Though his curling future beyond this season remains up in the air, Sault Ste. Marie’s E.J. Harnden is looking to make the most of the moment.
The veteran curler, who has been a long-time member of Team Brad Jacobs, is currently at the World Curling Championship in Las Vegas as an alternate with Brad Gushue’s Team Canada rink, which opened up on Saturday.
Harnden admitted the chance to join the Gushue rink for the event wasn’t expected.
“Initially, I was a little bit surprised, but extremely grateful and honoured to be a part of the team,” Harnden said when asked what his reaction was to the getting the opportunity.
“Just hearing Brad and Brett (Gallant) talk about what this team has done already just this year, let alone for several years before that, I would classify it as an historic season and that might be a bit of an understatement,” Harnden added. “To be a part of their journey and go to the World Championships is an honour and I’m grateful.”
Harnden said his role with the team will be “doing everything that I can to allow them to be at their best and cap this historic season off with a really good performance.”
Harnden is the second member of Team Jacobs to compete as an alternate with the Gushue rink this season after Marc Kennedy joined Team Gushue in Beijing for the Olympics earlier this year.
“I think Brad and the team feels sorry for us,” Harnden joked. “They’re just going down the Team Jacobs lineup. They’ve beat us in so many big games over the last number of years, they have a little bit of a soft spot for us.”
Gushue said adding Harnden for the nine-day event was an easy decision.
“Anytime you look to bring a fifth player on, number one, they have to be a good guy and a guy that you like spending time with,” Gushue said. “We’re going to be spending two weeks with E.J. down in Vegas, so you have to enjoy that time.”
“Another big part is, he has to be able to play multiple positions,” Gushue added. “He has to be ready to jump in in at least three out of the four positions if someone does get hurt or sick or whatever comes up. E.J. definitely has that versatility where he can play multiple positions and play them at a very high level.”
Asked about the breakup of Team Jacobs following the completion of this season, Harnden said the team is doing so in a good frame of mind.
“It’s ending on really good terms,” Harnden said. “And that was the main thing for all of us is that there would be a time where we wouldn’t continue to play together, we knew that this wasn’t going to last forever. It just so happened that it’s happening on great terms. All of the personal relationships are in a great spot, which means more to us than the curling side of things. That’s a great part of it.”
Harnden added that, as the season wraps up “there’s going to be some emotions there.”
“For Ryan, Brad, and myself, it’s been 14 years together,” Harnden added. “For Ryan and myself, we’ve played together pretty much since we were kids. Marc quickly became a member of our team for three years and a great friend as well.”
Harnden said he will be playing next season, but his current focus is on the Worlds.
“That’s where my focus remains until that’s complete,” Harnden said. “Once that happens, (I will be) having more conversations and getting a little more detail and structure around what the plans look like for my curling future moving forward.”
While some speculation had tied Harnden to Team Gushue for next season, Gushue said the Worlds is not being treated as a tryout for Harnden.
Gushue did say that if the opportunity to get Harnden into some action during the event, the team would.
With Jacobs stepping away from competitive curling for at least next season, one of the two remaining members of Team Jacobs has confirmed a landing spot for next season.
Ryan Harnden, who served as lead for Jacobs, is set to join Matt Dunstone’s Manitoba-based rink in a newly-formed rink that will include B.J. Neufeld at third and Colton Lott at second in addition to Harnden at lead.
Meanwhile, Kennedy’s destination hasn’t been confirmed for next season.