Moulding savouring Brier victory

By Dale Woodard on March 17, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDsports@lethbridgeherald.com

Darren Moulding’s Brier championship is starting to sink in.

Its taken the better part of 48 hours, but it’s starting to sink in nonetheless.

The former ice maker for the Lethbridge Curling Club and the Coaldale Granite Curling Club and third for Team Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher — which also includes second Brad Thiessen, lead Karrick Martin and alternate Pat Janssen — defeated Wild Card Two’s Kevin Koe 4-2 Sunday night in the bubble at Calgary’s Markin MacPhail Centre for their first Tim Hortons Brier title after three tough losses in the final in past years. That gives the rink based out of the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton the right to wear the Maple Leaf back in the bubble for the World Men’s Curling Championship April 2-11 in the same venue.

That also means Moulding is coming back to Lethbridge March 4-13, 2022 as Lethbridge hosts the Tim Hortons’s Brier at the Enmax Centre, this time as Team Canada.

But as of Tuesday night, this recent Brier victory was still processing.

“The first night and (Monday), it’s hard to even remember it,” said Moulding.

“It’s just such a whirlwind and a tidal wave of messages and just realizing what you’ve done. You dream of it, but then you actually do it and it’s almost hard to believe. (Tuesday) I’m feeling my emotions more. You’re reminiscing on old teammates you’ve had, times you thought that maybe you couldn’t do it or things like that. But I think it’s starting to sink in. Honestly, I would imagine it’ll take a little more time to really sink in, but I’m just riding that wave right now.”

That wave will be rode out in the bubble, where Moulding — who now calls Lacombe home — will remain with the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship starting Thursday, playing alongside Joanne Courtney, who throws lead rocks for Rachel Homan’s Ontario rink.

Moulding will get to go for a second national title after Sunday’s win over Koe in the final.

“We have our scouting report and we know that Kevin likes rocks in play,” said Moulding. “And we know he’s a wizard and he will figure out some way to break your heart. But he can’t break your heart if there isn’t anything to break your heart with. So we played a game where we threw guards in the odd ends starting without hammer and try to get some play going and get a force in the odd ends and then in the even ends without hammer we wanted a blank so we could try and force again in the next odd end. It was basically a game of chess.”

Alberta managed to force Koe to take one in the third end.

“It was a beautiful end we played,” said Moulding. “We got on them a bit, but then they kept getting out of trouble, making doubles and run backs. So we kept blanking.”

Then in the seventh end, Team Alberta made their move.

“We actually talked after the sixth end and said ‘Guys, we’re going to get our chances,'” said Moulding. “There were a couple shots where they had to sweep all the way and they would barely make it. I said to the guys ‘I think we’re going to get a miss. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing.’

“In the seventh end we loaded up a stack in the middle and got some good angles where they couldn’t get rid of our rocks and they eventually had to blast the stack. Then I made a double on some of the shrapnel laying around. We had a couple in the rings and then we got a little bit lucky in that Kevin, I don’t know if he just missed the shot, but we ended up getting three. Of course, there were only three ends left after that. It was a bit of a white knuckle ride after that, but we definitely played well and saved our best for last, for sure. It was a beautifully played game. Low-scoring, but good shots, a lot of good execution.”

However, it was Bottcher’s shot on his last rock in the semifinal that landed Alberta in the final as the skip executed a perfect raise takeout to count for two and edge Team Saskatchewan 6-5.

“I knew it was made out of his hand,” said Moulding.

“The ice was so good that if he throws it good, as long as I don’t mess up the line call, we’re fine. As soon as he let it go, if I say ‘clean’, it means I like the throw. We cleaned it for the first third, probably, swept it a little, off it a little, sweeping a little.”

“When it hit, I knew it hit in the right spot.”

However, Moulding admitted he started celebrating a tad early before making absolutely sure they were lying two for the win.

“I had to give it a shoulder check because I was running up the sheet,” he said. “It was like I had to make sure I didn’t make a big fool out of myself. Because that’s how you end up on the all-time bloopers. But luckily I saw both rocks were still in the four-foot and I got to keep running.”

With the whirlwind week behind him, there’s barely time for a breather as Moulding and Courtney hit the ice for practice at 8 a.m. this morning.

When the mixed doubles wraps up, Moulding will remain a fixture in the bubble.

“We have the worlds right after that, and then two Grand Slams and then I’m doing the ice for the World Women’s Curling Championship (April 30 to May 9). So I’m in here until May 10.”

That’s a hectic schedule, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Moulding said they’ve been waiting all year to curl.

“I’m ready to get back out there. While I’m in here the thing that I have enjoyed the most is playing. The most fun part is playing. So I’m excited. Then I’ll get just about a full week to get ready for the worlds after the mixed doubles.”

Bottcher and Janssen are also part of the mixed doubles field.

“The other guys went home for a week and then they’ll be back next Thursday,” said Moulding.

His teaming up with Courtney is new, but Moulding is familiar with her.

“I actually made ice for her when she played in Lethbridge in the 2017 worlds with Reid Carruthers. I was living in Coaldale and making ice for the Lethbridge Curling Club. I was one of the assistant icemakers for that event. Right after that event I was let go from the Lethbridge Curling Club and was offered the job up in Lacombe to do the ice there.”

But next March, Moulding will return to his old stomping grounds for the Brier.

“As Team Canada, that’s pretty amazing,” he said. “I have lots of good friends in Lethbridge and lots of good people in Lethbridge I still keep in touch with. I spent most of last summer down there, so I’m down there a lot. It’s still feels like home to me.”

Moulding said he’s received lots of messages since his Brier victory from the local curling scene, including one from Casey Scheidegger.

“I’m really excited to come and play in Lethbridge,” he said. “To play in front of what used to be my hometown. It’s a great city. I have had so many good times in Lethbridge and it’s just really cool that fate would have it. I was heartbroken when we lost the final in Brandon (in 2019). Koe won and got to come play in Lethbridge at the Worlds. I was heartbroken because I really wanted to go and play in the worlds in front of my friends. But I guess it worked out in the end.”

That’s still a year away, though.

In the meantime, Moulding and his Alberta teammates have a world title to focus on.

“We actually started talking about it a little bit (Tuesday),” he said. “We’re trying to re-focus a little bit. It’s definitely a topic of discussion. It’s going to be tough, the teams are very good and they get better every year. It’s going to be a battle. We’re really looking forward to representing Canada and playing our best. I think if we play our best we’ll do fine.

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