By Ben Hoppe
At 0-3, Team Dropkin was out of the running for the playoffs. Entering their last game on Friday morning, they had gone winless in seven tries over the two Grand Slam of Curling events. It had been 39 days since the last time they had won a game.
The season had started on a bleak note for the reigning U.S. national champions.
“I think that’s the longest time in any of our careers that we’ve gone without a win,” recalled vice-skip Tom Howell.
The losing streak started in a final at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard when they were bested by Scotland’s Ross Whyte on Sept. 8. It was only fitting that the eight-game skid would come to an end in Nisku, Alta., against Whyte in a shootout. The game was not Team Dropkin’s cleanest, but beating one of the top teams in the world in any fashion will certainly give a much-needed confidence boost.
Even though they had a low volume of games during their 39-day drought, it was clear the team was not happy with where they were with just a few weeks before the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“It’s no secret that we’ve been in a little bit of a slump,” Howell said.
The team recognizes that they’ve been down on themselves. They know their body language and communication have not been where they wanted it to be, but the victory gives them something to build on. It may have been only one win, but it was a big one in their final game before the Trials. Howell called it “massive” for the team.
"It helps prevent us from walking into the first game of trials with that kind of monkey still on our back," he said.
The focus for all U.S. teams has been preparing for November’s Olympic Trials, and the Dropkin rink knows they need to keep everything in perspective. Their entire schedule has been set up to peak in Sioux Falls, even though the results haven’t been there.
While they won’t be in any more events over the next three weeks, they will have multiple practice weekends together as a team.
It’s been a slight shift in gears for a team that has been extraordinarily active on tour. While skip Korey Dropkin himself has been active on the mixed doubles circuit in preparation for the Olympics with his teammate Cory Thiesse, the men’s team wanted to ensure they were prepared both mentally and physically going into one of the biggest events of their lives.
“We wanted to make sure we had some time to have our mental side in good order and feel rested and refreshed going into Trials,” Howell shared.
To have their mental side in order once they take the ice again, they’ll need to rely on each other. One of the team’s biggest advantages is their chemistry. No other team in the United States Olympic Trials field has had three team members stick together as long as Dropkin, Howell, and lead Mark Fenner. In a sport where rosters are changing regularly, the trio having been together through so many ups and downs for such a long period of time will serve them well.
Howell knows he can lean on his teammates because of all of the experiences they’ve shared.
"We are like brothers," he said. "One of the big things that helps us and makes us strong as a team is having that experience: win, lose, tie, indifferent. We’ve done all of those things together before."
JUNIOR GSOC ROUNDUP
Team Hellman led the way in the Jr. GSOC U15 event. Twins Tucker and Carter Hellman were joined by the children of two Olympic gold medallists, Marissa Gushue and Luke Shuster.
The team started out strong with convincing wins in their first two games but lost their final game of pool play in a tight match with Canada’s Team Sipka.
The loss put them on the wrong side of a three-way tie for two playoff spots, but it was an excellent showing for a team with limited reps together.
In the U25 event, all four U.S. teams missed the playoffs with 1-2 records. While the teams would have preferred to show solidarity with additional wins and playoff qualification, the event no doubt provided a valuable experience so early in the season.
Team Johnson and Team Hebert will likely see some of the same teams from the GSOC at the World Junior B Championships in Finland this December. But first, they’ll each be making their debuts at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
