Gushue rink had wild ride to Olympic gold medal 10 years ago in Turin

One scribe who was in the Pinerolo Palaghiaccio arena for Brad Gushue’s Olympic victory 10 years ago called it a sportswriter’s dream — one of those rare stories that had it all.

There was the raw emotion as Gushue used a cellphone to call his mother — who was unable to be there in person due to cancer treatments — after he completed an improbable run to a gold medal at the Turin Games.

There was curling legend Russ Howard, a late addition to the team who threw second stones while calling the game. There was the stunning turnaround of third Mark Nichols, who had the curling version of the yips at times in the round robin before rediscovering his form when it counted.

With the early elimination of the Canadian men’s hockey team, the Gushue rink was thrust onto centre stage at the Games. There was also massive interest throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, where schools were closed to allow students to watch Gushue take on Finland’s Markku Uusipaavalniemi in the gold-medal game.

Gushue’s team capped its wild ride with a 10-4 victory to give Canada its first Olympic men’s curling title and provide the biggest curling moment for the province since Jack MacDuff won the Brier in 1976.

“I really felt we deserved to win. Relief was probably the biggest thing and then the excitement kind of built on after that,” Gushue said in a recent interview. “When (Markku) finally turned around to shake hands, I was just like, ‘Ohhh, it’s happened.’

“So that’s probably the biggest thing I remember is that sense of relief and excitement when he turned around to shake our hands.”

It was a most unusual season for Gushue, Howard, Nichols and teammates Jamie Korab and Mike Adam.

They nabbed the 10th and final entry for the Olympic Trials in Halifax and were heavy underdogs in a field loaded with top names like Glenn Howard, Randy Ferbey, Pat Ryan, Jeff Stoughton and Kevin Martin.

A few months earlier, the Moncton-based Howard agreed to serve as an alternate to provide some guidance for the young crew out of the St. John’s Curling Club. Shortly before the Trials began, he was asked to skip the team and Adam volunteered to move to alternate.

It would be a big challenge for Howard — who turned 50 during the Games — but he felt rejuvenated by the news.

“All of the sudden the juices got going again,” Howard said. “It really recharged me.”

The roster change completely altered the team’s dynamics. Howard, who wasn’t used to throwing second stones, held the broom for Korab’s first two rocks and then Gushue would head down the ice with Howard racing the other way to get into the hack for his throws.

Howard would then return to the other end to hold the broom again for the final four stones. Meanwhile, Gushue, who had skipped his entire career, was suddenly brushing four stones in each end and couldn’t read the ice like normal because he was busy sweeping.

“If we’d had the time to figure it out, we probably never would have done it,” Howard said in a recent interview.

Changes aside, the team got a boost of confidence with the addition of the experienced Howard. And Gushue’s draw weight improved because he had a better idea of the paths on the ice.

“It was insane because I had skipped my entire life. I’d skipped since Grade 10 and here I am, 49 years old, and I wasn’t used to a 25-year-old saying, ‘Well no, I think I’d rather do that,’” Howard recalled with a laugh.

Gushue’s rink, which won a world junior title in 2001, was given little chance ahead of the Trials. They entered the competition still looking for their first career victories over several skips in the field.

But when the Trials began in December 2005, they played like seasoned veterans. Gushue posted an 8-1 round-robin record before edging Stoughton 8-7 in the final to earn the ticket to Turin.

“Getting to the Olympics I think was maybe every bit as neat as winning the Olympics,” Howard said.

Once in Turin, the competition was not as strong but the Gushue rink still had hurdles to clear. Adam was pressed into action in the final round-robin game when Korab couldn’t play due to flu-like symptoms.

Nichols was off his game and had to go to a local curling club for extra practice before the semifinal to try to cure his delivery woes. He found his rhythm again and was nearly perfect in the final.

”It was like everything was in slow motion,” Nichols said at the time. ”I could see every shot.”

The final was a tight game until Canada pulled away with six points in the sixth end. Once the minimum eight ends were played, the teams shook hands.

”Everybody kind of made a little sacrifice,” Gushue said after the win. ”There were no egos and I think that’s why it did work.”

More than 2,000 fans packed the St. John’s International Airport to welcome the team home even though they didn’t arrive until 1:30 in the morning.

It was full-on rock star status from then on. Streets were named after the Olympic champs and pints were almost always on the house when they went to the pub.

“There’s still some perks to it,” Gushue said. “I’m still very well known in the province and I get treated very well everywhere I go. I’ve had to buy a few beers but I’ve also had a few beers bought for me.”

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