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More men’s curling changes: Brock Virtue’s team loses two

Don Landry

More dominos have tipped, in curling's remarkable end-of-season string of changes.

Vice Braeden Moskowy has announced he is leaving Brock Virtue's Regina-based team. Along with second Chris Schille's departure, this means Virtue has a couple of holes to fill.

Moskowy, the 2011 Canadian Junior Champion, tells the Regina Leader-Post's Murray McCormick that he's hopeful of latching on with another team in time for next season:

"We've heard of a few of the (roster) moves, but we still won't know a lot of them until after the Players' Championship at the end of April. If the right opportunity comes along tomorrow, then I would commit to that. I'm not exactly rushing into the first thing that comes my way due to the fact it's a huge commitment on my part and it could potentially be the next four years of my life."

Perhaps Moskowy wouldn't have to leave the province - something he says he'd consider - if one of the many, many curling rumours out there is true; that Pat Simmons could be heading back to Saskatchewan to curl.

With Kevin Martin confirming that Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy are leaving his team to join Kevin Koe, and Glenn Howard confirming that his second, Brent Laing, is leaving to join Koe as well, this would mean that Simmons - playing vice for Koe at the World Championships - will need a new team. If he does return to his home province from Alberta and wants a young player with some Brier experience, Moskowy could fit the bill.

It's not clear at this time whether Virtue, himself, will remain in Saskatchewan, or head back to Alberta, where he skipped a team to the finals at the 2012 provincial championship.

With the break up of Virtue's team, so ends a notorious two year run that included a Brier appearance as well as, unbelievably, two separate occasions that saw members of the rink ejected from provincial playdown games.

This year, Virtue was tossed after he broke a broom in front of an official. Schille was ejected during a game in 2013, after an official claimed he swore at them and kicked a rock.

Those incidents played into Moskowy's decision, he told the Leader-Post:

"It's not something that I'm proud of and it's not something that I want to be known for," Moskowy said, adding he remains good friends with his former teammates. "We did some good things in our two years together and those two things overshadowed them.''

Another free agent curler hits the market. The winds of change continue to gust.