Tim Hortons Brier.

These two brothers haven’t curled together competitively in years, but grew up in Yellowknife where they both learned the game and made it a big part of their lives. In fact, the brothers lost a Canadian Junior final – to Alberta – on a last-shot, burned rock controversy which would have been, to this day, the only national title ever won by a Territories team.

And yes, at that time, they both had full heads of hair.

They have much in common, these two. They are both soft spoken… until they’ve had a few drinks. Neither shies away from ‘Patching it.’ And from what I can see, they both married waaaayyyy above the line. Proud parents Linda and Fred definitely taught them something right there.

But today they clash. And it’s the second big Brier brother battle in two years, following last year’s infamous Glenn Howard versus Russ Howard tilt in Calgary, which resulted in a shattered brush and much controversy.

For Kevin, this win could mean another step towards a second place finish in the round robin. Team Alberta plays Glenn Howard’s Ontario tonight, so a win against little bro Jamie is paramount in their efforts to get into that Page 1-2 playoff game.

For Jamie, it’s simply about pride. His 1-8 start could use improvement. A win here, although ‘mean’ for a little brother, would mean bragging rights for awhile. Sort of.

So in anticipation of this morning’s game, I’ve prepared some interview questions for the boys… and they have offered me their thoughtful answers.

According to Kevin:

Q: Who would play Jamie in the Jamie Koe movie?
A: Danny DeVito

Q: What characteristic did you receive from the gene pool that Jamie did not?
A: A brain

Q: What was the last book Jamie read?
A: Curling for Dummies

Q: If someone wrote an autobiography about Jamie, what would the title be?
A: ‘Living in the Shadow of my Great Brother’

Q: You play each other on the last day of the round robin. Who wins? And what is the score?
A: I will be surprised if they show up.

And now, according to Jamie:

Q: Who would play Kevin in the Kevin Koe movie?
A: Oscar the Grouch

Q: What characteristic did you receive from the gene pool that Kevin did not?
A: Draw weight

Q: What was the last book Kevin read?
A: Curling for Dummies

Q: If someone wrote an autobiography about Kevin, what would the title be?
A: ‘Missed it by a hair’

Q: You play each other on the last day of the round robin. Who wins? And what is the score?
A: Territories wins the game 8-7.

Awww. Brotherly tenderness. We’ll see in a few hours whatever the outcome is.

I assume Jamie will show up physically, but mentally? Something tells me it was a long night in the Patch. Jamie tossed himself out of last night’s game against Saskatchewan at the fifth end break, and his Facebook status – before even leaving the ice – was Just call me the Patchlington Bear.

I’d imagine he sticks around on the ice regardless of how this match goes, and it could be a fun to watch as it is indeed the TSN feature game. If we’re lucky, TSN may roll tape of that infamous last-stone Juniors loss all those years ago… an event which took place just up the road, in Truro, which I happened to be at, too!

Have a good one, boys.

by Teri Lake

HALIFAX – Meet Michael, Tyson, Nathan, Richard, Jamie, Jordan, Mike and Jacqui. You only get first names because printing the last names of this group of Calgary-based Ukrainian-Canadians would use up half my character count.

The group is visiting Halifax for the first time, specifically for the Brier, after catching the curling fever at last year’s Calgary Brier. At first I thought they must be students on a study break looking for a party… well almost, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Firstly, these aren’t students. They’re working professionals using hard-earned vacation time – a few even took short leaves of absence from their jobs to make it here. Why?

“We’re really into culture,” said Michael. “We are Canadians but do a lot to respect our Ukrainian heritage as well. At last year’s Brier, we were introduced to curling and the culture of the sport just captured us. And, we’ve always heard about east coast hospitality, so when we heard the Brier would be in Halifax this year, we got planning.”

I’ll say. And wait ‘til you hear how they got to Halifax. Most folks would arrive at the Calgary airport and head for the sunrise. Not this gang, they went west!

Flying from Calgary to Vancouver, the group wanted to be in the Olympic city to experience the vibe of being amid the excitement of Canada’s gold medal hockey finale against the United States. Then, and I swear I’m telling the truth here, they boarded a Via Rail train and spent five-and-a-half days making their way to Halifax; with the longest de-boarded break being about three hours.

