Canadian Curling’s 2013-2014 season: Top 10 stories

What an incredible, outlandish season. Packed with memorable on-ice action, the curling landscape was also filled with off-ice intrigue. Here are my top ten Canadian curling stories of the year.

10. This means war. OCA and CCA clash

An ugly, ugly war has been waged between the Canadian Curling Association and the Ontario Curling Association and its effects might very well lead to a wholesale restructuring of the OCA or, at least, changes at the top. Many Ontario curlers are incensed at the way their federation has gone about their business, stemming from the CCA's demanding of an apology from its provincial counterpart over comments in what became a leaked internal memo. In a soap opera rife with name-calling, secrecy, ousters and angry meetings, the last chapter has yet to be written, with a special meeting coming up this Sunday, April 27th. Curling journalist Bob Weeks has been all over this story from the outset and you can find a number of very intriguing columns on the matter on his website. A major shake-up may be coming in Ontario curling.

9. Kelly Scott steps back from the game

Hers was among the first announcements, heralding what then became an unbelievable couple of months of change in Canadian curling. Kelly Scott's veteran team lost the British Columbia final to young Kesa Van Osch. Very soon after that, Scott announced that her team was disbanding. Although there had been a few line-up changes on her team over the years, Scott remained a dominant skip on the national scene, appearing in eight Scotties, winning two of them as well as one world title. As of yet, there's no word on whether Scott will play at all in 2014-15, although she has stated that she'd be back if the right opportunity arose.

8. Morris heads back to Alberta

Well, he never really left, did he? With Kevin Koe deciding to hitch his Olympic aspirations wagon to three new players (see story #3), his championship Brier team was looking for a skip. Enter John Morris, who'd skipped a British Columbia team all the way to the finals at both the Olympic Trials and The Brier, then announced he was stepping back from the game for a year. Just a couple weeks later, he reconsidered, saying that taking over Koe's former team was too attractive a proposition to pass up. There were howls of indignation over Morris representing B.C. at the national men's championship while, basically, still residing on the other side of The Rockies. The CCA, many say, could tighten up the rules on residency. Will they?

7. Relegation is a four-letter word

The CCA sure got an earful over changes to The Scotties and Brier. Seems there are plenty - and I mean plenty - of traditionalists out there who absolutely hate the idea of a Team Canada entry being added to The Brier. Moreover, there's been a great backlash to the idea of relegation, whereby poorly performing provinces and territories will find they need to earn a spot at the national championship rather than being given one. Some of us, however, feel it's worth giving the new system a chance before dumping all over it (You can read my reasoning here).

6. New Grand Slam event eases worries over the tour's future

Good news for those who wondered if Rogers Communications was getting out of the curling business. For months there had been speculation in some corners that the media giant would have little room for curling coverage after it signed a massive, 12 year deal with the National Hockey League. Supposition had it that the Grand Slam of Curling might be up for sale but Rogers has announced that it is staying in the game, promising up to 200 hours of televised curling next season. As well, it was announced that The Slam would grow from four to five events, with the "Elite 10" competition being added to next season's schedule.

5. Team Homan stumbles in World Final and a change comes

The 2014 Women's world Curling Championship final was expected to be a bit of a yawner, what with Rachel Homan's powerhouse rink taking on the comparably unheralded Binia Feltscher and Team Switzerland. Instead, in uncharacteristic fashion, Homan's team suffered a late end meltdown and the Swiss ran away with a 9-5 win. After winning bronze at The Worlds in 2013 and considering that a number of top-ranked women's crews were not taking part in this year's tournament, almost everybody expected Homan's rink - which went undefeated at The Scotties - to breeze to gold. Just goes to show how deep the pool of talent goes when it comes to global curling these days. Now, Homan looks forward to a new beginning in 2014-15, with super sweeper Joanne Courtney joining the team, replacing Alison Kreviazuk.

