‘Granny’ Gunnlaugson leads cheering section

On Tuesday night at an East

Side Mario’s in Kingston, Ont., Jeannette Gunnlaugson celebrated her 88th birthday with her grandson Jason, his curling teammates, and about 20 family and friends.

It was a big party, held during a momentous week for the Gunnlaugson family, as Jason leads Team Manitoba in the Tim Hortons Brier for the first time in his curling career.

Jeannette has always been her grandson’s biggest fan and she wouldn’t miss his appearance in the Brier for the world.

“I follow every game he’s in,” a beaming Jeannette said from the stands at Leon’s Centre on Wednesday as Jason and Team Manitoba played Nova Scotia on the ice below.

“I’m so excited for him to be in the Brier. It’s his passion and I’m just so happy for him. I get nervous watching, but they’re doing well and whatever the results, I enjoy watching, very much so.”

Long before Jason was even born, Jeannette was a huge supporter of curlers in her family.

Her husband Lloyd represented Manitoba in the Brier in 1983, a year before Jason was born, and won three Canadian senior men’s championships from 1982-84.

He died of cancer in 1988, when Jason was just four, but the curling tradition carried on with Jason’s father Darryl, who once played lead for Jeff Stoughton, and his uncle, Garry Vandenberghe, who won a world championship with Stoughton in 1996.

“It’s just been a big curling family,” Jeannette said. “I went to a lot of curling games and championships to watch them.”

Vandenberghe is here at the Brier this week as the coach of Team Manitoba, which also includes third Alex Forrest, second Adam Casey and lead Connor Njegovan.

The team sported a 5-2 record after the preliminary round and had qualified to move on to the championship round.

What a moment that has made for Jason and the woman he calls Granny.

“She’s definitely the hugest fan,” Jason said. “It doesn’t matter … if we play a game that ends at 3 a.m., in B.C. time, I still get a message every game.”

Jeannette was sitting in the stands with a large group of Manitoba supporters, including Jason’s wife Theresa Cannon, and was waving a large cut-out photo of her grandson.

Her 88th birthday came on the same day Jason made a shot for the ages: a double-runback, double-takeout in the 10th end to score three and beat Prince Edward Island’s Bryan Cochrane 9-8.

REMEMBERING LLOYD

Jason Gunnlaugson, like his grandfather, is nicknamed Gunner. He has a lot more in common with Lloyd, although he never got to know him. Just like his grandpa, he’s a high-level curler, and just like Lloyd did in 1983, he’s playing in the Brier.

One difference: Lloyd was already 54 when he qualified for his first Brier. Jason did it at age 35.

“He had worked and ran a business for his whole life and he retired at about 50 and started practising every day,” Jason said. “He won three Canadian seniors and a played in a Brier. I guess there’s hope for anybody at any age.”

I’m so excited for him to be in the Brier. It’s his passion and I’m just so happy for him.

I get nervous watching, but they’re doing well.

ICE MAKER’S ADVANTAGE

The ice conditions were changing at Leon’s Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday as a result of some unusual winter weather in the Kingston area.

On Tuesday it poured rain, which is never a good thing for curling ice makers, and it caused some frost to build up on the sheets.

On Wednesday it was bright and sunny and 4 C outside the arena, which caused more tricky conditions on the ice.

One player who believes he can deal with those kinds of changes better than others is Alberta third Darren Moulding, who has worked as an icemaker for the last 24 years.

“I do think there’s a little bit of an advantage to it,” Moulding said.

“There are things that I notice when we step out on the ice, in the air, the way things feel. Little nuances like pebble temperature and size and surface. There are lots of things that I work with every day. It’s just part of my job. There’s things that I can pick up really easily.”

Moulding is employed by the Lacombe and Bentley Curling Clubs in Alberta and has started work on arena events.

It’s a labour of love for him and one day he’d like to make ice at events like the Brier — if he’s not playing — and the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

As third for Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher, Moulding has made it to the Brier final in each of the last two years and plays on a team that started the 2020 Brier with a 6-0 record.

It seems likely he’ll be more player than icemaker for the next few years, at least.