Glenn Howard

Glenn Howard
Born	(1962-07-17) July 17, 1962 Midland, Ontario
Team
Curling club	Penetanguishene CC, Penetanguishene, Ontario
Skip	Glenn Howard
Third	Wayne Middaugh
Second	Brent Laing
Lead	Craig Savill
Alternate	Scott Howard
Kit
Career
Brier appearances	15 (1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
World Championship appearances	4 (1987, 1993, 2007, 2012)
Top CCA ranking	1st (2008–09 & 2011-12)
Grand Slam victories	13 World Cup/Masters (Dec 2006, Jan 2008, Nov 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013); The National (2002, Jan 2004, 2012); Players' (2008, 2013) Canadian Open (2009, 2012)
Medal record Men's Curling Competitor for  Canada World Curling Championships Gold 1987 Vancouver Gold 1993 Geneva Gold 2007 Edmonton Gold 2012 Basel Competitor for  Ontario Canadian Olympic Curling Trials Silver 2009 Edmonton Tim Hortons Brier Gold 1987 Edmonton Gold 1993 Ottawa Gold 2007 Hamilton Gold 2012 Saskatoon Silver 1986 Kitchener-Waterloo Silver 1992 Regina Silver 1994 Red Deer Silver 2006 Regina Silver 2008 Winnipeg Silver 2010 Halifax Silver 2011 London Bronze 1989 Saskatoon Bronze 2009 Calgary Bronze 2013 Edmonton

Glenn Howard (born July 17, 1962 in Midland, Ontario) is a Canadian curler from Tiny, Ontario. He has won four Briers and four world championships in his career. He has also won 15 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight straight, from 2006 to 2013. Through 2014, he has played in 196 games at the Brier, more than any other curler in history.

Career

1980s–2006

Howard had a lot of success in his early career when he played third with his brother, Russ. With Russ, Howard won the 1987 and 1993 Labatt Briers, and the world championships those same two years. However, Russ would move to New Brunswick in the late 1990s, leaving Glenn in Ontario to form his own team. Glenn did return to play for his brother at the 2001 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials.

Glenn would be unsuccessful in returning to the Brier, losing back-to-back provincial finals (2004, 2005) until 2006 when he would triumph over former teammate Wayne Middaugh in the Ontario final. This qualified him for the 2006 Tim Hortons Brier. His team of third Richard Hart, second Brent Laing, and lead Craig Savill dominated the 2006 Brier, finishing the round robin with only one loss. However, the team was not successful in the final, losing to Quebec's Jean-Michel Ménard 8–7.

2007-present

Howard's team dominated the 2007 season. The team marched right through the provincial championships without losing a single game (none even going a complete ten ends). At the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier, the team lost just one round-robin game to Alberta's Kevin Martin. The team lost another in the Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game to Olympic gold medalist Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador. However, in the re-match in the final, Howard beat Gushue 10–6. Howard's team continued its dominance at the 2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship. The team lost just one game in the round-robin to Team USA (skipped by Todd Birr). However, it avenged this loss by beating the Americans 7–2 in the Page playoff game and then winning the final over the Germans skipped by Andy Kapp 8–3.

Howard's last shot in a round robin game against Saskatchewan at the 2009 Brier is considered to be one of the best curling shots ever.

In his attempt to repeat at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier, Howard lost 5–4 in the final to Alberta, skipped by Kevin Martin.

Howard became only the second skip to win a career Grand Slam when he won the Canadian Open in 2009.

Howard again qualified for the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary. Many were looking forward to Howard's performance at the Brier. Firstly, his older brother Russ was skipping the New Brunswick team, and secondly, a re-match with the rival Kevin Martin team. Howard's rink finished the round robin in second place with a 9-2 record. His last match of the round robin was against Martin, as was the first playoff matchup. Both games Howard lost, but were widely considered two of the most entertaining games in curling history, due to the incredible shot making. Howard would lose his next playoff game as well, to Jeff Stoughton's Manitoba rink, disappointing those who wanted to see a third straight exciting Martin vs Howard show down. Despite all of this, Howard is probably most remembered at the 2009 Brier for one of the greatest shots in curling history. In a round robin match against Saskatchewan, Howard was down by two with his last shot of the game. He only had one shot to win the game. Howard was facing two Saskatchewan stones, which were too far apart and too even to take out both. Howard had three rocks in the 12 foot. With his rock, Howard knocked one of his rocks onto another of his rocks, deflecting into one of the Saskatchewan stones, removing it while sticking, while his shooter rock had ricocheted off the first Ontario rock onto the other Saskatchewan stone, taking it out as well, while sticking too. With those two Ontario rocks, plus the other one that remained stationary, Ontario scored three to win the game. (See video) The shot would even be mentioned by Chris Plys on The Colbert Report during a curling segment.

Howard clinched a spot at the 2009 Olympic Trials when he won the 2008 Tylenol Players' Championship, which was held in St. John's, Newfoundland.^[1] Howard finished the tournament with a perfect record and beat Kevin Martin in the final.

At the 2010 Brier, Howard finished the round robin with an undefeated 11–0 record, but lost in the Final to Alberta's Kevin Koe. He finished the year with a semifinal loss to Niklas Edin at the 2011 Players' Championship. At the end of the season, longtime third Richard Hart announced that he would leave Team Howard and the world of competitive curling. Former teammate Wayne Middaugh replaced Hart.

At the 2012 World Championship, Howard defeated Scotland in the Final to capture his 4th world title.

Personal life

Howard works as a manager at The Beer Store. He is married and has two children, Scott and Carly.^[2] Howard made a guest appearance on the CBC comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie on the season 2 episode titled "Jihad on Ice". In the Fall of 2013, he was inducted into the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame.

Grand Slam record

Teammates

Team Howard at the 2010 Brier. Howard is on the left.

References

External Links

Team Glenn Howard Website Team Glenn Howard CS Profile