TORONTO \u2014 As a man dressed in a banana costume made his way to the rink-side bar at TMU\u2019s Mattamy Athletic Centre \u2014 he\u2019d later yell \u201cPeel! Peel! Peel!\u201d along with three other fans in matching costumes \u2014 Jennifer Jones looked down at the ice below, minutes before Day 3 of the Rock League\u2019s inaugural event was set to begin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the best parts of curling, all wrapped up in one with a little bow on top,\u201d Jones said of the league presenting an untraditional take on the game, with a quicker pace, a three-game head-to-head format, and players from all over the world thrown into a blender to create six franchises.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jones, the Olympic gold medallist and six-time national champion, then added for the curling purists who might balk at something new on pebbled ice: \u201cGive it a chance.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Rock League features elements that curling has never seen before (Canada\u2019s three-time world champ Rachel Homan\u00a0against\u00a0fellow three-time world champion Emma Miskew!) and rules that\u2019ve never played out in games involving many of the best curlers on the planet, including a coin toss to determine hammer and four-person games going just seven ends.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
World No. 1 skip Bruce Mouat has an early favourite when it comes to the new rules being showcased this week: \u201cIf you are on the pin in the last end, you get two points \u2014 that\u2019s a really cool dynamic to throw into the game,\u201d Mouat said, adding it\u2019s tough to defend against. \u201cYou have to really be on your toes with your strategy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jones is the Rock League\u2019s strategic advisor, and part of her role was to help come up with new rules for the operation touting itself as curling\u2019s first professional league.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love history and respecting all of that, but I\u2019m also one that, you have to be willing to evolve, you have to be willing to change in order to not lose the thing that you love,\u201d said Jones, who also provides in-game commentary on the broadcast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still the game. It\u2019s got sweeping and throwing and yelling and all the wonderful things that we love about the game, it\u2019s just a little bit faster paced, and then a couple of rules that allow a little more offence. And I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing, as a fan watching. You can have a lot more interesting shots.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there were fewer than 500 fans in attendance for the opening draw Wednesday afternoon to see those interesting shots in a matchup between Northern United and Alpine CC \u2014 two games came down to the last rocks thrown \u2014 Rock League has announced its presence to those paying attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Walk into Mattamy Athletic Centre, and you\u2019ll be greeted by larger-than-life-size photos of curlers like Mouat, Miskew and Olympic gold medallist Brett Gallant, all doing various power poses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the upper level, you\u2019ll find a stage with big \u201cR\u201d and \u201cL\u201d light-up letters, where the league\u2019s house band plays. There\u2019s merchandise for sale, an autograph station and games like corn hole and mini curling set up for fans. There\u2019s in-game music over the speakers and an in-game announcer teeing up big shots near the end of games. Over the weekend, ahead of Sunday\u2019s final, there\u2019ll be more lights and cameras, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The most noticeable new addition to the curling scene is that rink-side bar between sheets A and B. Some fans in there were fist-bumping members of Mouat\u2019s Northern United, and the skipper\u2019s partner and a few friends were among them, watching from the bar area.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m having a great time \u2014 I\u2019ve absolutely loved my three games that I\u2019ve played in,\u201d Mouat said Wednesday afternoon, even after his Northern United suffered the first sweep of the event, losing all three games against Alpine CC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDisappointing \u2014 we played alright,\u201d Mouat added of the games that just unfolded. \u201cI think if we win a few more games and buck up our shots a wee bit then we\u2019ll be back on the good floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among his nine teammates working together to that end is a long-time opponent. \u201cWe\u2019ve played in some of the biggest games in our lives against Yannick Schwaller, and now I\u2019m trying to skip and call a line and watch him throw,\u201d Mouat said of the Swiss skipper, who won Olympic bronze back in February. \u201cHe\u2019s been a great player for the last 12 years that I\u2019ve known him, so it\u2019s pretty special that I have this opportunity to do that with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mouat and Schwaller are fist-bumping and hugging and even howling together like wolves \u2014 the team-wide howl is how Northern United gets fired up for games, and celebrates wins. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever hugged him after we beat him,\u201d Mouat pointed out, with a grin. \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s wanted to do that.\u201d Fair enough, but this league has made sure nobody\u2019s playing alongside their usual teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mouat had just played against his Team Scotland teammate and friend, Hammy McMillan Jr, who\u2019s on Alpine CC. \u201cHe\u2019s a cheeky chap, so it was fun to play against him, but I don\u2019t like losing to him,\u201d Mouat said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pair were chirping back and forth during the game, with Mouat telling McMillan he\u2019d never seen so many teeth in his buddy\u2019s mouth, \u201cbecause he was smiling so much, because he enjoyed chirping me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through very early goings Wednesday, Alpine and Northern United were the top two in the standings, but there\u2019s a lot of play to go, still. The top four franchises crack Sunday\u2019s playoffs, and the winners will share a prize of $100,000 USD. Through Tuesday, only Frontier CC had yet to register a point, which is earned after winning two of three in a matchup, with a sweep netting 1.5 points.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what Miskew\u2019s Alpine CC accomplished Wednesday, and she stayed on the ice to cheer on her teammates as they won mixed doubles, the last game to finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would just peer over and see what\u2019s going on on the other sheets because it\u2019s helpful \u2013 like (Tuesday) we lost a close game, but the other two games won, so it\u2019s like OK, \u2018Good job team,\u2019\u201d Miskew said of the head-to-head format playing out on three sheets. \u201cBut the game before we won and they lost, and it\u2019s like, ah, tough one. So, it was kind of fun playing as a team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The faster pace means all games need to be completed in two hours or fewer, and with about 80 per cent of the thinking time athletes are used to on the ice, it\u2019s a learning curve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be decisive,\u201d Miskew said. \u201cWe have a little bit less time, so you\u2019ve just kind of got to make a call and go, and I think it\u2019s working for us. Like, we\u2019re not overthinking anything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t time to overthink, which was part of the point for Rock League. \u201cI think curling was becoming too slow, and this is fast-paced,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are four days of competition to go in this single-event teaser ahead of a full Rock League schedule planned for 2027, which will see franchises play five events across North America.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously it\u2019s a new event, you\u2019re always going to have a few little hiccups, but what\u2019s amazing is that every time I talk to the players, they look like they\u2019re kids on Christmas \u2014 they\u2019re loving it,\u201d Jones said, grinning. \u201cI love the match format. You\u2019re kind of focusing on all the games, wondering what the outcome is going to be. It\u2019s one of the first times since I retired where I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, I just wish I could be on the ice,’ because it looks so fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s just a matter of showcasing that to all the fans and creating that atmosphere inside the arena.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jones took her place in the broadcast booth, and then out on the ice below, an in-arena announcer yelled into his microphone:\u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s go Toronto! Professional curling is here!\u00a0<\/p>\n
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