Brad Gushue of St. John's, N.L., celebrates as he defeats Team Jeff Stoughton from Winnipeg at the Canadian curling trials in Halifax, N.S. on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005. (CP PHOTO/Andrew Vaughan)

Of the many memories that remain from Brad Gushue's surprise win at the 2005 Olympic curling trials, one pre-event recollection sticks out.

When the St. John's skip arrived in Halifax that year, he was surprised to learn his rink was given bright orange jerseys for the competition.

"We thought it was because we were the youngest guys, we were getting the worst pick," Gushue said. "We were not thrilled at all when we opened our box and saw that we were orange."

The team eventually embraced the colour. Supporters at the arena soon jumped on board too.

After local rinks skipped by Shawn Adams and Mark Dacey were eliminated, the East Coast crowds got behind Gushue's team, which included Mark Nichols, Russ Howard, Jamie Korab and Mike Adam.

Orange T-shirts and sweatshirts became a tough find in the Nova Scotia capital. Many fans resorted to wearing orange garbage bags to show their support.

"I remember looking around the crowd and seeing so much orange and really feeling that we were the crowd favourites," Gushue said in a recent interview. "That was probably the first time I really experienced that.

"That crowd energy was something special and I'm sure it had an impact on our success that week."

Gushue upset Jeff Stoughton in the final. He went on to win Olympic gold a couple months later at the 2006 Turin Games.

Orange would eventually become part of the Team Gushue brand. Several team sponsors use the colour and it has been incorporated into the rink's regular uniforms.

Teams now get to choose their playing colours at the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials based on their ranking position.

Naturally Gushue's team of Nichols, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker went with orange for the upcoming Trials at the same arena — now called Scotiabank Centre — where they won 20 years ago.

The winners at the Nov. 22-30 playdowns will represent Canada at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics in February.

BIRCHARD BACK

Team Einarson second Shannon Birchard plans to use a load-management approach as she eases back into a regular schedule after undergoing knee surgery.

She missed most of last season due to the knee issue. Birchard first tried rehabilitation since the pain was only there in the hyper-flexed slide position, she said.

She proceeded with surgery in July after an MRI exam detected an issue.

"It was just a scope to trim a few things in there and things are (now) feeling pretty good," she said. "So I'm excited about what's to come."

Einarson's team, currently ranked fifth in the world, used alternate Krysten Karwacki at times last week at the Saville Shootout in Edmonton. Einarson blanked South Korea's Eun-ji Gim 7-0 in the final.

Lead Karlee Burgess remains with the squad after joining the team last season as an injury replacement.

SAM I AM

A shortened summer break seemed to work out just fine for Sam Mooibroek and his Ontario-based team.

They returned to the ice in mid-August, participated in a Curling Canada training camp and then kicked off their campaign in style by winning the U25 NextGen Classic in Edmonton.

Putting the golf clubs away early was worth it for a team that has risen to 26th in the world rankings.

"It's an OK trade-off, I will say that," Mooibroek said with a chuckle.

Mooibroek posted a 6-4 win over Winnipeg's Jordon McDonald in the final. Team Serena Gray-Withers won the women's title.

HERE'S JOHNNY

Two-time Olympic champion John Morris is returning to the Grand Slam of Curling circuit for the Kioti GSOC Tahoe event set for Nov. 4-9 in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Morris, who won men's team gold for Canada at the 2010 Vancouver Games and mixed doubles gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, will enter on a sponsor's exemption.

His teammates include American Jason Smith and former NFL star-turned-curler Jared Allen. A fourth player will be named at a later date.

ALL-STAR RATINGS

The inaugural TCG All-Star Game averaged 85,000 viewers on Sportsnet, a network spokesperson said in an email.

The total included television viewership as well as those who watched via the network's livestream. An additional 21,000 viewers watched on YouTube, a spokesperson for The Curling Group said.

The two-day event, which included an all-star mixed skins game, celebrity pro-am and skills competition, was held in Nashville last April and aired on Canada Day on Sportsnet.

Ratings for the 2024-25 season-ending Players' Championship in Toronto rose 15 per cent from the previous season, Sportsnet said. The women's final and men's final drew an average of 225,000 viewers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025