Will curling follow the NHL with an outdoor game?

Picture this: Kevin Koe makes a delicate tap and roll behind cover, the line called perfectly by vice Pat Simmons. Niklas Edin answers with a superb draw to the back of the button, to snare a single. It's beautiful, but not nearly the most beautiful thing about this particular game.

That's because the shot is made on a sheet of ice covering the pristine waters of Lake Louise, the majestic Chateau on one side, a ring of even more majestic mountains on the other. Bright blue sky above and breath that seems to hang in the air forever. Gorgeous.

Will a major curling event might be spiced up with an outdoor game next season?

The possibility is there. The idea seems to be gaining traction. A TSN exec or two, I'm told, have been snooping around Lake Louise and Jasper. Sportsnet may well be geared for this, too, as the idea of an outdoor game - whether it be part of bona fide competition or merely provide a colourful exhibition counterpoint - was met with raised eyebrows and curiosity during last month's Players' Championship in Toronto.

Now, a poll on the Canadian Curling Association's website - asking what would make the best venue for an outdoor game - means even more people are talking about it. Three choices are given: Lake Louise, Ottawa's Rideau Canal and Regina's Mosaic Stadium.

(Nothing against Mosaic or The Canal, but we all know the correct answer to that one is Lake Louise. If a curling version of "Field of Dreams" were ever made, it would be set here, with a ghostly curler pausing to ask 'is this heaven?')

What we know is that TSN is looking for a new home for its skins game, which just finished up a six year run at central Ontario's Casino Rama last January. We also know that Sportsnet's Grand Slam Of Curling has three events booked, with a fourth yet to be determined. Seems that it's difficult to find the proper place for The National, which was held in Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, last January 23rd through 27th.

That's because next season is absolutely packed with Olympic year events, including the pre-trials in November, the Olympic Trials in December and a January that will see a Continental Cup played in Las Vegas, from January 16th to 19th. Whether The National can be shoe-horned in before the Continental Cup, or just after, is the topic of some discussion. A solution may come in holding off until after the Olympics, Scotties and Brier and perhaps playing in the Alberta foothills. If the latter happens, an outdoor game would be a superb addition to the week's events.

While the NHL seems to be running afoul of many by staging too many outdoor games next season, a top drawer outdoor curling event would certainly be novel.

True, outdoor curling events of many different sizes happen all over the planet (on the Assiniboine River, for instance) every year, but a game with the best pros in the world would be a sight to behold. As would Rachel Homan in an oversized, old-fashioned curling sweater and tam.

Here's hoping this comes to pass. With or without corn brooms and melted down cannonballs as curling stones. (See page 23 of Bob Weeks' "Curling For Dummies" for more on that one)