In curling, player movement is not uncommon.

A curler could be presented with a better opportunity to win by another rink and decide to leave. A team might decide a shakeup is necessary after many years together.

Vice John Morris left Kevin Martin’s 2010 Olympic gold-medal winning team in 2013 after seven years together as one of the best rinks in the world. Second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert departed the following season.

Jennifer Jones won three straight Scotties and one world championship from 2008 to 2010 with third Cathy Overton-Clapham, second Jill Officer and lead Dawn McEwen. To the surprise of many, Team Jones decided to replace Overton-Clapham with a younger Kaitlyn Lawes after the three-peat.

If teams with this much success on the national and international stage can split up, then squads on the opposite side of the spectrum should have no problem parting ways, right?

That may be true, but not when it comes to Team Mike McEwen.

McEwen, alongside third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld, have been together for nine years. After many close calls, the Winnipeg foursome will finally make their first Brier appearance in Ottawa this year.

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“Divorce for our team was too expensive,” McEwen told TSN.ca with a chuckle.

The 35-year-old skipper from Brandon, Man., says it never made sense for them to break up the band during their time together.  

“We got a lot of good stuff, not just on the ice but off the ice with our wives being friends — just those connections with families and friendships,” explained McEwen. “We didn’t really see a better option and I think we really wanted to win the four of us together. Not to say we haven’t had doubts. But, it never made sense for us to do anything else but to curl together with this foursome.”

Despite making zero appearances at the Canadian championship, Team McEwen has always done well on the World Curling Tour. They finished first on the Money List in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015, and placed second in 2013. McEwen sits third this season with three wins on Tour.

Even with all the cash rolling in, the Manitoba provincials have been a hurdle the rink couldn’t clear.  They had lost five of the last six provincial finals before finally figuring it out this year, thanks to an undefeated run at the Manitoba playdowns.

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part - Team McEwen at Manitoba Provincials

Year Result
2008 Semifinal - Lost to Kerry Burtnyk 7-5
2009 Page Playoff 3vs4 - Lost to Burtnyk 5-3
2010 Final - Lost to Jeff Stoughton 9-8 in an extra end
2011 Final - Lost to Stoughton 5-4 with a last-rock draw for the second straight year
2012 Final - Lost to Rob Fowler 10-6
2013 Semifinal - Lost to Stoughton 5-3
2014 Final - Lost to Stoughton 8-3 
2015 Final - Lost to Reid Carruthers 5-3 (five final losses in six years)
2016 Final - Beat Matt Dunstone 4-2 to qualify for first Brier

After all the failures, McEwen says the victory was a little sweeter than if they would have done it for the first time years ago.

“I guess it was a bit of relief and just pure joy,” he said. “You want it that much more every time. Yeah, a bit sweeter. It felt really good to finally end that streak.”

Even if they had lost the Manitoba final to Canadian junior champ Matt Dunstone, McEwen and company would still be competing in the nation’s capital. Team Dunstone was always committed to playing the world junior championship (the competition is the same week as the Brier) and would have given their entry to the national championship up if they had beaten McEwen.

Going into the Brier as Manitoba’s best despite the automatic entry was paramount for McEwen.

“We would have been excited to go to the Brier one way or another. But for sure, there would have been a sizeable tinge of disappointment not winning our province and still going,” said McEwen. “It was important for us to still win. We didn’t necessarily want to get in that way. We would have taken it regardless, but we didn’t want to have that asterisk or that disappointment of losing another final.”

One possible factor contributing to Team McEwen getting over the hump in 2015-16 is former curler Jon Mead. The 48 year old from Regina, Sask., was a member of Jeff Stoughton’s Winnipeg rink for years and helped defeat McEwen in many of those provincial finals. Now retired, Mead has taken on a managerial role for Team McEwen and has been integral for the rink off the ice.

“We were working hard with a personal trainer and nutrition and our sports physiologist, but there were gaps missing and it wasn’t really being connected,” explained McEwen. “Jon’s come in and has been the link to those service providers. He’s taken on a managerial role with our team and really kept everybody accountable. He’s been instrumental in really tightening up our framework as far as a lot of stuff we do off the ice.”

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Third B.J. Neufeld throws a rock at the Pinty's All-Star Skins Game.

With the Brier experience a decade in the making just around the corner, McEwen can’t wait to get the pursuit of his childhood dream going at TD Place Arena.

“The Brier growing up to me was the pinnacle. It’s only been in the last decade and a half that the Olympics and that carrot has taken over,” said the husband and father of one. “The Brier is just barely second to the Olympic experience for me. I grew up wanting to win a Brier as a kid and would love nothing more than to do that.”

McEwen’s first Brier might turn out to be one of the best in the tournament’s history as the field is littered with former Canadian, world and Olympic champs.

“At least within the last 10-15 years, there’s definitely isn’t anything comparable to this field on paper that I’ve witnessed and I’ve watched a lot of them from my couch,” McEwen said. “It could very well be the strongest ever.”

Team McEwen will kick things off Saturday afternoon with a clash against 2015-16 money leader Brad Gushue and his St. John’s, Nfld., rink. You can catch the game at 2:30pm ET on TSN 1 and 3.