Glenn Howard eliminated in Ontario curling playdowns

Last year's provincial failure was surprising enough. This year's is downright shocking.

In 2014, Glenn Howard was upset in the final of the Ontario Tankard by Greg Balsdon, denying the legendary skip his ninth straight Ontario championship and another berth at The Brier.

This year, Howard will not even get a chance, having been eliminated from an appearance at the Ontario finals altogether, losing twice in the last opportunity he had to qualify, the Ontario Challenge Round.

In the double knockout event in Bradford, Ontario, those two losses were enough to deny Howard a spot in the Tankard field in two weeks.

First, Howard dropped a 6-5 decision to Brent Ross, sending his team to the B side of the event and forcing them to have to win five straight in order to emerge with a Tankard spot in hand. However, in his very next game, Howard fell to Scott McDonald, 8-7, giving up a steal in the eleventh end.

Howard's loss must hurt enough as is. Added to that pain would be the fact that he and his teammates decided to take a shot in the challenge round rather than go for cash in Banff, Alberta. Originally invited to play in the TSN Skins Game, Howard, Rich Hart, Jon Mead and Craig Savill first confirmed that they would have to miss the challenge round, in order to keep their commitment to TSN. After further consideration, however, they decided to forego a chance at tens of thousands of dollars in prize money in order to attempt to secure a provincials slot.

While performing reasonably well on the circuit this year - they stand 8th in the Order of Merit standings - Howard's team struggled on what had been reported by a handful of competitors as bad ice at regionals. The ice at Bradford was reported to be slow and straight and it is possible that the Howard rink, having gotten very much used to the best ice conditions in the world while on tour, were unable to adjust. It is, after all, the first time Howard has needed to qualify since 2006. He'd automatically gained entry since 2007, as defending champion.

Howard's absence from this year's Tankard, although he adorned the event's promotional posters (and was featured on the event's website until recently, when Balsdon's picture replaced his), will undoubtedly rev up the talk about Ontario's qualification process, once again (You can read my take on it here). It's not that there won't be quality at the event, as Balsdon returns and John Epping - who has skipped his team to 7th spot in the Order of Merit standings - will be there.

This will be the first time Glenn Howard has not skipped a team at the Ontario provincial championship since 2003. It is also the first time Howard's lead, Savill, has missed a provincials since 2004.

It's a jarring scenario. Ontario curling fans have grown accustomed to Howard - a fan favourite - being next to invincible for a decade and a half.

That he didn't represent the province in last year's Brier was odd enough. That he and his teammates won't even be involved, now, in determining Ontario's national championship entry is a shock to the curling system.