KINGSTON, Ont. – If not for a devastating skiing injury, Wayne Middaugh might still be competing under the bright lights at the Tim Hortons Brier.

“I’d probably still be here with Glenn [Howard] playing that Wild Card game,” Middaugh told the media after being inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame Thursday night at Leon’s Centre.

It was early January 2016 when the three-time Brier and world champion was skiing with his family. Middaugh says he landed poorly coming off a jump and went down hard. The fall resulted in severely broken left leg that needed extensive surgery to insert a titanium rod.

Just like that Middaugh’s playing career was done.

“It doesn’t work so well, but I can work and I can play golf and I can do a lot of things I want to do. But, if I look around here, I’m thinking every one of you can beat me in a race,” joked the Brampton, Ont. native.

The timing couldn’t have been worse, either, as Middaugh was supposed to play with long-time teammate and friend Howard at the Ontario Tankard. Howard would win win those playdowns and brought Middaugh along as Ontario’s coach for the Brier taking place in the nation’s capital.

One door may have closed for Middaugh sooner than he wanted, but it also opened another.

“Everything happens for a reason,” said Middaugh. “If I was still playing, I wouldn’t have met the [Anna] Hasselborg team.”

Middaugh began coaching Hasselborg’s Swedish squad in September of 2018 a few months after they captured gold at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. They’ve had their fair share of success with Middaugh behind the bench, as well, winning back-to-back European titles and five Grand Slams, including three in 2019-20 alone.

“Coaching covers my addiction. I love the game,” he said.

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To the Hall

The 52-year-old Middaugh says reaching the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame is “the biggest honour I could imagine at this point of my career.”

Middaugh won a Brier and world title as a second, third and skip, the only curler in history to accomplish the feat in three different positions.

“My goal was to always be the best teammate possible,” explained Middaugh. “I tried to play the best that I could ever play and be the best person at whatever position. It didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to play on a great team and I was lucky to play with some outstanding players.”

Middaugh says each position had moments but playing for brothers Russ and Glenn Howard early in his career was very beneficial to the success he had in his career.

“The tutelage I had with them was unbelievable and the things I was able to learn," said Middaugh. “The second position was such a learning experience. It was like your first Masters golf tournament. I was really a big deal to play second in that environment with those guys.”

After winning a Brier and world title with the Howards in 1993, Middaugh began skipping his own rink of Graeme McCarrel, Ian Tetley and Scott Bailey in 1994. At the 1998 Canadian championship in Winnipeg, Middaugh posted a 10-1 record in the round robin before beating Quebec’s Guy Hemmings twice in the playoffs, including the championship game.

In 2011, Middaugh joined forces with Glenn Howard once again, this time as third. They had no problem finding their chemistry again, winning Brier and world titles in their first year of their second act together.  

Despite all the success, Middaugh says the top takeaways he has from his career is all the great people he’s became friends with along the way.

“I’m still best friends with everyone,” he said.