Curling fans pack club to meet champion Kevin Martin

When even the reporters are asking for pictures with an athlete, he must be a big deal.

When even the reporters are asking for pictures with an athlete, he must be a big deal.

This was the case at Sunday’s finals of the Skookum World Curling Tour Cash Spiel, which brought the best of the best in Canadian curling to Whitehorse as the top teams from across the country get in a few extra games before heading to the Olympic trials next month.

Olympic silver medalist Kevin Martin took on Sean Geall in the final round in a game which packed the Whitehorse Curling Club building.

After the game, Martin, from Edmonton, left the ice to cheers and was bombarded with photo and autograph requests, and outstretched hands prepared to offer congratulatory handshakes.

Geall, from New Westminster, B.C., had the hammer in the final game. Third Brent Pierce called the shots for the majority of the game, with skip Geall throwing third.

“I see that they’ve switched things around this year,” said Whitehorse Curling Club business manager Jon Solberg. Team Geall also includes second Kevin Recksiedler and lead Mark Olson.

Solberg said switching another player to throw skip rocks and call plays is not unusual in curling, and Pierce is a former skip himself.

“He’s very experienced,” said Solberg.

Martin, skipped for his team as usual, a position he has been playing since his time in the junior curling scene.

“Kevin’s been doing that successfully for the last 20 years,” said Solberg.

With a $15,000 paycheque on the line it was a steal for team Martin, who finished 7-4 over Geall.

“The final game started off with a bang,” said Solberg. “There were some wonderful shots.”

The first end could have been a three point steal for Martin, but after measuring it was decided the point went to Geall, sending the B.C. team to the lead, which was quickly squashed by Martin as he finished the second with two points.

The third end saw Geall score a point, sending the game to a tie heading into the fourth end, where Martin made two crucial points to lead the game.

“We had ‘em in huge trouble in the fourth end,” said Martin, after the crowds subsided Sunday afternoon.

The Olympic medalist said team Geall had a chance to make up the points in the fifth, but his team, rounded out by third John Morris, second Mark Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert, managed to hold them off and improve their lead to 5-2.

In the sixth Geall made up two points but it wasn’t enough to keep Martin at bay.

The current Brier champions won two more points in the seventh, and the game was finished without a complete eighth end as Geall ran out of rocks to make up the three point deficit.

“It was a real well played game actually,” said Martin.

Both teams were undefeated heading into the final.

After the game Martin took time to take photos with the fans ranging in age from kids to adults that gathered to see the final game.

“There was an awful lot of curling and non-curling fans here in the building,” said Solberg. “It was a wonderful event.”

At bigger championship curling games, the players often don’t get a chance to socialize with fans like they did in Whitehorse. Solberg said the Whitehorse fans had a unique chance to meet with the players, and especially Martin.

“He’s very gracious to be able to do that for those folks,” said Solberg.

Martin said his team was able to concentrate on their game due to the hospitality they experienced in Whitehorse.

“They looked after us,” he said. He was happy with the way the club organized every aspect, from shuttles to food to accommodations.

“That’s the most important thing,” said Martin.

Not having to worry about a good place to sleep allowed them to show Whitehorse a great weekend of curling.

Martin said his schedule was made in the summer, and Whitehorse was chosen because it fell on a weekend that they wanted to play in, as they tried to get as many games as possible in before the Olympic trials next month.

But it wasn’t just good timing that brought them to the north.

“We want to go where the ice is good,” said Martin. “We want to play well and get sharp.”

This wasn’t Martin’s first trip to Whitehorse. He lost in a skins game against Wayne Middaugh in the early ‘90s at the Whitehorse Curling Club –  on the exact same sheet of ice he played on Sunday.

Solberg said the club was busier than ever this weekend.

“We haven’t seen the building this busy in awhile,” said Solberg.

He credits the surge of fans to the big names being here.

“Kevin Martin is just the champion,” said Solberg.

The semi-finals saw a Whitehorse team in the money, with Chad Cowan’s rink placing fifth overall, “which was a wonderful feat for the field we had up here,” said Solberg.

“It was a tremendous event,” said Solberg.