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They haven’t competed together in a while, but Team Jacobs will return to action this weekend against some of the best Canada has to offer.
“We’re motivated. We’re ready to go,” Brad Jacobs ahead of representing Northern Ontario at the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier.
“Everyone is relaxed and feeling good mentally, physically, and emotionally,” Jacobs added. “We’re just looking forward to competing.”
Round robin action in the 10-day event opened Friday evening at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge, Alta.
Jacobs and his Northern Ontario teammates – including third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and alternate Jordan Chandler – are looking forward to returning to the ice. The tournament comes on the heels of winning the Northern Ontario Curling Association playdowns at home in February.
“We’re really relaxed right now,” said Team Jacobs lead Ryan Harnden. “We’ve been out practicing, three times over the last day-and-a-half. We’re just relaxed and excited to get back on the ice.”
The Jacobs rink played the provincial event minus Kennedy, who was serving as an alternate with Brad Gushue’s team at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
“It’s great to have Marc back,” Ryan Harnden said. “He’s a big part of our team and one of the best players in the world and one of the best to ever play the game. I’m looking forward to getting back on the ice with Marc. That dynamic has always been there and always will be there.”
“It’s the first time we’ve seen Marc since the Olympic trial,” Jacobs said in an interview Wednesday night after arriving in Calgary. “We’re getting reacquainted as a team. We were able to get some practice in at the Glencoe Club in Calgary, so that was really good.”
“Anytime you’re not together with a key player like Marc for that long a period of time, it’s going to be a little tough, but I assume it’ll be like riding a bike,” Jacobs added. “We’re all very excited to get out there and compete. It’s been three months and everybody is just looking forward to stepping on the ice and doing what we love to do and doing what we do best.”
Kennedy added that the team is excited to be back together.
“We’re all excited and chomping at the bit to get out there together because we’ve really enjoyed that overt the last few years,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy called the Olympic experience “incredible.”
“I was really happy that I had that opportunity and grateful,” Kennedy added. “It was everything that you would have imagined. It was a whirlwind of ups and downs and managing COVID over and above everything that comes with an Olympics was a challenge for everybody.”
Kennedy added that being an alternate was a new but rewarding experience.
“I’m so used to it being about me and all of my teammates and in this case, it was about trying to be more selfless and providing value to the people around me,” Kennedy said. “That was a new experience for me, but it was great. Those guys treated me like gold.”
Chandler took Kennedy’s place with Team Jacobs for the provincial tournament with Kennedy away.
“It was fantastic to play in a provincial championship and, although we had to juggle the lineup because we didn’t have Marc, it was really nice to have Jordan in there and win a purple heart with him. That’s hist first and we really wanted to win that game for him more than anything,” Jacobs said.
Team Jacobs went 4-1 in the round robin before beating Sandy MacEwan’s Sudbury-based rink 6-5 in the final.
MacEwan was the lone team to beat Jacobs in the round robin, beating the Sault rink in the final round robin draw to earn a spot in the final.
“To have the Sandy MacEwan rink play as well as they did in the round robin game and in the final was exactly what we needed,” Jacobs said of the provincial final. “It’s great to be challenged as an athlete. I was really just proud of us for being able to hang in there, especially when we weren’t getting any breaks and they were playing really well. Our experience kicked in in the second half of that game. We stayed calm and we just continued to apply pressure and make some key shots and we were able to sneak out the win.”
While the members of the Jacobs rink are Brier veterans, Kennedy said that the excitement never gets old heading into the event, but it changes a bit through the years.
“It changes a bit as you get older though,” Kennedy said. “You start to think that ‘Maybe this is my last one’ so you really want to take it all in. I want to play my best and give the best for my teammates out there. That’s what the Brier’s have become to me over the years.”
Kennedy said there are a number of things the Jacobs rink will need to do to be successful at the tournament.
“You have to mentally prepare that it’s going to be a grind,” Kennedy said. “It’s going to be a roller coaster of emotions. You’re going to have lots of ups and you’re going to have lots of downs. You’re going to have to manage those and still be at your best. That’s something this team has done well at big events.”
“The other (focus) for us is just going out there and not putting too much pressure on ourselves and just playing the way we know we can play,” Kennedy added. “Focusing on little things like getting good draw weight, trying to read the ice well and supporting each other.”
Ryan Harnden also noted the need to make good use of downtime between games.
“It’s a long week so there’s a lot of downtime,” Ryan said. “Trying to do the right things in that downtime, making sure you’re prepared for every game. All the teams are tough now, so you can’t take a game off. Just being mentally prepared for each and every game.”
Over the years, the event has become increasingly tougher to win as the quality of opponents has become better.
“We used to come to these things, and you could kind of look at your draw and you knew, say, four, five, or six games, you were probably going to win,” Jacobs said. “It’s not that way anymore. Every game is a challenge. All of the top teams in Canada are here this week. It’s going to be tough, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. That’s what makes it great.”
“You used to be able to pick out the easy games and today’s game, there’s not a single easy game,” Ryan added. “If you take a night off, you’re going to lose. The quality has gone up a lot. Our sport is in a really good spot right now.”
Harnden also credited the youth movement in the sport as putting curling in a good position going forward.
“There’s a lot of younger kids now in their early-20s and mid-20s playing at our level,” Ryan said of the youth movement in the sport. “When we were that age, it was really difficult to break through. We’re in a really good spot. The sport is a lot younger and a lot more athletic. I’m 35 and probably one of the older guys now on tour. That was typically your peak age in our sport. It’s in a great spot and the future of curling is bright in Canada.”
With the tournament opening on Friday evening, the Jacobs rink begins round robin play on Saturday afternoon against Jason Gunnlaugson, who is skipping one of three Wild Card teams in the 18-team event.
Jacobs called the early bye a good thing for the team.
“It just gives us a little bit more time,” Jacobs said. “The other thing is, we haven’t traveled (recently). We get over a little bit of jet lag traveling out west and just get out feet on the ground and feel comfortable in our surroundings.”
Team Jacobs opens its round robin schedule on Saturday in the afternoon draw when the team faces Jason Gunnlaugson of Winnipeg who is one of three wild card teams in the field.
“For whatever reason, Gunner’s team always plays well against us,” Jacobs said. “It’s always a challenge against those guys. They just bring their A game against us, so we expect that.”
The 18-team field is split into two pools of nine teams, who will play an eight-game round robin schedule that will wrap up on March 10.
The following day, the top three teams in each pool will play in an expanded playoff that will see the second- and third-place teams meet in a page playoff qualifier. The winners of those games will face the top seeded teams from each pool later in the day.
The winners of the evening games will play in the 1v2 page playoff game on March 12 with the remaining two teams playing in the 3v4 game.
The winner of the 1v2 game will advance directly to the final with the loser of that game facing the winner of the 3v4 game to determine the other finalist.
The tournament final is scheduled for March 13 at 8 p.m. Sault time.