4. Howard and Stoughton play on after some juggling

As the rumour mill was really whirring, churning out a fine grind of delicious team changing tidbits, it appeared - briefly - that two grand masters of the game might have to consider stepping aside. Jeff Stoughton and Glenn Howard were losing players, their futures uncertain. When Stoughton announced that his team was splintering, there was no real alternative for him in sight. When Howard announced that his second, Brent Laing, was on the way out, it was also all but certain that his vice, Wayne Middaugh, was retiring as well (Since confirmed). Howard, however, snapped up former Stoughton vice Jon Mead and then got a surprise when Richard Hart decided to come out of retirement to, once again, play with his old friend. Stoughton, meanwhile, has done some reuniting of his own, with Rob Fowler helping to form a new team with him for next year. These moves ensure that two of the greats get to decide how and when they'd like to leave the game, and that is certainly the fate they deserve.

3. Koe wins, Koe loses, Koe leaves

What an incredible year for Team Kevin Koe. A flop at the Olympic Trials. A near-flop at provincials before rallying to win. A superb performance at The Brier. Then, the first Canadian men's rink to leave The Worlds without a medal since 2001. All the while, there were whispers that the team was breaking up at season's end. Those whispers were downright screams by the time Koe headed for Beijing, as two other skips confirmed the rumours. This is the change that was the real catalyst for the others that came in the men's game. With Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy leaving Kevin Martin to join Koe, and Laing parting ways with Howard, the surge on the tidal wave of change that swept over Canadian men's curling was fuelled.

2. Olympic gold. Plenty of it

While this season was a disappointment for Canada at the world championship level, it was an immensely successful one at the Olympics. For the first time in the sport's history, one nation swept gold in men's, women's and paralympic curling. Topping the story was the perfect run by Jennifer Jones and her team, going undefeated on the way to their gold medal win. That made them just the second team in Olympic curling to accomplish that (Martin's team did the same in 2010) and made some of us feel that Jones should have carried Canada's flag at the closing ceremonies. Prior to The Olympics, Jones would have been considered a top ten skip. Now, she must be included in any conversation as to who is the greatest women's skip of all time. After a slow start, Brad Jacobs and his team caught fire and were really rolling by the time the championship game arrived. There, they hit all the high notes, blasting Great Britain in a romp. They are the best men's crew in the country right now and all others need to prove they can keep up with their intensity, physical fitness and sheer determination. Canada's Paralympic team, while controversial in some ways, showed it was also the class of the field, defeating Russia in the gold medal game, at Sochi.

Some quarrel with the way Canada chooses its men's and women's Olympic curling representatives, but you can hardly argue with the success this country had at The Olympics in 2014. Good news looking ahead: Both Jones and Jacobs announced that their teams will stay together for another Olympic run.

1. The "Old Bear" retires

The incredible amount of high profile change seen on men's rosters this season was unprecedented. So many stories, so many ripple effects to be felt immediately and over the next few years. Out of all these stories, however, one stands alone: The retirement of Kevin Martin.

Martin's record - Olympic gold and silver, a World Championship, four Brier titles, 12 Alberta Championships and eighteen Grand Slam wins - speaks for itself.

And Martin, speaks for himself. Candid. Sometimes prickly. Well-liked by some in Canadian curling, loathed by some others. What is not to be argued is Martin's effect on the game as we now know it. One of the first to treat his curling career and his team as a sports business, his trailblazing in marketing himself and his rink and in fostering sponsorship partnerships was groundbreaking. Martin reshaped the way elite level curlers operate. Spearheading a players' revolt earlier this century, he helped lead Canadian curling into an era of bigger tournaments and bigger paydays. Martin cast a giant shadow as a player and as a builder, with the game's economics barely recognizable compared to those that governed it before he arrived on the pro scene 27 years ago.

When a curling legend retires, it is among the top stories of any year. When that legend is Kevin Martin, it is the story.

Even in a season as incredibly noteworthy and crammed full of change and intrigue as this past one was.

To see the top 10 stories of the 2012-2013 curling season, click here.