| Paul Gowsell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Curling career  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brier appearances | 1 (1980) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Paul Gowsell is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. Gowsell hit the men's competitive curling world by storm in the late 1970s with his unorthodox antics. [ citation needed ]
Gowsell was the first skip to win two World Junior Curling Championships. He won his first World Junior championship in 1976, defeating Sweden's Jan Ullsten. He repeated in 1978 by defeating Sweden again, this time skipped by Thomas Håkansson. Gowsell was the third skip to win two Canadian Junior Men's Championships which he did in 1975 and 1978. After juniors, Gowsell was very successful on the cash 'spiel circuit, but played in just one Brier. When he was in his early 20s, Gowsell took his Alberta championship team to an 8-3 record at the 1980 Labatt Brier, and lost to Al Hackner's Northern Ontario team in the semi-final. Gowsell to date has not returned to the Brier, but has played some competitive events since, most recently at the Alberta provincial seniors curling championship in 2010. [1]
On January 5, 2013, Gowsell made a return to men's playdown curling, qualifying for the Alberta Southerns (a qualifier for the Boston Pizza Cup) for the first time in numerous years. He teamed up with former Junior Alberta Provincial Champion, Mike Sali, his son, Sam Gowsell, and young up and coming lead Jamie Cochrane. [2]
Gowsell was considered the "rebel of the curling world" in the 1970s and early 1980s. According to curler Brent Pierce, "in the '70s, he'd travel in a VW van, partying and drinking beer. And he always wore plaid pants. Rumour has it that he never washed them." In those days, he sported long hair and a beard; Hec Gervais once commented about Gowsell that, "with a shave and two haircuts, he'd be alright."
In a game against Saskatchewan's Larry McGrath, Gowsell was known to have ordered a pizza to the game. Gowsell's team ate the pizza on the ice, and according to legend, McGrath's last stone picked on an olive from the pizza, losing him the game.
Gowsell's teams were also credited with popularizing the use of the "pushbroom" in the sport. His teams revolutionized sweeping techniques in the sport, taking advantage of the chaff left on the ice by most of their competitors who had been using the "Blackjack" style of corn brooms prior to the Gowsell successes at the championship levels. [3]
Randy S. Ferbey is a Canadian retired curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Ferbey is a six-time Canadian champion and a four-time World Champion. He currently coaches the Rachel Homan women's team.
Kevin Martin, nicknamed "The Old Bear" and "K-Mart", is a Canadian retired curler from Edmonton, Alberta, an Olympic, World and four-time Canadian champion and a member of the World Curling Hall of Fame. He is considered by many commentators and former and current curlers to be the greatest curler of all time. He is also known for his rivalries with Randy Ferbey/David Nedohin, the best Alberta provincial rivalry ever as the two teams were generally regarded the best in the world from 2002 to 2006; his rivalry with Jeff Stoughton, perhaps the most famous all prairies rivalry ever which spanned over 2 decades from 1991 to 2014; with Glenn Howard from 2007 to 2014, perhaps the best two team rivalry in Canadian curling history, and his rivalry with Sweden's Peja Lindholm from 1997 to 2006, perhaps the best ever men's Canada-Europe rivalry.
John C. Morris is a Canadian curler, and two-time Olympic gold medallist from Canmore, Alberta. Morris played third for the Kevin Martin team until April 24, 2013. Morris, author of the book Fit to Curl, is the son of Maureen and Earle Morris, inventor of the "Stabilizer" curling broom. Morris grew up in Gloucester, Ontario and at the age of five began curling at the Navy Curling Club.
Glenn William Howard is a Canadian curler who is one of the most decorated curlers of all time. He has won four world championships, four Briers and 17 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight straight, from 2006 to 2013. Through 2017, he has played in 218 games at the Brier, more than any other curler in history. He has also won the 2001 TSN Skins Game.
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Kevin Koe is a Canadian curler. Koe is a two-time World champion and four-time Canadian champion. He was the skip of the Canadian men's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.
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The 2011–12 curling season began in September 2011 and ended in April 2012.
Bradley Robert Jacobs is a Canadian curler from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He currently plays third on Team Reid Carruthers. He is an Olympic champion skip, having led Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Jacobs is also the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier championship skip and the 2013 World Championship runner-up. He is an 12-time Northern Ontario provincial champion, and one time provincial junior champion.
Geoff Walker is a Canadian curler, currently living in Edmonton, Alberta. He currently plays lead for the Brad Gushue rink. He was the Men's World Champion in 2017 and won silver the following year in 2018. A five-time national champion, he won the Brier in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Walker was a two-time World Junior Champion when he won gold in 2006 and 2007.
The 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5–13, 2016 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario.
John Timothy Kelly Stearne was a Canadian curler from Calgary. He played lead for the infamous Paul Gowsell rink which won two World Junior Curling Championships.
Karsten Sturmay is a Canadian curler originally from Leduc, Alberta. He is formerly the skip of the Alberta Golden Bears men's curling team in university curling and on the World Curling Tour.
Darren Moulding is a Canadian curler from Lacombe, Alberta and curls out of the Saville Sports Centre and the Lacombe Curling Club. He is a former Canadian Junior Silver Medallist, a Canadian Mixed Champion, and represented Alberta in the 2017, 2018, 2020 and Team Wild Card in the 2019 Brier Canadian men's championship.
Matthew "Matt" Ng is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. He currently plays lead on Team Charley Thomas.
Paul Ernest Devlin was a Canadian curler. He has skipped two teams at the Brier, Canada's national men's championship, representing both Alberta and British Columbia.
Jeremy Harty is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. He currently plays third for Team Aaron Sluchinski.
Kyler Kleibrink is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. He currently is the second on the Brent Pierce rink out of New Westminster, British Columbia.
Kurtis Goller is a Canadian curler from Calgary, Alberta. He currently plays lead on Team Karsten Sturmay.
