Wayne Middaugh slides off into the competitive curling sunset

As pebbled ice surfaces at curling clubs all over the land are being broken up and shovelled out the back door, things are settling down in the world of men's curling, with new rosters being finalized and plans being made for next season and beyond.

For many, that means mapping out strategies that arc all the way to the 2017 Canadian Olympic Trials and a shot at representing the nation at the 2018 Games.

For others, it means backing off on the grind of elite level competition. Some, like Kevin Martin, leave the game completely.

For 46 year old Wayne Middaugh, it comes in the form of a semi-retirement. Or, perhaps more accurately, mostly-retirement.

It was already known that the three-time world champion (at three different positions, no less) was leaving Team Glenn Howard. What wasn't positively known was whether Middaugh would decide to curl full-time with someone else or, instead, lean his broom in a corner of the basement, permanently.

Now we know. Middaugh is stepping away from the game and is winding it down, big time. Instead of getting back on the hamster wheel of competitive curling, he will say 'so long.'

“It’s time for me now to give some of that time to my family," Middaugh told the Midland Mirror. "With me more at home now, it’ll give Sherry (his wife) more of a chance to play and chase her curling dreams.”

Sherry Middaugh is, of course, a top-flight curler who skipped her team to the finals at the 2013 Canadian Olympic Trials. Never a national champion, she will continue to pursue that goal.

“It (the decision to basically retire) was all about where my life is and what I want going forward for me and my family,” said Middaugh.

As mentioned, Middaugh is a three-time world champion having won as a second for Russ Howard in 1993, as a skip in 1998 and as vice for Glenn Howard in 2012.

Middaugh's legacy is one of a superb shotmaker, capable, in his prime, of firing a stone faster and with more accuracy than anyone else in the game. That was an inescapable fact as he was simply the best at launching howitzers and blowing up an opponent's building cache of rocks.

As time has gone on, he's kept that great velocity and accuracy (he shot a near-perfect 98% in the championship game at the 2012 Brier) but many other players have caught up to him as sliding technology, and increasingly fast surfaces and lively houses have made so many of them demolition experts. Middaugh's advantage in that area of the game has been blunted by livelier stones, too, as it has become increasingly easy to make 'em fly. Back in the day, before all the improvements to the game, Middaugh's abilities in that area were even more pronounced.

Middaugh was also one of the fastest workers in the game, with many getting a chuckle over his being in his backswing before the broom had even been fully set at the the other end.

Not sure what powered Middaugh's explosive kick from the hack but he did once tell me that he believed in a diet of just meat and potatoes. I'm not at all certain that he was kidding, either.

While he will continue to play at his local club in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Middaugh will not really be seen on the pro circuit, save for the possibility of the odd fill-in job for an established team.

That might mean you could see him as a sub for Howard from time to time, although Rich Hart is now the full-time vice, with Jon Mead jumping on board to play second while Craig Savill remains the team's lead.

“The only thing I wish I would have had a better chance at, or played better at, would have been the Olympics and the Olympic trials,” Midduagh told The Mirror. “The next time (the Olympics) roll around, I’ll be 51 or 50 years old and a little long in the tooth.”

Well, maybe not. Russ Howard turned 50 while the 2006 Games were underway, winning gold while shooting second stones.

Could Middaugh return to take a shot at winning a major championship at a fourth different position?

Hard to say at this point, but it might be a good idea for him to keep up with the meat and potatoes, just in case.