Brendan Bottcher of Team Alberta delivers a rock down ice during pool A action at the 2024 Montana’s Brier, held inside the Brandt Centre in Regina on Monday, March 4, 2024. Photo credit: KAYLE NEIS / Regina Leader-Post.
Brendan Bottcher and his colleagues from Alberta were informally known as curling’s Blank-End Kings long before they arrived at the 2024 Montana Brier.
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They thrive at creating blank ends, preferring to clear the house and write “0” on the scoreboard rather than giving up their last-rock advantage for a tiny single point. Their shotmaking abilities have resulted in several low-scoring, unexciting games, reigniting one of curling’s most contentious issues:
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Should a team that blanks an end forfeit the last-rock hammer in the next end?
It may be a contentious issue among curling fans, but Bottcher supports the notion.
“I’d be fine with it,” Bottcher, the 2021 Brier winner, said during the Canadian men’s curling tournament held at Regina’s Brandt Centre. “Like everything else, it would only shift the strategy and tactics of our actions.
“I believe we have a fairly good formula for the rules presently. But, you know, in the last few decades, we’ve gone from the three-rock rule to the four-rock rule, the five-rock rule, and no ticks. “The strategy evolves as we go.”
Brent Laing, a three-time Brier champion with three world titles and an Olympic gold medal to his name, is coaching Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen-skipping rink during the event. Laing is on board with studying the impact of a lose-the-hammer penalty for blanking an end.
“I would like to see no blanks,” Laing stated. “This is a whole different game. I’m not sure if that’s the answer for the Olympics or the Brier, but I’d like to see it tested.”
Curling has attempted to change in response to technological advancements and increasing skills. Former Canadian champion Russ Howard, who now works as a TSN curling analyst, developed the free-guard zone in the early 1990s and tested it before it was formally adopted by Curling Canada. Perhaps years ago, the game should have made the simple transition to penalize hammer-wielding teams that blank ends, rather than introducing the free-guard zone and other modifications that Bottcher mentioned.
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“People got too good at peeling, so they needed to have the free-guard zone,” said Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen, a three-time Brier winner and world champion.
“People became too adept at detecting ticks, so they needed to tone it down a little. I am a member of the World Curling Competition Rules Commission, and we frequently discuss issues. We need to find some testing grounds to try things out.
Thiessen stated that the curling world is currently more interested in speeding up the game, similar to what Major League Baseball did recently, in order to increase its popularity. They’re looking for ways to get shots called and delivered faster. In the meanwhile, attempts have been made to determine whether a no-blank rule will benefit curling.
“People have tried it, and the reports are awful,” Thiessen added. “It makes things worse. When you don’t have a hammer, there is no reason to participate. This actually reduces the amount of attacking play.
“(Blanking is) their chance to control the scoreboard by saying, ‘I’ll take the blank end and live to fight another day.'” There have been several events (that have used no-blank rules). I know Peter de Cruz’s squad in Switzerland told me they tried it for an entire event and felt it was dreadful.”
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Thiessen also provided the following reminder: “All blanks are not created equal.”
Completely true. Teams rarely begin with the intention of ending with a blank slate, but situations and strategies evolve throughout time.
“There aren’t too many blank ends,” said two-time Canadian champion Brad Gushue, who also won an Olympic gold medal and is competing for his sixth Brier crown. “We never succeed at blanking.
“For us, it does not work. This comes from Bottcher. That’s part of their game, part of their flair, and they’re great at doing it. It’s a style of play that benefits their team. How would you punish it? I don’t think you have to.
So, let the argument continue. Please feel free to provide any further thoughts or suggestions.
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