Is Randy Ferbey the greatest skip of all time?

The announcement of Randy Ferbey's retirement this week will fire up the discussions once again. The never ending conversations that have been, and will always be, a part of the dialogue at curling clubs from Victoria to St. John's.

Greatest skip ever?

Ferbey merits inclusion, of that there is absolutely no doubt. Whether you put him at the top of the pyramid, that's another matter.

Irascible and quotable, he reminds one in some ways, of Ed Werenich. On the ice, his resume suggests to some that there are very few, if any, comparable peers.

He's a two-time Hall Of Famer, inducted in 1995 as an individual, and in 1993 with Pat Ryan and the rest of the team that won Two Briers and one World Championship in the late 1980's.

Funny thing about that. While he was fully deserving on both scores, his accomplishments since those inductions have outstripped those that made him an inductee in the first place. So, a Hall Of Fame three-peat seems inevitable.

Ferbey played vice on those Ryan teams and, it seems, liked shooting from that position so much, it informed his desire to stay in that slot when he became a skip and led the "Ferbey Four" to 4 Briers between 2001 and 2005. They very nearly pulled off that old Edmonton Eskimo's trick of 5 straight championships, but had to settle for silver in 2004. Tack on three World Championships and you know why Ferbey, along with Dave Nedohin, Lead Marcel Rocque and Second Scott Pfeifer will get a call to The Hall.

While Ferbey's accomplishments are sensational, two big reasons not to call him the greatest skip of all time need to be pointed out.

The first reason has its roots in the player uprising of the early 2000's. That saw a number of high profile players and their teams forego the Brier trail as they protested what they saw as the Canadian Curling Association's unfair economic treatment of its players. Kevin Martin was one of them. While he stayed away from provincial playdowns after 2001 in order to build the Grand Slam money tour, Ferbey's rink was given a huge break in overcoming the hurdles of getting out of Alberta. When Martin returned to the province's Brier picture, he took over as the dominant curling force and Ferbey's team never did return to the national championship.

The second reason deals with what's believed to be the full responsibility of a skip. First and foremost, he or she has to call the shots, with a suitable amount of input from teammates. Ferbey's game-calling instincts are beyond reproach. He is simply one of the best strategists of his generation. His experience and smarts were absolutely invaluable to the three young men he curled with. He brought out the best of them and constantly put them in the best position possible to make shots.

However, there is a school of thought that to be a really great skip, you need to make the biggest shots at the most important times. That means delivering fourth stones. Ferbey deferred to Nedohin when it came to that. Nedohin was the best shooter on the team and, while Ferbey should be credited with identifying that and employing it, that speaks more to his strength as a strategist. There is an argument to be made that Ferbey takes a back seat to the likes of Martin, Jeff Stoughton, Pat Ryan and Russ Howard because they were constantly on the hot seat with skip stones, while he was not.

One of the greatest skips ever? Yes. The greatest skip ever? No.

For comparison: Some great men's skips in Canadian curling history --

Randy Ferbey: Four-time Brier champion as skip. 3 world championships. 5 Alberta championships.

Kevin Martin: Four-time Brier champion as skip. Olympic gold (2010) and silver (2002) medals. 1 world championship. 11 Alberta championships.

Ernie Richardson: Four-time Brier champion as skip. 4 world championships. 5 Saskatchewan championships.

Jeff Stoughton: Three-time Brier champion as skip. 2 world championships. 9 Manitoba championships.

Russ Howard: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 2 world championships. 8 Ontario championships. 6 New Brunswick championships.

Rick Folk: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 2 world championships. 3 Saskatchewan championships. 4 British Columbia championships.

Don Duguid: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 2 world championships. 2 Manitoba championships.

Pat Ryan: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 1 world championship. 4 Alberta championships.

Ed Werenich: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 2 world championships. 6 Ontario championships.

Ed Lukowich: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 1 world championship. 5 Alberta championships.

Glenn Howard: Two-time Brier champion as skip. 1 world championship (another possible next month in Basel, Switzerland). 7 Ontario championships.