Nova Scotia's Brier hopes bolstered; Craig Savill heads east to join Mark Dacey, Shawn Adams and Andrew Gibson

A formidable men's curling force is brewing in Nova Scotia, with a little help from Ontario.

The province - which missed The Brier for the first time ever in 2014 - has a new team forming; one that aims to get the Bluenosers back in the Brier battle, in time for one of its players to realize a lifelong dream of playing for a men's national championship in his hometown.

That player is Ottawa's Craig Savill, who, up until the end of this past season, was a long-time member of the Glenn Howard Four, playing lead on the perennial Ontario championship team for ten seasons, before being informed he was being let go as the year drew to a close.

Savill announced, today, that he is joining forces with 2004 Brier champion skip Mark Dacey, four-time Brier skip Shawn Adams and Andrew Gibson, lead for Dacey at three different Briers. They aim to get those navy and white provincial jerseys back on Brier ice, in Ottawa, in 2016.

It's a line-up that bolsters the fortunes for all four men and Nova Scotia curling, too.

"I was a flag bearer at the 1993 Ottawa Brier, since that moment I have dreamed of playing in a Brier in my hometown," wrote Savill, in a Facebook posting announcing his intentions. "My motivation to accomplish this dream and the allure of playing with these experienced curlers in helping Nova Scotia get back into the Brier made this an easy decision."

"The east coast is full of great fans and great curlers," he continued. "I am excited about reconnecting with the sport in a new way this year and working hard with this team to help reenergize competitive curling in Nova Scotia. Who knows, maybe we can inspire a flag bearer at the 2016 Ottawa Brier."

The line-up is flexible, says Dacey, although the team does have a firm plan to start the season. Adams will be the skip, Dacey will play third, Savill will move up to play second and Gibson will throw lead stones.

“We’ve drafted a pretty decent team, we think,” said Dacey over the phone, this morning.

“It’s a unique team because Craig’s a lead and Andrew’s a lead and I’m a skip and Shawn’s a skip. You’ll definitely be having people playing positions that they’re not 100% familiar with but you’re still just tossing curling stones and adjusting to your position.”

Dacey, who'd taken the Nova Scotia Curling Association to task for what he saw as its role in the province's failure to qualify for the Brier under new "pre-qualification" rules (the province's champion, skipped by Glen Macleod was eliminated in a pre-Brier mini tournament), started to parcel a new line up together last March. Adams had returned from a two year stint in Newfoundland and Labrador and joined Dacey's foursome as an alternate at provincials. “You could tell he had the bug," says Dacey of Adams. "He was sitting on the sidelines but you could tell he wanted to be on the ice.”

At the time, Howard announced that he was reorganizing his team, with Wayne Middaugh joining as vice, Rich Hart stepping back to second and Howard's son, Scott, joining to play lead. Dacey asked Gibson to contact Savill to gauge his interest and the dialogue began.

Although the team is packed with experience, Dacey says he and his mates are cautious about getting too far ahead of themselves as they look to drive Nova Scotia back into The Brier.

“Lots of sports teams have been good on paper and didn’t meet expectations on the playing field, so we’re aware of that. No results happen without really hard work and dedication and passion and we’re all aware of that. We’re ready to start puttin’ the sweat in that’s required.”

A first face-to-face team meeting will come next week. It's at that time that they will formulate a more detailed plan; one that covers practices and training requirements as well as the all-important bonspiel schedule. While Savill will continue to live in Ontario (Curling Canada announced changes, last week, that allow each team to have one out of province member), he'll travel to Nova Scotia for some key events, while the rest of the team travels to Ontario for key events there. With Nova Scotia changing its provincial championship qualifications for the upcoming season - giving berths to the top two CTRS Standings leaders - the team will use that as their preferred route into provincials. If they fail to qualify that way, Savill will need to travel to the east coast for playdowns.

As for why he's decided to step back from skipping, Dacey says it's simple, really.

“I just turned 49 this month. At the end of last season I was just kinda feeling burnt out. And Shawn’s coming back into it fresh. I feel better about that than trying to re-ignite the fire at skip.”

Not that you definitely will never see Dacey at fourth, though. "We had the discussion and we can try it both ways," he says, indicating that the team just might fiddle with the line-up in the early going to see what fits best.

“We know we have all kinds of ability for adjustments if needed because we’ve all played the other positions as well.”

For curling fans, Savill's continued presence on the scene is a welcome sight. In a sport filled with good people, he still stands out a little with his easy manner and ready sense of humour. There was a lot of support for both he and Jon Mead when it became public that they were being let go by Howard. At the time, Savill was gracious and understanding, even through his disappointment. Now, he's feeling energized.

"You know, I was pretty deflated, obviously, what happened at the end of last year," Savill says, in a quick conversation over the phone. "But speaking to these guys the last couple of months and talking about what they wanna do, it's certainly re-energized me and I'm looking forward to curling next year with these guys."

"I'm really excited. Their motivation is inspiring."

As for the last time he played second on a full-time basis?

"Uhh... that was a long time ago," Savill says slowly, tasking his memory for exact details. "That's gotta be back in the junior days."

"Good thing that - Wednesday nights in the Ottawa Cash League - I do some skipping. So I do have some hits now and then, so I think I'll be okay."