By Mario Annicchiarico
The much anticipated victory finally arrived for Team BC on Tuesday at the , but the baby watch is still on for two members of Sean Geall鈥檚 琉璃神社 Curling Club team.
Lead Dave Harper returned to Regina late Monday night, missing out on the evening game at the Brandt Centre, but he was back in position for a 12-6 win over Newfoundland/Labrador鈥檚 Greg Smith in the afternoon on Tuesday.
Harper ventured back to B.C. on Saturday as his wife, Jessica, was experiencing labour pains. Baby No. 2 decided it wasn鈥檛 quite ready to enter the world and Harper was encouraged to head back to the Canadian men鈥檚 curling championship.
鈥淛ust not quite there yet, everything seems to be good. My wife said, 鈥楪o, you need to go back and play a game and live out your dream,鈥� 鈥� Harper said after the team鈥檚 first win. 鈥淗onestly I thought I was heading home, but the curling gods were with me and I got to came out to live my dream here.鈥�
His flight back was re-routed to Saskatoon on Monday due to brutal snow conditions Regina is experiencing.
Harper 鈥� who left after four ends on Saturday 鈥� re-joined skip Geall, third Jeff Richard and second Andrew Nerpin, replacing fifth man Brad Wood, who has filled in throughout the competition.
Richard鈥檚 wife, Brooklyn Leitch, was also due this past Sunday, but their first child has held off for dad, who is back to his first Brier since 2010.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got such good family support at home that once we get on the ice, we鈥檙e able to focus well. We know our wives are in good hands. My mom and Brooklyn鈥檚 mom, and Dave鈥檚 mom and his wife鈥檚 mom are all there. They鈥檝e had more babies than we have,鈥� Richard said with a chuckle. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a really good support group.鈥�
So Richard was glad to have Harper back in the fold as the team improved to 1-4 to remain in contention, with a slim hope to carry on to the championships round. They needed wins over the Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia on Wednesday to stay alive.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a vital part of the team. It鈥檚 amazing what one player brings to the team,鈥� Richard said of Harper. 鈥淗e鈥檚 our motivator and our rah-rah guy. He probably has one of the most positive attitudes in a curler that I鈥檝e ever played with, so it鈥檚 nice to have him back.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to get the monkey off the back and hopefully we can get a couple more,鈥� Richard said of the win. 鈥淚f we can win our last two we鈥檙e in some sort of a tiebreaker.鈥�
B.C. took the first step to a playoff spot Wednesday morning defeating the Northwest Territories 7-3. The Geall rink will take on Nova Scotia (3-3) for the Wednesday night for the final berth in pool B.
鈥淧laying in the Brier is something you dream of,鈥� Richard said of just having the chance to play at nationals. 鈥淭o be able to come back and play it again is absolutely awesome.
鈥淲e just have to have a good day (Wednesday) and we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.
<>
newstips@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .
