Darrell Davis: Brent Laing is coaching Saskatchewan but can’t curl for the home team

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Curling fans will recognize one of the green-jacketed guys peering over the scoreboard whenever Saskatchewan plays at the Montana’s Brier.

Hey, isn’t that the guy who was looking after Jennifer Jones’ daughters during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts?

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“Ha! Ha!” said Brent Laing, who is spending this week in Regina as the green-jacketed coach of Mike McEwen‘s Saskatoon-based squad. “Some people call it babysitting. I call it parenting.”

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Laing, indeed, was recently in Calgary for his wife’s 18th and final appearance in the Scotties. She announced her pending retirement before the 2024 Canadian women’s curling championship and, while skipping a young Manitoba foursome in pursuit of her seventh title, lost the final to Rachel Homan.

“It was an interesting week for sure,” said Laing. “A lot of emotion, but it was super fun.”

Laing is a three-time Canadian and world curling champion. Technically he’s retired from the four-player game and in the future will exclusively be playing mixed doubles with Jones. He’s from Ontario, lives in Manitoba and coaches Saskatchewan. Because of Curling Canada’s residency rules, he could play for some of the 18 teams competing inside the Brandt Centre.

But not Saskatchewan.

“I could be the fifth for (Kevin) Koe, (Brad) Gushue or (Matt) Dunstone, which is kind of crazy to me,” said Laing, referring to two wild-card teams that pre-qualified via the pro tour plus Gushue’s Team Canada, which is striving to win its third straight national title.

Wild cards and the defending champions are exempt from Curling Canada’s residency rules. Those rules help explain why so many players at this year’s Brier are with unfamiliar squads.

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Here’s an example: At his last Brier appearance in 2002, Brad Jacobs skipped a rink from Northern Ontario and his teammates were Marc Kennedy, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden. At this year’s Brier, Jacobs is skipping a rink from Manitoba, Kennedy is with an Alberta squad, E.J. Harnden is on Team Canada and Ryan Harnden is playing for a different Manitoba team.

Curling Canada’s rules restrict most teams to one import, while the other members of the rink must reside in — or originally be from — that specific province/territory. Because of his birthright and residency, Laing could also play for Ontario or Manitoba.

McEwen, a Manitoban, is Saskatchewan’s import. He has also skipped teams from his home province and Ontario into the Brier before joining forces this year with current Saskatchewan teammates Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh and Daniel Marsh. McEwen, as skip, and Laing, as lead, actually played together last year on an Ontario foursome that qualified for the Brier.

“Mike fired me last year and that was it,” Laing said with a chuckle when asked about his retirement from the four-player game.

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They reunited this season as a Saskatoon-based skip and coach.

For the Brier they added Pat Simmons as their fifth. Simmons, a Saskatchewanian who has been seated beside Laing as McEwen opened this event with three straight victories, won Briers in 2014 and 2015 with Alberta-based rinks, first Koe’s and then his own.

So if McEwen’s rink needs a substitute, it calls Simmons. If it needs advice, it calls Laing, a 2018 Olympic gold-medalist who escapes the scoreboard cubicle whenever Saskatchewan calls its one-per-game timeout.

It’s a different situation from when Laing plays the frantic game of mixed doubles or when there was tuneout time as a long-time, front-end player along with Craig Savill on those three-time world championship foursomes skipped by Glenn Howard.

“There’s no down-time in mixed doubles, so you’re involved every shot,” said Laing. “As a front-end player, (Savill) and I used to check out for half the game, sometimes look at the other sheets …

“I don’t think I have a huge role here. These guys know what they’re doing. Pat and I are here to build their confidence, to let them know how good they are. That’s the main job.”

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As for wearing Saskatchewan colours, that’s fine with Laing.

“When people say, ‘Where’s the best place to play?’ you ask if they mean inside or outside Canada,” said Laing. “Switzerland, Japan, but in Canada can we go to Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon or Regina? Those are the places. Halifax is fun, but it’s a different fun, a distracting fun.

“Saskatchewan is as good a place to curl as anywhere in the world.”

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