Despite a good turnout, Team Saskatchewan lost against Team Canada (8-7) and won against Newfoundland-Labrador (7-5) to take bronze in the Tim Horton’s Brier in Calgary on March 8. The team includes Kirk (third) and Dallan (lead) Muyres of Saskatoon and area (formerly of St. Gregor) and Lyle Muyres of Humboldt, who is both the brothers’ coach and father.
“The bronze is actually pretty exciting for us,” said Kirk. “It’s the first time Saskatchewan has been on the podium since 2008 and we played great all week, so it’s nice to leave with something, even though it wasn’t the championship. It goes a long way for our world rankings and Olympic qualifying as well. So it was a satisfying week and win in the bronze game.”
Defending champions Team Canada won 6-5 against Northern Ontario to take the gold.
“It’s probably one of the toughest Briers in history,” Kirk said. “Every team is good; there’s no easy game.”
Team Saskatchewan had 7 wins and 4 losses to go into the playoffs. They had lost against Newfoundland-Labrador, Northern Ontario, Quebec, and Ontario.
“We’re grinders. We find ways to win games. I don’t know how many times we looked like we were down and out and we grind out wins,” he said. He added that they tend to perform better towards the end of games.
Kirk has been with the team – which also includes skip Steve Laycock, second Colton Flasch, and alternate Gerry Adam – for three years, but he’s been curling ever since he was about six or seven years old with his dad.
“He dragged me to the curling club and never stopped playing,” he said.
One might think it could get tiring playing professionally with your family, but Kirk doesn’t have a problem with it.
“It’s awesome. We play 50, 60, 70 days on the road, so it’s nice to be able to share that with your brother and your dad, and it’s nice to share the victories,” he said.
He added that growing up in the area gave him a good foundation of the sport.
“We really learned a bunch of things from different guys throughout the Humboldt area, and in Saskatchewan people love their curling ... it’s pretty fun to be able to play for Saskatchewan.”
For Kirk, one of the standout moments from the tournament was playing against Manitoba on Feb. 28.
“Saturday night we played the (Scotiabank) Saddledome. Eleven, 12,000 people, it was just electric. Everyone was having a good time,” he said.
Though the teams are competitive on the ice, Kirk said everyone is a lot less intense off the ice and it’s easy to socialize.
“You can hate a guy on the ice and be best friends off the ice,” he said. He added that everyone knows what is just part of the competition, and off the ice there’s laughing and chatting. The camaraderie is a general aspect of professional curling.
“Something about the atmosphere with curling, there’s as bar in every rink and the tradition has been you socialize with the other team, you shake hands before and after, you go and have a good time,” he said. “At the end of the day, no one’s making a living. You do it because you love it – that’s the reason you don’t live or die by the game.”
