Glenn Howard hanging on in heated points chase

It’s unfortunate for Glenn Howard there isn’t an injured reserve or disabled list in curling like there is in hockey or baseball.

The four-time world champion Howard couldn’t keep Wayne Middaugh on his roster this season with the veteran third needing more time to recover from a broken leg sustained during a skiing accident last January.

Adam Spencer pinch-hit for the second half of last season throwing second — Richard Hart moved up to third while Scott Howard remained at lead — helping the Penetanguishene-based team win the Ontario Tankard and advance to the Brier.

While retaining Spencer might have seemed like the obvious option, the Guelph, Ont., native wasn’t able to commit to a full schedule, leaving a hole in the Team Howard lineup heading into a key season for piling up points to qualify for next year’s Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

“It was tough to see Wayne go,” Howard said earlier this month at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard. “He broke his leg last season in January and he’s on the road to recovery. It’s going to take a bit and he knows that. He let me know sort of before the summer he has no idea where he’s going to be come September. He said go do your own thing.”

Enter David Mathers, a former teammate of Glenn’s son Scott, who spent last season in P.E.I. with Adam Casey’s team. The Ottawa native planned to return home and was looking for a new crew after Casey’s squad split.

“Dave actually called me and said he’s going to be moving back to Ontario and would we be interested,” Howard said. “We gave it some thought but it didn’t take very long.

“I thought he’d be a perfect fit for our team, a great second, good buddies with Scotty and I know the family really well, the whole family’s great friends of mine. We felt it was a perfect fit for our team and so far, so good.”

Howard believes you can’t count Middaugh out though and is confident he will be back on the ice as soon as possible.

“Hopefully he’s going to throw later in the year or maybe come Christmastime,” Howard said. “Hopefully the leg has healed up well enough he can throw some. He’ll be back in the saddle, don’t you worry about it.”

Team Howard is currently ranked 14th on the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit (OOM), which has them hanging on to a slim lead for the final guaranteed invites to the elite Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events during the first half of the season. Throw in the chase for Olympic Trials spots this year to the mix and Team Howard is right in the thick of a heated points race.

That’s precisely why Howard was competing in Oakville in order to maintain his position among the top tier.

“We’re kind of on the bubble for Grand Slams and a few of the spiels so that’s why we’re here [in Oakville],” Howard said. “We’re playing a little bit early, we want to try and put some points on the board, get some games under our belt. It is a big year going into points for the Olympic Trials, spots and so on and so forth.

“We’ll probably play seven spiels before Christmas, a little bit less than most [teams], but that’s about all we can manage,” he added. “It’s still a full schedule and if we can play well then we can create our own destiny.”

Howard reached quarterfinals in Oakville and hits the ice next week for the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard at the High Park Club. The team then heads to Okotoks, Alta., at the end of October for the first Pinty’s GSOC event of the season, the WFG Masters.