Epping’s got his lucky Regina curling charm

On one side is the logo of the 1992 Regina Brier. On the other is the likeness of famed Saskatchewan curler Garnett Campbell.

The coin is undefeated at the 2018 Regina Brier through Draw 9 for Ontario’s John Epping.

It’s not quite the same as the Canadian loonie that Wayne Gretzky and the gang convinced Edmonton icemaker Trent Evans to embed in the ice at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics to lead to Canada’s first hockey gold medal in 50 years.

But it’s working.

Epping had completed his postgame scrum Tuesday morning when his 10-5 win over Reid Carruthers of Manitoba, combined with Saskatchewan’s 8-4 win over Northern Ontario, resulted in Ontario having the only remaining unbeaten record in Pool B.

The Ontario skip reached in his pocket and produced the coin, minted for the purposes of purchasing a libation in the Brier Patch that year.

“See this? It’s from the 1992 Brier here. It was the first one I watched on TV when I was a kid. A guy by the name of Bob Ford at the Peterborough club where I grew up gave my mom this coin to give to me. It says ‘Regina Brier March 8-15, 1992.’ He flipped it over.

“It says ‘Garnett Campbell, 1955 Brier Champion.’ Isn’t that cool?”

The 34-year-old skip of the team that includes Matthew Camm, Patrick Janssen and Tim March, had been knocking on the door to get into a Brier without success until this year. Epping twice skipped in the Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials. But the Brier was off limits to him and just about everybody else that ever came along that wasn’t named Russ or Glenn Howard.

While Toronto’s Epping is originally from Peterborough, Ont., his family roots are in Saskatchewan.

So far all he has working for him is the coin. But he expects his relatives to show up soon.

“I have a ton of family from out here. My grandfather is from Saskatchewan. Lots of cousins. They’re from the Carnduff area,” he said of the town of 1,126 in southeast Saskatchewan.

THE HAT COMES BACK

Hats off to Carruthers.

In an era of having enough curlers at the Brier wearing ball caps to form a slo-pitch team, the Manitoba skip flipped his lid here and went bare-headed in his Monday afternoon win over Quebec.

But the hat came back as the Manitoba skip suffered his first loss at the Brier, 8-4 to Ontario’s Epping Tuesday morning.

“I had about 62,000 messages from people asking me why I had a hat on. Apparently, more people were focused on what I was wearing than my playing,” said the bearded skip who few fans seemed to recognize with the unusual male pattern baldness and whatever it is that’s going on with the top of Carruthers’ head.

“It feels real cool on the ice, though. I may have to wear one of those real thing toques.”

But the one-day fascination with the top of his head did it. The hat came back.

FALSE ALARM

The baby watch continued with Team B.C. at the Brier Tuesday. No babies yet. But the lead had returned.

David Harper had thrown only eight rocks in the team’s opening draw when the cellphone of coach Gerry Richard rang on the B.C. bench. Harper’s wife had gone into labour.

The curler, in his first Brier, rushed to the airport and, after a series of delayed and cancelled flights, finally made it home.

The blessed event hadn’t happened.

False alarm.

Harper decided to return to Regina to complete his Brier on Tuesday and Wednesday, when B.C. will likely be eliminated after round-robin pool play in the new format event.

Harper, after another series of delays that resulted in extended visits to Edmonton and Regina, made it back to play in British Columbia’s one game here Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the wife of third Jeff Richard, son of coach Gerry, reached her due date two days ago.

“I have both their cellphones on the coaches’ bench,” he reported. “Who knows when they’ll ring again. But it’s good to have the team back together.”