By Adam Laskaris
Prior to the most recent Winter Olympics, Tyler Tardi was dubbed “the future of curling in Canada” by Marc Kennedy.
It’s a lofty praise from the now two-time Olympic gold medallist, who enters next season as one of the most experienced players on tour.
So when Tardi was looking at his options for the next quadrennial, the 27-year-old B.C. native chose to skip a team out of Saskatchewan, teaming up with Dan and Kevin Marsh as well as Colton Flasch.
“I had a couple of conversations with some other teams, but at the end of the day, I've missed skipping,” Tardi said in an interview with GSOC.
It’s not hard to piece together a few of the vacancies that opened up in the Canadian curling scene. New teams are being skipped by Brendan Bottcher, John Epping, and Mike McEwen, while the retirement of E.J. Harnden opened up a spot on the reigning Canadian champion Matt Dunstone's team.
But it was Tardi who took on a new role with three of McEwen’s former teammates, opting to return to skipping full-time for the first time in four years.
“I’m very excited, and very, very keen to work with these guys who are very clearly very open to a lot of the things that I've learned in the last little while. They have some of the best work ethic I've ever seen. So, I'm very excited for that,” Tardi said.
Chess on ice
If you know anything about him, it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Tardi grew up as a big chess and board games fan.
One peek at his social media — just a hair shy of 80K followers on Instagram and 10K on TikTok — shows a look at Tardi’s love for the finer side of curling, rules, planning, or, as he often calls it, “How to Win at Curling.”
A 2018 and 2019 world junior champion as skip, Tardi is looking forward to the challenge of trying to be among the game’s best on the world stage.
“That's kind of been my main drive [to become a skip again], is my passion for strategy and leadership. That was a huge part of my enjoyment [of the sport] growing up,” Tardi said. “I very much missed that side of curling.”
While the majority of their practice time will come together this fall, Tardi’s rink completed an early April training camp in Saskatchewan to get their ducks in a row for the new season.
“As soon as our team formed, there's nothing I wanted to do more than get back into curling. So I'm in a weird spot right now of being extremely excited to get back to curling, but at the same time being very thrilled with having some time away,” Tardi said.
Turning back the clock
Tardi, who lives in Calgary, spent the last four years as the third for Kevin Koe’s rink. The group won the 2023 Players’ Championship, but ultimately spent much of their time together just a step below the world’s elite teams, while cycling through three different player changes over the course of Tardi’s four years on the team.
This past year, however, they found themselves suddenly hitting a heater — a 15-game winning streak — stretching from the start of the Alberta provincials through their first 10 games at the Brier in St. John’s, N.L.
“We saw a side of [Koe] that we haven't seen in a long time, and it was really cool that a legend like himself can still compete with the best of the best,” Tardi said.
Tardi’s focus in the latter part of the season was twofold, having served as the alternate for Team Canada, skipped by Brad Jacobs, at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
With the Brier starting just six days after the gold medal game, Tardi wasn’t exactly able to ramp up for a big event like he usually would.
Focused more on scouting reports for Canada’s opponents than curling himself, Tardi said that while “sitting on my ass for two weeks” on the coach’s bench was an unforgettable experience, it took a bit extra to get through each game once he was back competing himself again.
“The physical side in preparation for the Brier was at an all-time low, and then sure enough, it was one of the better showings we've had in the last quadrennial together,” Tardi said.
Against Canada’s top two teams skipped by Jacobs and Dunstone, Koe’s rink was 6-1 this past season, with the only loss coming in the Brier final to Dunstone.
“I wish I had some more energy to enjoy that week,” Tardi admitted. “But it was a thrill, and an awesome end to the year.”
Having spent time with Koe, Jacobs, and their respective teammates, Tardi is looking to emulate the qualities that have made those players successful.
“The people that I've gotten to learn from is just as valuable as going to the events and going deep themselves. I learned a lot from the Olympics in terms of what's necessary to perform at a high level,” he said.
In particular, Tardi’s hoping the wisdom that he picked up from Jacobs can help translate to his new squad.
“Everyone talks about his leadership … he genuinely gets a good five per cent extra out of all his players. I truly believe that. So, I think there's some learning opportunities for myself to copy him and get the best out of my teammates coming up the next little bit,” Tardi said.
Early Expectations
Tardi’s trying out a new name with his rink, opting to go by "Green Machines" rather than "Team Tardi."
“We're going to try to be something a little bit more Saskatchewan-based, so we're excited for that,” he said.
But while the new name suggests a swagger and confidence, Tardi knows that it might take some time for his new squad to mesh. With about a six-hour drive each way to practice with his teammates, Tardi is hoping the hybrid ability to practice both together and apart is something he can pick up from his time alongside Team Jacobs.
“We're not going to be the most successful team in the world, right out of the gate, I think that's an unrealistic expectation to put on ourselves,” he said. “But they're gonna work their asses off, I'm gonna work my ass off, and we're going to do everything we can to put together some systems in place, and hopefully get it all in order as soon as possible.”
With the Brier returning to Saskatoon next March for the 100th edition of the event, the imported Tardi is hoping to have the chance to feed off the hometown crowd.
“I genuinely feel like a very large portion of a team success comes from the support of their fan base, and the people that drive them to want to do something bigger than themselves. I think if you can get a group like Saskatchewan behind you, that is just going to completely propel the team forward, especially in home events,” he said. “If we can do whatever we can to get the crowd behind us, then I think we can hopefully do some damage at the Brier and get the tankard back home in Saskatchewan.”
