Presumed prank an offer Doering couldn’t refuse

Kyle Doering refused to believe Brad Gushue was actually trying to reach him a couple of weeks ago.

They had shared only a handful of casual conversations over the years. Yet, a text on the evening of March 12 from the reigning three-time Canadian men’s curling champion, read: “Are you free to chat?”

“I thought it was a prank,” Doering recalled, on the weekend. “I didn’t have his number in my phone and (the text) just came up as a random number.”

A missed call from Newfoundland soon followed.

“I sent the number over to my friend, Matt Dunstone, and I asked, ‘Is this really Brad Gushue?’” Doering explained.

Indeed, it was the curling legend himself, who 48 hours earlier had won his sixth career Brier title in Regina and was already making preparations to skip Team Canada at the upcoming men’s world championship.

It begins this Saturday in Switzerland.

Gushue reached out to ask the Winnipegger to come aboard as the team’s alternate for the upcoming event — an offer that, after getting the green light from work, was a no-brainer to accept.

“When the greatest Canadian curler ever asks you to be fifth, I think you’d be crazy to turn that down,” said Doering, who plays third for Karsten Sturmay’s Alberta-based team.

“I was just honoured. When I represented Canada in 2016 at the world juniors, I wondered to myself if I’d ever get a chance to wear the Maple Leaf again, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity.”

“I thought it was a prank.”–Kyle Doering

Doering won bronze as the second on Dunstone’s team at the 2016 world junior in Copenhagen.

It won’t be his first time as the alternate for an elite team. He filled that role on the Reid Carruthers squad, skipped by Mike McEwen, at the 2022 Brier.

Gushue was matter of fact about why his team from St. John’s, N.L., with third Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden, lead Geoff Walker, and coach Caleb Flaxey, felt recruiting the Manitoba curler was a smart move.

“Obviously, he’s a great player and we’ve heard good things about his temperament — an easy-going guy who can fit into just about any situation,” Gushue said. “We like the way he throws the rock, so if he did come into the lineup, it’s not going to be a huge adjustment for me or the rest of the team to put the broom down for him.”

Gushue first reached out to Harnden’s brother, Ryan, who was the team’s alternate at the 2023 world championship in Ottawa. He was unable to commit, owing to his duties as the lead on Dunstone’s team for some upcoming events.

Doering was next on the list.

The 28-year-old’s primary role will be scouting rocks during the event — charting how they slide and how much they curl. It’s a monotonous, yet crucial task that will provide vital information to the Gushue crew, which is vying to claim Canada’s first world title since 2017.

Gushue, Nichols, Walker and Brett Gallant stood atop the podium that year in Edmonton.

Doering, who left for Europe on Monday, will also have his own practise time at KSS Sports Complex in Schaffhausen to remain sharp on the off chance he has to fill in.

“Beyond that, there’s not too many expectations. Just try and soak in the experience and the opportunity,” Gushue said. “Anytime you get international experience and get to see that, I think you can learn. I got to do it in my junior career and when you see an international event up close and you get behind-the-scenes footage of all of it, it changes your perspective.

“Maybe he can learn something from this experience and take it into the rest of his career.”

“Maybe he can learn something from this experience and take it into the rest of his career.”–Brad Gushue

One of Doering’s first interactions with the 2006 Olympic gold medallist came at a restaurant following a bonspiel in 2017, when Gushue and Nichols, sitting at a nearby table, bought a round of drinks for Doering’s table. The gesture, one Doering remembers vividly, had a major impact on the group of young 20-somethings at the time.

Perhaps, Gushue will tab a few more rounds later this week, but business comes first and that’s what Doering is most excited about for the trip.

“I think I can learn a lot, if it’s communication or how they prepare before the games, to what they do for matching stones or preparing for the last shot draw to get hammer — it’s just a lot of small things,” Doering said.

“To get over that hump to become an elite team is very difficult, so just picking up some tips as to how Brad does it, I think would be beneficial.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam