By Ben Hoppe, U.S. curling writer
On a December Wednesday night in Kelowna, B.C., Team Casper found themselves at the culmination of two years of challenges. As Danny Casper’s final stone in the ninth end settled in the house to score four points, there was a brief moment of waiting to see if they would have to execute one more end. The moment passed quickly as China’s Xu Xioaming conceded in the first qualifier game of the men’s Olympic Qualification Event.
As Casper waited for his teammates to finish shaking hands with their opponents, he briefly stood with his head in his hands as if he were trying to comprehend the moment. Very few things had gone to plan over the past two seasons for Team Casper. In that moment, however, one could see the realization that the long, winding road for the young American team was now a direct highway to the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
Facing the best of the best on the world’s biggest stage will challenge them, but challenges for this team are nothing new. The team knows their next step at the Winter Olympics is going to be their most difficult yet.
Their coach, Jordan Moulton, says the team is ready to take this challenge head-on.
“We're not looking for it to be easy cause we know it won't be," she said.
Moulton has had the best seat in the house as the team embraced hurdles. She has coached second Ben Richardson and third Luc Violette as they made the jump into the men’s tour and has seen the addition of skip Casper, lead Aidan Oldenburg, and alternate Rich Ruohonen.
She watched the team handle a shuffling of skips and positions as Casper navigated his diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome. All the while, Moulton said, the team did not run from difficulty. They met it.
“All the guys on the team have always been really excited to do the hard work," she said. "They've never shied away from that.”
DOING THE WORK
When asked how the team has come into its own identity over the last two years, it was the lead who spoke up first.
“We work really hard and work well together because of all the work that everyone’s put in,” Oldenburg said.
He noted how, while he only moved just two hours from home, every one of his teammates relocated from opposite coasts of the United States to make their homes in Minnesota just for curling. The sacrifices and commitments they’ve made for the game have helped build their trust in each other as teammates.
While Oldenburg was busy crediting his teammates for the efforts they’ve made, the lead may not have acknowledged himself, but his own dedication has not gone unnoticed. Ruohonen commented on how often Oldenburg asks him if he wants to go out and throw extra rocks.
Moulton pointed to Oldenburg's dedication to off-ice training, calling him "a monster," and it wasn’t just his teammates who noticed either.
Before this crazy season’s run for Team Casper hit high gear, Oldenburg’s progress had caught the attention of Chris Plys.
"He looks like he ate the old version of himself," said the vice skip of Team Shuster. “He’s massive and jacked and making rocks dance all over the sheet.”
The hard work of Team Casper extends beyond their physical efforts and sacrifices. In fact, it seems to go beyond the sport altogether.
Oldenburg and his front-end batterymate Richardson have learned they are quite similar: they both can juggle and will occasionally do some pass juggling together before a game. Despite their similarities, they still spend time with a sports psychologist to ensure they understand each other and communicate effectively.
Where the front end will juggle physical objects together, Casper and Violette have had to juggle different personalities and ways of thinking about the game on the back end. Instead of allowing that to be a stumbling block, the skip and vice have worked hard to learn how they can utilize those differences to complement each other. Embracing those differences can bear fruit as they try to analyze scenarios and navigate stressful situations.
“It’s okay to be different,” Casper said. “That brings a lot of positives. People look at things differently and think about things differently. It’s just a matter of trying to hone those in and making sure everyone’s different energies are focused in the right direction.”
COACHING ON COMMUNICATION
Honing in on those different energies can be difficult to corral, but all members of Team Casper repeatedly cited the impact of Moulton, the only woman coaching a men’s curling team in the Winter Olympics, on their team dynamics.
The skip called out his coach’s understanding of who everybody is and what element of each person, especially those differences, can benefit another individual on the team.
“She really has a good grasp of who you are, when you can bring those strengths, and when you need to be held back," Casper said.
Both Oldenburg and Richardson noted their coach’s acute awareness of each team member’s stress tendencies. Moulton’s ability to pick up on these cues has ensured each team member knows not only what needs to be said, but also how to say it to be heard.
“She’s very attentive,” Violette noted. “There’s so much you can observe during a game, and she’s just great at reading your body language.”
Through their efforts to improve communication and getting to know each other’s tendencies and personalities, the team has managed to hardly skip a beat, even if things may seem like they’re going sideways.
Down early against China in the Olympic qualifier, Casper told Ruohonen, “We’ve got this,” ahead of three straight steals.
When World Curling banned the slow-carve sweeping technique Team Casper had used to great effect, the team said they weren’t worried about it.
If Casper ever sits out of a game, Ruohonen steps in to call the game from the lead position, and every player moves up a spot in the lineup. Aided in large part by Moulton’s contributions to team chemistry, everyone knows their role and steps in exactly where they’re needed.
The hard work they’ve put into communication and body language from Team Casper has paid off in spades, and their team dynamics will be a drawing point for the new viewers every Winter Olympics brings to curling.
The team’s charisma has been a propellant for their popularity in the curling world and figures to boost their status in mainstream America. Their first run at an Olympic Winter Games will be full of difficult games against the world’s best, but it’s unlikely to impact the entertainment value that has set this team apart over the past year.
Team Casper’s lighthearted demeanour has helped the team stay loose from their Tier 2 Slam victory in December through their win at the Olympic Qualification Event. Whether that is Casper talking with the crowd after a shot, exchanging good-natured jabs with the opposing skip, or confirming with his teammates that he shouldn’t have a hog-line violation on the hammer just before sliding out of the house, they’ll lean on the formula for success that has worked well for them all year.
The Winter Olympics will be their toughest task yet, and Team Casper knows it won’t be easy. No part of their journey to this point has been.
Just like every challenge they’ve faced thus far, they’ll meet it head-on.
