I first met Brad in junior curling
I grew up in Labrador and he’s from St. Johns so we first met on the ice
Playing against each other in the provincial championships from a young age
I started to talk to him more and more because I was like I need this guy to play on my team if we are going to be
Competitive on a national level
He was looking to go to university in Ottawa
and I had to basically persuade him to move to St. Jons and go to memorial so we can curl together
We’re kind of Batman and Robin or Thelma and Louise
However you wanna a phrase it
We’re kind of a pair that's known for being together in the curling world
And I don't see that changing anytime soon
Brett and Geoff were coming up through juniors as we were into our men's career
Both Brett and Geoff were on separate teams playing against each other in junior curling
And had quite successful junior careers as myself and Brad were competing in our mens careers
I first met Brad and Mark actually in our junior curling camp
in Atlantic Canada, shortly after they won their Olympic gold medal
I was coaching their after the Olympics and he was one of the campers in my group
Fast forward to a few years later - I competed against Geoff at a Canadian junior championship
I am actually reminded that they destroyed us that game so Geoff got the bragging rights there
When I was about 25 when I got the call from Brad to move out and you know I don’t regret obviously saying yes
And moving across the country to St. Johns at the time
Obviously I had a lot of success and got to play in a lot of big games
How did I become the coach? Oh that was interesting
Basically I was sitting in my office when I got a phone call from Brad, he asked me if he could actually to meet with me
Toby’s been a mentor of me for jeepers I would say 20 years
So when he came in and asked me if I would consider coaching the team
It took me a little bit a back, I was honoured obviously for the opportunity
I met the team I think it was 1997
They approached me I think it was to assist in their coaching on ice
I would help them technically and you know set up their drills and practices
I played against Geoff a lot when I was a teenager and he was one of the better players in the province
And was looking for looking for a coach in our last couple years of juniors
And Jeff is a very technical person.
When he coached us in our juniors we ended up winning the world juniors with Jeff as a coach.
I spent a couple years in Lac La Biche Teaching when I graduated then I came to Nate
and that's where I met Kevin Martin
And that's where I spent 30 years with him
When Kevin retired I thought that was it, I was just going to coach Nate and you know do some help and
I got a phone call from Brad
If I wanted to come with him
So this will be the 6th year coming up
I'll give you the board first for the all time and then we’ll throw some back
And maybe use the outturn on the back
What makes us special I think we have a great blend of personalities on the team
Geoff who is soft spoken on the team
Myself who is fairly outspoken
Brad is a super competitive guy
And Mark compliments Brad so well
They’ve played together I think for over 20 years now
Over the course of the years we have developed a great communication and a great commodity on and off the ice
We really enjoy playing together
I think that's what our team does really well, communication, you know working amongst the 4 of us
To get a little bit more out of each other
We all do work hard, we don’t have anybody that likes to slack off
We sort of commit to something and we put everything into it
I don’t think there's another team that prepares as much as we do for events
Our biggest win as a team would have had to be the Brier the St. Johns in 2017
2017 Brier was an unreal experience, obviously we were a hometown team in St Johns
That's gotta be the highlight right there, this team came together to win Briers you know hopefully go to the Olympics
We spent a number of years kind of knocking on the door so to finally break through and win that
Brier here in St. Johns, you know one of the biggest wins that we’ll ever have
Just the journey that we had to get the point we had
played a bunch of Briers, come close, lost the final a couple of times, lost the semi finals
I can’t even count how many times
We were the best team in the world at that time
And it was played here in St. Johns
It was 40 odd years since it was played in St. Johns
And the expectations where so high
We had been close the year before losing the final
Brad, Mark is was one of their goals and they have been close a number of times before
But you know it has probably been 10, 12, years in the making for them
To win the Canadian championship
And us as a team to do it in front of our hometown fans in St. Johns, Newfoundland community
You know, who supported us all along the way
Was just super special for us
It’s going to be really tough to ever top that moment in our curling careers
There was no better Brier ever in the history of Brits like there was here in St. Johns
The place was electric
Very cool, very loud. To do it at home was just the most special thing ever
The stands were full, there were fans everywhere
People were coming up to us,
I don’t think I have ever watched the clip of that final shot without crying ever
So that's where we wanted to stop, right
It probably got here or lower actually, came the rest
Maybe a little closer
Good sweeping
Then she just blew up, like crazy
It went a little nuts, year
If I could go back and relive that and just be on the ice
And some of the shots it felt like the roof was lifted off the building
You just get those chills all the way down your back
It was pretty cool