Jeff Stoughton is used to wearing the black hat and playing the bad guy.

But this time around, the difference is that the Winnipeg skip’s been thrust into the role of the villain, instead of authoring himself the part as he normally does with his brutally honest talk.

With Ryan Fry’s sudden announcement yesterday that he’s defecting as third for Stoughton to curl next season with 2006 Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue of Newfoundland, Stoughton must now take on the role of home-wrecker if he’s going to salvage something of next season for his own team.

Full story – Winnipeg Free Press

Brad Gushue and Mark Nichols will have a new front end next year and sources tell Transcontinental Media one of those curlers will be a familiar face.

Dave Noftall and Chris Schille, who threw lead and second stones for the Olympic gold medallists this season, won’t be returning next year and will be replaced by Jamie Korab, who was a member of that 2006 Torino team, and Ryan Fry, who curled third for Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton this year.

Full story – The Western Star

A two-time Brier champ is reeling, while Alberta has a new team to watch next season — all the result of Sunday’s news that Chris Schille is returning home to Red Deer.

Schille, who announced Sunday that he was leaving Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland team because of revised residency restrictions in that province, will play next season on a potential powerhouse team featuring two-time world junior champ Charley Thomas of Airdrie, Adam Enright of Edmonton and D.J. Kidby, another former world junior champ out of Saskatchewan, who’s moving to Alberta later this year.

Full story – Calgary Herald

It’s been quite the compelling year for Canadian curling this season. Edmonton’s Kevin Martin dominated this year as the Men’s World Champion. Martin also picked up the top spots at the Casino Rama Curling Skins Game, Flint Energy Curling Classic, Cactus Pheasant Classic, The Grand Slam of Curling: BDO Canadian Open, The Grand Slam of Curling: The National, and went 13-0 at the Tim Hortons Brier. Martin’s team also holds the number one spot on the WCT’s money list with $127,000.

Full story – CurlTV

Winnipeg curler Kerry Burtnyk revealed the worst kept secret in town at a news conference this afternoon — that he has recruited Edmonton’s Don Walchuk to curl with him next season.

“For us to have the opportunity to get him is a real coup for us,” Burtnyk told reporters.

Walchuk returned the compliment via a conference call. “I’ve known Kerry for a long time, I’ve played with Kerry before and I like Kerry,” said Walchuk.

“I think he’s one of the best players who ever played.”

Full story – Winnipeg Free Press