“It was an adventure in itself,” Michael said. “There was no internet and very limited cell service so we made our own fun.”

(You know what this means, right? Canada just witnessed the return of the fabled Brier Train! – Ed.)

If there was an Olympic sport in making your own fun, these guys (plus one gal) would be golden shoe-ins. Just sitting in the stands cheering doesn’t work for them. They have matching costumes – a different getup every day, in fact. So far the Metro Centre has been treated to Scottish and lumberjack themes with a promise of bigger and better ideas later in the week.

Though the outfits may change, the pride stays the same. “We just really want the best team to win,” Michael said, when I asked him whether they were cheering for their hometown Alberta squad.

“We’re proud Canadians and we’re just cheering for the sport.”

As for the ‘Plus One Gal,’ Jacqui likens the experience to another kind of show. “They’re like a bunch of out-of-control muppets,” she said about her male cohorts. “You know, like those two old guys that sit in balcony at the Muppet Show and heckle the entire time.”

Join their Facebook page: “VIA Rail / Men’s (and 1 lady) Brier trip of AWESOMENESS!!!

[CCA photo by Michael Burns, click to increase size]

by Margo Weber

I think it’s safe to say that I have Olympic fever. Every morning I look at the Olympic schedule and plan my day accordingly. I’ve been keeping up on the web too, reading quite a few websites to make me feel like I’m ‘in the know’ until I get to Vancouver next week.

Jennifer Jones is in Van blogging for Yahoo, so here’s her link if you’re interested. She’s professional, but isn’t afraid to call ’em as she see’s ’em. If you’re curling bad, she will slyly out you. If you’re behaving badly, she will call you out. I have, however, been assured she will not be picking an all-star hottie team, like I have in the past (remember this?)

C’mon Jen!

I also subscribe to some Twitter feeds, such as The Curling News (of course) and Jill Officer, Jen’s teammate. I don’t tweet, but I do like seeing updates. Jill is pretty funny, and I think I’ve found my match in Olympic obsession. Example tweet:

Was it really necessary for the camera to follow the US skier as she walked over to the porta potty and watched her go in?

I’m enjoying quite a few events. I really enjoyed watching the moguls and I feel I’ve learned a lot about sports I never thought much about before. The medal count is interesting to me: we (Canadians) should do really well partly because of our Own The Podium program. We’ll see how our medals stack up at the end of next week.

I think WINNING the Olympics is a seriously tall order, although that didn’t stop officials from claiming it at the beginning of last week. Just a note, Canada would need about 30+ medals for this to be possible. But a second place finish in the medal count is definitely  within reach.

I see a big medal showing next week and I’ve been referring to this fellow’s blog who predicted where we are getting our medals IF Canada indeed reaches 30.

It’s a loose prediction, but the Olympics are such a crapshoot anything can really happen. His predictions are hardly educated, but fun nonetheless. My personal thoughts are that the Canadians are playing with heart, are certainly entertaining, and the athletes have won me over regardless of how we do in the end. I would, however, like to see a little more singing of our national anthem on the podium. Remember Clara Hughes in ’06? That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Regardless, this guy predicts a gold sweep in both the hockey and the curling. Yowza, wouldn’t that be something.

Speaking of curling. Both our Canadian teams are doing great. Kevin Martin’s team is curling lights out: some of their shots are amazing to begin with, then add that crowd roar and it’s so fun to watch. The closer games are a little more fun for me.

Cheryl Bernard’s team is playing well too, but they can play better. The good news for them is that the other teams are a little off as well. There certainly has been some very strange strategy from their international competitors.

Cheryl is making quite a name for herself. Yesterday on CTV’s Olympic website, she was the second most searched item, right behind American figure skater Johnny Weir. Today, the papers and websites are full of stories on how sexy all these curling athletes are.

Speaking of Weir, did anyone see that rose crown last night after his men’s free skate? Wowsers…

The message boards are lighting up with accolades for my friend Susan O’Connor, third for Team Canada. Our group of girlfriends will all be heading out to Vancouver to cheer her and the girls on. We’re so excited. When I have been glued to my TV, the other girls have been obsessed watching from their work desks with the CTV live stream on the internet. The feed is really good quality, about 45 seconds behind. Everyone’s bosses will just simply have to understand. Haha!

Speaking of message boards, some are suggesting a new way of determining the U.S. curling teams – an all-star selection team, similar to the British model. I don’t see any U.S. medals this time around… otherwise, the Americans are doing incredibly well, with some 18 medals.

I head out on Thursday for a whirlwind trip to see curling’s medal games. When I first booked this trip, I was told it was quite risky. What if Team Canada isn’t in one of these games? My response was… they will be. And know what, if they aren’t… they have bigger problems than me.

Go Canada Go!!

[Photo of Cheryl Bernard (left) and Susan O'Connor by Anil Mungal. Copyright The Curling News, 2010. Click to increase size]

You might be wondering… where are our Olympic curling previews?

Admit it. You just might be thinking: how can The Curling News, founded in 1957 and world-reknowned for decades, possibly claim to be number one in terms of All Things Curling™ without publishing the ultimate Olympic curling primer?

We’ve got two answers for you.

First: if you don’t read the actual hard-copy, print edition of The Curling News… you lose. As we have mentioned more than a few times before, the multitude of free content you see on our thousands of blog pages, on our explosive Twitter feed (with stuff added multiple times daily), our Facebook group page and so on is… exactly that: free content… and it’s far from all that we have to offer.

For the complete package, you simply must read the newspaper. There is special, print-only, proprietary info in there. And the February 2010 issue comes with the Olympic curling primer you want.

Second: for the first time in our 53-year history, we have printed stories in a language other than English and French. Joining French in the very special February Olympic issue are team previews in the language of each and every competing nation!

Chinese. Danish. German, for both Germany and Switzerland. Japanese (click image to increase size). Norwegian. Swedish. And even Russian.

In celebration of the Vancouver 2010 curling event – in celebration of international curling’s greatest moment – we now present you with the online version of these international language previews. Simply head to the homepage of our website and click on the special banner indicating Olympic Previews in 9 Languages.

However, if you want to read these previews in English, plus read our previews on teams Canada, Great Britain and the United States, you’ll just have to grab a copy of The Curling News.

And we invite you to click here.

On with the Games!

Here is a first look at Team Canada, men’s version, on the ice at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

In The Curling News photo at left, skip Kevin Martin (left) and alternate Adam Enright prepare to keep the path clean for John Morris as the first of two practice days winds down.

“Today was about getting used to the building and really getting that Olympic feel,” Martin told CTVOlympics.ca afterwards. “I was here about 10-15 minutes early to take in the building. Every building is different so I wanted to get a feel without playing a game.”

“It was moving really well, at least four and a half feet,” said Martin. “It was mostly moving late and it was pretty finicky with weight.”

While the team eased into things on Sunday, they plan to get in a more structured session on Monday.

“Today was more mechanical for the guys. They were throwing well and getting comfortable,” said Martin. “Tomorrow (Monday), we’ll do more sweeping and game situations.”

[Click on image to increase size. Copyright owned by The Curling News (2010)]

Now it’s Sweden’s turn!

Here’s Sebastian Karupp from the Niklas Edin squad, out and about in beautiful British Columbia and indicating where he believes Team Sverige will end up on the medal podium.

We wouldn’t bet against him, actually. Team Edin have compiled quite the curling resume recently.

World University Games champions a year ago – beating the Chinese Olympic team in the final, in their own hometown of Harbin, with some 20-30 million Chinese watching on state television.

Quarterfinalists at the first Capital One Grand Slam event of the season, at Toronto back in October. Remember that one? They started in horrid fashion, going 0-2, and then won their remaining pool games to qualify… against the field of the other nine Olympic teams plus Koe, Ferbey and Gushue.

Finally, the Europeans. While Canadians were focussed on their Trials in Edmonton, the young lads swept the competition in Aberdeen, Scotland to win gold at Europe’s most important competition. Just like that.

Are these guys on your Olympic pundit radar screen? If not, you’d better make some last-minute edits, and quick.

You can read more about their podium chances, plus that of Anette Norberg’s women’s team, in the super-sized Olympic issue of The Curling News.

And if you happen to be Swedish, you just might be able to read our story in that language.

Say what?!

Hey, that’s the rumour… after all, de svenska lagen lämnar mycket att prata om…

[Fredrik Lindberg photo, click to increase size]

Word broke today that Michael Burns Sr., an award-winning sport photographer and the dean of all curling photographers worldwide, passed away on Monday at the age of 84.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, “Senior” started working at racetracks as an apprentice at Old Woodbine in Toronto in 1943. While working for Turofsky Photos in the 1940s and 1950s, Burns covered the National Hockey League at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

As official photographer of the Ontario Jockey Club (Woodbine Entertainment Group) since 1956, his images promoted horse racing for more than 50 years.

Overall, Burns was part of the sports scene around the world for the past seven decades. He was the official photographer for the Canadian government at five Olympics… but curling fans also came to know his images very, very well.

Senior has been the official photographer of the Canadian Curling Association for decades, beginning in 1958, and his son, Michael Burns Jr., has taken over most of the curling shooting for decades, too. Back in April 2009, during the Ford Worlds, TCN blogger Katja Kiiskinen paid tribute to “Burnsie”, junior version, who celebrated a milestone of his own at that historic championship.

The Curling News has been privileged to work with both Sr. and Jr. for decades, too, and we mourn the passing of Michael Burns today. Be sure to check out our next issue, the March 2010 “Brier” issue, for a spread of classic Michael Burns curling images.

For now, you can see one such image, taken at the 1976 Silver Broom (men’s worlds) in Duluth on our Twitter feed, via Twitpic.

You can also read more praise for the Burns legend in this story from the Toronto Sun.

A funeral service will be held at 10 am on Friday, February 12 at St. Clement Catholic Church in Toronto, with a reception at St. George’s Golf & Country Club. Visitation is from 2 pm to 4 pm on Thursday February 11at the Turner & Porter Yorke Chapel, 2357 Bloor St. West in Toronto.

Donations can be made c/o Dr. A. Simone, Canadian Food for Children Organization, 40 King George Rd., Toronto, Ont., M8X 1L3.

The Danes have arrived in Vancouver!

Here’s second Lars Vilandt – who also works for the Danish Curling Association – with the weight of the Olympic world on his shoulders.

The Danes are a tad late arriving due to their national championships, which were held last weekend to declare the Danish representatives for the worlds in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in April.

Vilandt’s team, skipped by veteran Ulrik Schmidt, won the championship.

The Danes won’t be staying in the Olympic village too long – soon they are off to nearby Langley, BC for training on Feb. 11 and 13, returning to Vancouver on the 12th for the Opening Ceremonies (but of course).

Included in their warm-ups will be a friendly exhibition match against Marla Mallet and her 2009 B.C. women’s champions, who lost the final to repeat Canadian winner Jennifer Jones. That game takes place tomorrow, Feb. 11 at the Langley Curling Club at 8:00pm.

Another exhibition game is scheduled for 3:00pm on Feb. 13 against the BC junior men’s champions, the Tyler Klymchuk squad from Langley. Team Denmark will be available to meet the public and sign autographs an hour before that match, at 2:00pm.

[Lars Vilandt photo, click to enlarge]

So far, the award for Olympic Curling Social Media Wizardry goes to Team USA.

Second thrower Nicole Joraanstad of Debbie McCormick’s women’s team has been all over the Twitterverse and Facebook, showing photos and sharing newsbytes as her squad prepares for action to start next week. Alternate Tracy Sachtjen has also been an accomplished photo bug.

On the men’s squad, alternate Chris Plys has, predictably, been the go-to-guy for digital updates… but coach Phill Drobnick isn’t far behind.

Here’s a montage of two pics taken by Joranstaad: at left is her squad showing off some Team USA cheering gear, which was probably left in their condo apartments upon their arrival, and at right is the first look at their on-ice uniforms, as they headed onto the ice yesterday at Richmond CC for their first British Columbia practice session.

One is fun, the other more serious.

And as any of these girls will tell you, a balance between the two is probably the best elixir for curling success.

[Photos courtesy Nicole Joraanstad – click to increase size]