Scott Pfeifer is reliving the dream as a competitive curler.
The five-time Alberta champion, four-time Brier winner and three-time world gold medallist with the Ferbey Four, the Alberta Curling Federation’s Team of the Century, and St. Albert Curling Club wall of fame inductee will serve as the alternate for the Kevin Koe rink for the second year in a row.
“I’m super happy that I’m continuing to be involved with these guys,” Pfeifer said of returning to the defending Brier and world champions. “When you step away from the game you don’t miss all the travel and time away from family but you do miss the socializing and being part of a competitive team. Having those competitive juices flowing when you’re on the ice is something that never gets old for sure.”
Pfeifer, 40, will join Koe, third Marc Kennedy of St. Albert, second Brent Laing, lead Ben Hebert and coach John Dunn as the Team Canada entry at the March 4 to 12 Brier at St. John’s, Nfld., plus the Roar of the Rings Olympic Trials, Dec. 2 to 10 in Ottawa.
A Brier repeat by Koe would also punch Pfeifer’s ticket to worlds, April 1 to 9 at Northlands Coliseum.
Last year the Koe foursome recruited Pfeifer for Brier duties in Ottawa and he remained on board for worlds in Basel, Switzerland.
“I guess they wanted someone who would fit in with their dynamics and be able to give them a little experience and a push when they needed it,” Pfeifer said. “It was a shock actually. I wasn’t expecting it. Up to that point I had played a grand total of two games throughout the entire year.”
The last Brier and worlds for Pfeifer was 2005 with the championship-winning Ferbey Four and his last appearance at provincials was 2013 with the Jamie King rink.
Last year’s Brier was Pfeifer’s sixth and the trip to worlds was the fourth for the Bellerose Composite High School alumnus. He watched the Brier from the coach's box and at worlds graced the ice in three games.
“In two of them I kind of came in late in the game after the boys were up and then I played the final round robin game against Switzerland,” said Pfeifer, who filled in for Hebert at lead against the Swiss and registered an impressive 93 per cent shoot mark. “It was lots of fun.”
As a southpaw second, Pfeifer was the first curler to earn all-star selections at five Briers, starting with a second-team berth in 2001 before winning four-straight first-team honours.
Pfeifer has since embraced the fifth-man position the same way Dan Holowaychuk did with the Ferbey Four.
“We had such a great fifth man on our team and he helped us out immensely so I kind of knew the role that I needed to play on the team to try and get the best out of them when they’re on the ice,” said Pfeifer of Holowaychuk, who is also on the St. Albert Curling Club’s wall of fame with his former Ferbey Four teammate and Kennedy.
So, what does a fifth man actually do?
“Basically a fifth man tries to eliminate all the distractions off the ice for the guys and lets them focus on what they need to do on the ice, whether it’s tracking rocks on other sheets, making sure that all the brooms are ready to go, making sure they’re energized and they’ve got all the food they need and be a sounding board as well. Sometimes certain people have to vent after a game and you just want to be there to let them do that and get them focused on what they need to do to bounce back when they have a difficult loss,” Pfeifer said.
With the Brier fast approaching, Pfeifer was in Calgary this week for practice sessions with the Glencoe club-based rink.
“I've thrown way more rocks this year than I have in the past because you never want to be unprepared. You never know when an injury or sickness might happen so you want to make sure that you’re prepared to go in there and not let the guys down if they need a helping hand.”
Pfeifer has been polishing up his game as a valuable spare for the prolific Hootie and the Old Fish – the most dominating St. Albert men's rink in the club’s modern era as 11-time President's Cup playoff champions in 24 years.
“I still play with Hootie and the Old Fish whenever they ask me. I think we have a 12-man team so we can usually get four of those guys out. It’s always fun curling them,” said Pfeifer of the veteran-laden lineup that includes his sharp-shooting dad, Brian. “I also play Friday night mixed with Randy (Ferbey) and a couple of other friends in Sherwood Park and it’s fun too.”
When asked about the similarities and differences between the Ferbey Four and Team Koe and the level of competition for both rinks, Pfeifer replied: “We all have fun off the ice and lots of laughs,” said the U20 world champion in 1994 and bronze medallist in 1997.
“On the ice the teams always took it seriously but everyone now is doing absolutely everything they can to try and get that Olympic spot. There is not as much I guess off-ice socializing as there used to be between a lot of the teams.
“There is also more parity now. There is probably six or eight teams that can beat anyone at a given time whereas back then you would have your three or four elite teams and then a whole bunch of people that have a shot to beat you but not as many as there are now, that’s for sure.”
