Competitive curling shake-up in northern Ontario

Curlers from northern Ontario have been a big part of recent shake-ups in the world of elite curling in Canada.

Sault Ste. Marie's E.J. Harnden is in Las Vegas, Nev., for the World Men's Curling Championship where he's representing Canada as the fifth for Brad Gushue's rink out of St. John's, N.L.

Harnden normally plays with the Brad Jacobs rink, from the Sault, along with his brother Ryan Harnden. But that will come to an end after the current season.

Jacobs announced last month that he would take a break from competitive curling. He has played at a high level with the Harnden brothers, who are also his cousins, for more than a decade.

"I would say I was shocked," said Ryan Harnden, at the news Jacobs would step away from competitive curling.

"I think Brad, he's been really good over the last few years. I think he's kind of at the top of his game. So but, you know, I totally understand where he's coming from. We've been doing this for 13, 14 years at the highest level."

The news has meant the Harnden brothers will need to play on different teams if they want to remain competitive. 

Curling Canada's residency rules allow for the top teams to draft one player not from their province. The rule has existed for around five years. Previously, all players had to be from the same province.

I definitely wanted to try to continue to play with E.J.- Ryan Harnden

"I personally like it," said E.J. "I think it gives a little bit more flexibility to some teams trying to put a certain combination of players together and it allows them the flexibility and freedom to do that." 

Ryan has already said he will join Matt Dunstone's rink, out of Regina, Sask.

And while E.J. will fill the fifth position for Gushue's rink at the Worlds, he hasn't committed to a new full-time team yet. 

"It's going to be really different, to be honest with you. I definitely wanted to try to continue to play with E.J.," Ryan said. 

"But, you know, I'm always looking forward to a challenge, looking forward to kind of developing a relationship with those guys and seeing how that goes."

Women's curling changes

In women's curling, Sudbury's Tracy Fleury is also making a big change.

Fleury will join her longtime rival Rachel Homan, out of Ottawa.  

"Rachel gave me a call and we had some really good conversations and we were both just kind of wanting to try some new things, and it just seemed like teaming up would be a really good fit," Fleury said.

While Fleury has played skip with her current rink, she said she could fill a back-end role with Homan's rink. But added they will experiment and see what works best for the team.

"I think I just want to work hard and become a well-rounded player so that I can step in and feel comfortable at any role," Fleury said.