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Glenn Howard is going to another Brier while his daughter Carly was within a whisker of heading to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The local curling legend's rink defeated Jayden King’s London rink in the Ontario Tankard final Sunday. Howard needed an extra end to win the nail-biter 8-7 in Dorchester.
Howard’s Penetanguishene Curling Club rink finished the round-robin tournament with a perfect record to advance to the Page playoffs Friday evening. Howard’s team defeated John Epping’s rink 7-1 to advance directly to the final.
Carly Howard, meanwhile, lost a close one 8-7 in the final of the Ontario curling women's championships. Howard's rink, which curls out of the High Park Club, defeated Danielle Inglis's rink in the 1-2 Page playoff game to advance directly to Friday's final where Inglis got her revenge by posting the win.
Rounding out Howard’s team are third Scott Howard, second David Mathers and lead Tim March. And since Howard was out with an injury, son Scott moved from vice to skip while Glenn shifted to a coaching role.
"We made a team decision last week that we're going to just stick with three," Scott told the Canadian Press in the tournament's early rounds. "It seemed to work for us in the past. We all feel comfortable and that's how we're going to play it out."
In early December, the elder Howard said he'd be out indefinitely after his surgically repaired left knee "seized up" at the Nufloors Penticton Curling Classic. He met with doctors and specialists in recent weeks but the 61-year-old said he's not ready to return.
Three-man teams are used infrequently but sometimes can be quite effective.
One of the more notable examples came in 2022 when Brad Gushue won the Brier without vice Mark Nichols, who missed the final weekend due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Howard is a regular at the Brier, both as vice for older brother Russ and later as the skipper of his own rink and hopes to get back playing.
"I've still got the fire," Howard told the Canadian Press in an earlier interview.
"Every time I lace them up — and I don't care who we're playing against — I always think we can win. I plan on winning."
"Am I as good as I used to be? No. But I've still got that fire and that goes a long way."
Howard, who lives in Tiny Township, has won the Brier on four occasions and captured four world titles.
Now, Howard will try to add a fifth Brier title when the men's national championship begins March 1 at the Brandt Centre in Regina.
Two of his four Brier titles have come in Ontario with Howard winning in Hamilton in 2007 and in Ottawa in 1993 with big brother Russ serving as skip.
"To me, it's like an extra point on the scoreboard," Howard said last year of playing before the home crowd. "You get a few more fans cheering for you. That gets the adrenaline pumping and gets you more excited. If you make a good shot, the cheers are hair-raising."
