News Masters

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. — A Saskatchewan Open? If Kirk Muyres was in charge of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, that would totally be a thing.

Muyres, who throws third stones for Saskatoon’s Team Laycock, might be a little biased but given the packed houses at past events, he might actually be on to something by having a Grand Slam that rotates around the province each year.

Until his dream comes true though, Muyres cherishes every chance he gets to play near home continuing with the Masters, which starts Tuesday at Centennial Civic Centre.

“We hear it from most curlers, especially up in Saskatchewan, there’s no better place to curl or play a Grand Slam than in Saskatchewan,” Muyres said Thursday. “Every opportunity you get to play in Saskatchewan is great. The crowds are great and they’re behind you because you’re from Saskatchewan so they’re cheering for you. It’s exciting and it’s always nice to play in front of our families, friends and sponsors, so it means a lot to be able to come here maybe twice a year to play a Slam in front of a really sold-out building usually in our home province. It’s pretty cool.”

Join us for a Facebook Live chat with Kirk Muyres during the Masters on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. MT. “Like” us at Facebook.com/thegrandslamofcurling.

Having a major tournament in their home province may also help Team Laycock find what they’ve been missing so far this season. Although they’re ranked 11th on the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit, Muyres admitted they haven’t been playing spectacular sporting a 10-12 win-loss record with just a pair of quarterfinal appearances through four tour events.

“We’re playing really quite good, it just seems like we’re not getting that little extra gear we need to be really successful,” Muyres said. “I think we’ve got to put it all into perspective and that’s OK. Certainly, we would have loved to have won more games at this point, but we keep looking back and we go, boy, we’re playing pretty good, we’re just missing the wrong ones at the wrong time.”

Muyres said that might work out well for them as they progress through this event plus the Boost National next month in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., as they prepare for December’s Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Ottawa.

“I think we’re going to be trending in the right direction and build some confidence as we move into the trials,” he said. “I’d be lying to you if I said we should have won more games at this point but at the same time we’re playing pretty good, so we just have to ride the wave.”

It’s not easy replacing teammates, especially entering an Olympic year, but Team Laycock experienced just that with second Colton Flasch departing late last season and two-time Canadian junior champion Matt Dunstone from Winnipeg coming on board. The team now employs an unorthodox setup with Dunstone throwing second but holding the broom in the house when Steve Laycock throws skip stones while Kirk sweeps alongside his older brother, lead Dallan Muyres.

The younger Muyres said integrating Dunstone into the fold wasn’t problematic but there was an adjustment period.

“He’s such a good guy and such a team player, that aspect was quite easy to deal with, welcoming him into the team,” Muyres said. “But any change there’s going to be some things you’ve got to learn about each other and some ways to learn to compete and be good. I think we’re still working through some of those things, some of the communication things and how to make the next guy better.

“Even Matty and I are getting into our new roles. … There’s still a steep learning curve there for us, which is kind of neat, fun and exciting too. I think it might be an advantage to us because we aren’t stale and burned out of playing with the same guys.”

It’s also probably ideal Dunstone remains in the house when possible as the former skip has lost his footing while sweeping more than once already this season.

Can't take the training wheels off of @mattydunstone28 just yet- tomorrow we'll work on following the rock down the whole sheet! #babysteps pic.twitter.com/v5pSsfRzyi

— Laycock Curling (@teamlaycock) August 30, 2017

“He was sweeping one of my rocks in Edmonton too and he went for a spill,” Muyres said with a laugh. “I think it’s best to keep him off the sweeping train as much as we can.”

NOTES: Team Laycock’s first game at the Masters is during Draw 2 Tuesday at 8 p.m. MT against Pat Simmons and his Winnipeg-based squad. … Round-robin action continues through to Friday with the quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday and the championship games Sunday. … Television coverage begins Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet.