It’s been a gloomy couple of months for Geoff Walker, the all-world lead on Brad Gushue’s Brier championship curling team.
Walker hasn’t thrown rocks for keeps since the Tim Hortons Brier last spring, when he, Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols and second Brett Gallant won Newfoundland and Labrador’s third Canadian men’s championship in four years.
Last month, Gushue, Nichols and Gallant returned to the ice, in Halifax where they won a couple of World Curling Tour events, the Dave Jones Stanhope Simpson Insurance Cashspiel and a week later, the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic.
Walker, an import to the Gushue team fold, watched via livestream, from his home in Edmonton.
“Things have changed now. With a newborn, I don’t want to go for 14 days, and not even get to practise and train with my team.” — Geoff Walker
But if one looks deep enough, one can find a positive through this whole COVID-19 and ensuing quarantine thing.
“I sat there the whole weekend watching with my son (11-week-old Liam) in my arms,” Walker said. “That was pretty cool. You’ll never forget moments like that.”
It’s not certain when Walker will be able to rejoin his teammates again. Gushue, Nichols and Gallant won’t be heading west anytime soon (unless they qualify to represent the province in the Brier again, which will be held in a Calgary bubble in the new year), and it’s difficult for Walker to travel to St. John’s.
He doesn’t own property in the city, making travel here difficult, and he’d have to quarantine upon arrival in Newfoundland and Labrador, and when he returns home to Alberta.
“Things have changed now,” he said. “With a newborn, I don’t want to go for 14 days, and not even get to practise and train with my team.”
Walker isn’t the only curler in the family. His wife, Laura, skips her own team and — like her husband — has been in curling limbo.
⚠️ Warning Cuteness Alert ⚠️ May cause warm and cuddly feelings
— Team Gushue (@TeamGushue) December 4, 2020
Liam, Laura & Geoff (yes, in that order 😜) are safe & doing great!
With their usual hectic schedules, they are really enjoying spending as much family time together. What a way to head into the weekend ❤️ pic.twitter.com/OexNxFlDNy
“I’ve only been hanging out at our house, at the gym and curling rink (the Saville Centre, on the University of Alberta campus),” he said. “We’ve only been allowed to practise individually. They’ve just recently opened it up where at least my wife and I can practice together because we’re in the same household.”
It’s not perfect. Nothing replaces game situations like a game. The Saville Centre hours have been reduced, and ice conditions have slipped a bit because U of A staff has been laid off.
“I’ve only been out (throwing rocks) two or three times per week as opposed to five or six times per week.
“So yeah, I’m itching to play. I’ve been practicing since October.
Gallant, from P.E.I., was recently in western Canada, visiting his girlfriend, Jocelyn Peterman, who is also a competitive curler and a member of the Jennifer Jones team out of Winnipeg.
Walker and Gallant talked to a couple of other players and the four were entered in a Red Deer, Alta., spiel until it was cancelled. Walker was slated to play a mixed event but that, too, was called off
“I’m very anxious to play,” he said.
Provincial Tankard championship aside — when and if that goes ahead — Walker probably won’t curl in January. Team Gushue was set to play an event in Halifax, but that’s been cancelled with the Atlantic bubble bursting.
