Brent Laing

Brent Laing
Curler
Laing (left) and Ben Hebert at the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship
Born (1978-12-10) December 10, 1978 (age 45)
Meaford, Ontario, Canada
Team
Curling clubRoyals,[1]
Toronto, ON
Barrie CC[2]
Barrie, ON
Mixed doubles
partner		Jennifer Jones
Curling career
Member Association Ontario (1997–2014; 2018–present)
 Alberta (2014–2018)
Brier appearances15 (2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2023)
World Championship
appearances		3 (2007, 2012, 2016)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances		1 (2023)
Olympic
appearances		1 (2018)
Top CTRS ranking1st (2008–09, 2015–16)
Grand Slam victories16: World Cup/Masters (Dec 2006, Jan 2008, Nov 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2018); Players (2008, 2013, 2018); Canadian Open (2009, 2012); The National (Dec. 2007, 2012, 2014); Tour Challenge (2015)
Medal record
World Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 2007 Edmonton
Gold medal – first place 2012 Basel
Gold medal – first place 2016 Basel
Canadian Olympic Curling Trials
Gold medal – first place 2017 Ottawa
Silver medal – second place 2009 Edmonton
Tim Hortons Brier
Gold medal – first place 2007 Hamilton
Gold medal – first place 2012 Saskatoon
Gold medal – first place 2016 Ottawa
Silver medal – second place 2002 Calgary
Silver medal – second place 2006 Regina
Silver medal – second place 2008 Winnipeg
Silver medal – second place 2010 Halifax
Silver medal – second place 2011 London
Silver medal – second place 2017 St. John's
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Calgary
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Edmonton
Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship
Gold medal – first place 2023 Sudbury
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Saskatoon
World Junior Curling Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Thunder Bay
Gold medal – first place 1999 Östersund

Brent George Laing[3] (born December 10, 1978) is a Canadian curler from Barrie, Ontario.[4] He grew up in Meaford, Ontario.[5]

Career

Curling out of the Ottawa Curling Club (in Ottawa) and later the Stayner Curling Club (in Stayner, Ontario), Laing played lead for John Morris until Morris left for Alberta in 2003. With Morris, Laing won the 1998 and 1999 Canadian Junior Curling Championships as well as the 1998 and 1999 World Junior Curling Championships. The team played in the 2001 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but missed the playoffs after finishing with a 5-4 record. In 2002, they made it all the way to the Brier final, losing to Alberta's Randy Ferbey.

In 2004, Laing joined the Glenn Howard rink, playing second for the team. The team played in the 2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but missed the playoffs, finishing with a 5-4 record. Later that season, they lost in the final of the 2006 Tim Hortons Brier to Jean-Michel Ménard from Quebec. The following year, they won the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier (defeating Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue rink in the final) and then the 2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, where they defeated Germany's Andy Kapp rink in the final. The team lost in the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier final to Kevin Martin of Alberta, and at the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier, they lost in the semifinal Jeff Stoughton's Manitoba rink. The next season, the team would make it all the way to the finals of the 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, where they lost to Kevin Martin. At the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier, the team lost in the final once again, this time to Kevin Koe of Alberta. The team lost their second straight Brier final in 2011, losing to Stoughton again. The team won the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, defeating Koe in the final. The team won the 2012 World Men's Curling Championship as Team Canada, claiming the gold medal, after defeating Scotland's Tom Brewster in the final. The team won the bronze medal at the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier, defeating Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador in the bronze medal game. The team played in the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but missed the playoffs, finishing with a 2-5 record. The team did not make it to the 2014 Brier, losing in the Ontario final to Greg Balsdon. At the end of the season, Laing left the rink to join Koe's Alberta team as his second.

The new Koe team represented Alberta at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier, but missed the playoffs, going 6-5 in the round robin. The team had more success at the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, which they won, by defeating Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue) in the final. The team represented Canada at the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship, where they won the gold medal, defeating Denmark's Rasmus Stjerne in the final. The team represented Team Canada at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier, but lost to Gushue in the final in a re-match of the previous Brier. The following season, the team won the 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, and represented Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but fell short of the podium after losing in the bronze medal game to Switzerland's Peter de Cruz rink. Later that season, it was announced that Laing would return to playing out of his home province of Ontario, and would join the John Epping rink as his second.[6] In his first season as a member of the Epping rink, the team lost in the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier Wild Card game.

Ryan Fry joined the Epping team at third for the 2019–20 season, with Camm and Laing moving to second and lead and Savill leaving the team. They had a strong start to the year, winning both the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and the 2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic.[7] They had a semifinal finish at the Masters, the first Grand Slam of the season. They missed the playoffs at the next two slams, the Tour Challenge and the National after going 1–3 at both. Team Epping posted a 6–2 record en route to winning the 2019 Canada Cup in Leduc, Alberta.[8] This win qualified them to represent Team Canada along with five other Canadian teams at the 2020 Continental Cup where they lost 22.5–37.5 to the Europeans.[9] They had a strong showing at the Canadian Open where they made it all the way to the final where they lost to the Brad Jacobs rink.[10] At the 2020 Ontario Tankard, they completed their undefeated run throughout the week with an 8–3 win over Glenn Howard.[11] Representing Ontario at the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier, they finished the championship pool with a 7–4 record and in a four way tie for fourth place.[12] They defeated Team Wild Card (Mike McEwen) in the first tiebreaker before losing to Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs) in the second and being eliminated from contention.[13] It would be the team's last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]

Team Epping began the 2020–21 season with a win at the 2020 Stu Sells Toronto Tankard.[15] The 2021 Ontario provincial playdowns were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario. As the 2020 provincial champions, Team Epping was chosen to represent Ontario at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary.[16] At the Brier, they finished with a 7–5 record.[17]

The following season, Team Epping played in the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, where they missed the playoffs with a 3–5 record. The team re-bounded a month later by winning the ATB Banff Classic. The team played in the 2022 Ontario Tankard, but lost in the final to Team Howard, skipped by Scott Howard. Following the season, the Epping rink broke up[18] with Laing and Fry joining a new team led by Mike McEwen.[19]

Laing played one season with the McEwen rink. The team managed to win the 2023 Ontario Tankard, and represented Ontario at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier, where they lost in the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game.[20] The team would only play one season together, with McEwen forming a new team out of Saskatchewan.[21] In mixed doubles curling, Laing and wife Jennifer Jones won the 2023 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. The pair went on to represent Canada at the 2023 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, where they placed fourth, after losing the bronze medal game to Norway.[22]

On the World Curling Tour, Laing has won a career 16 Grand Slams, 13 with the Howard rink. He won the 2015 GSOC Tour Challenge and the 2018 Players' Championship with Koe, and the 2018 Masters with Epping.

Personal life

Laing is married to another champion curler, Jennifer Jones from Manitoba.[23] They have two children together, Isabella and Skyla. Laing also has a child from a previous relationship.[24][25] Laing currently works as an entrepreneur. He currently coaches the Mike McEwen rink.[26]

Teams

Season Skip Third Second Lead Events
1996–97[27] Andy Ormsby Brent Laing Wade Walsh Jeff Gorda
1997–98 John Morris Craig Savill Andy Ormsby Brent Laing 1998 CJC, WJC
1998–99 John Morris Craig Savill Jason Young Brent Laing 1999 CJC, WJC
1999–00 John Morris Craig Savill Andy Ormsby Brent Laing
2000–01 John Morris Joe Frans Craig Savill Brent Laing 2001 Ont.
2001–02 John Morris Joe Frans Craig Savill Brent Laing 2001 COCT, 2002 Ont., Brier
2002–03 John Morris Joe Frans Craig Savill Brent Laing 2003 Ont., CC
2003–04 Heath McCormick Brent Laing Jason Young Shaun Harris
2004–05 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2005 Ont.
2005–06 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2005 COCT, 2006 CC, Ont., Brier
2006–07 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2007 Ont., Brier, WCC
2007–08 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2008 Ont., CC, Brier
2008–09 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2009 Ont., Brier
2009–10 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2009 COCT, 2010 Ont., Brier
2010–11 Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill 2010 CC, 2011 2011, Brier
2011–12 Glenn Howard Wayne Middaugh Brent Laing Craig Savill 2011 CC, 2012 Ont., Brier, WCC
2012–13 Glenn Howard Wayne Middaugh Brent Laing Craig Savill 2012 CC, 2013 Ont., Brier
2013–14 Glenn Howard Wayne Middaugh Brent Laing Craig Savill 2013 COCT, 2014 Ont.
2014–15 Kevin Koe Marc Kennedy Brent Laing Ben Hebert 2014 CC, 2015 Alta., Brier
2015–16 Kevin Koe Marc Kennedy Brent Laing Ben Hebert 2015 CC, 2016 Alta., Brier, WCC
2016–17 Kevin Koe Marc Kennedy Brent Laing Ben Hebert 2016 CC, 2017 Brier
2017–18 Kevin Koe Marc Kennedy Brent Laing Ben Hebert 2017 COCT, 2018 2018 OG
2018–19 John Epping Mat Camm Brent Laing Craig Savill 2018 CC, 2019 Ont., Brier WC
2019–20 John Epping Ryan Fry Mat Camm Brent Laing 2019 CC, 2020 Ont., Brier
2020–21 John Epping Ryan Fry Mat Camm Brent Laing 2021 Brier
2021–22 John Epping Ryan Fry Mat Camm Brent Laing 2021 COCT, 2022 Ont.
2022–23 Mike McEwen Ryan Fry Jonathan Beuk
Joey Hart		 Brent Laing 2022 PBI, 2023 Ont., Brier

References

  1. ^ "Brent Laing".
  2. ^ "2022 Canadian Mixed Doubles Olympic Trials Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
  3. ^ @teamepping (26 August 2019). "🥌PLAYER UPDATE" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "2024 PointsBet Invitational Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  5. ^ "Brent Laing". 11 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Koe loses another teammate as Laing leaves to join Epping - Sportsnet.ca".
  7. ^ Strong, Gregory (September 16, 2019). "New-look Team Epping already finding rhythm on the ice". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Retrieved September 17, 2019.
  8. ^ Terry Jones (December 2, 2019). "JONES: Epic win for John Epping at Home Hardware Canada Cup". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  9. ^ Kyle Brebner (January 13, 2020). "Europe wins the 2020 Continental Cup of Curling". 106.9 The X. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  10. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (January 19, 2020). "Jacobs claims Canadian Open for 3rd consecutive GSOC title". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  11. ^ Richard Mauntah (February 2, 2020). "Toronto's John Epping team wins Ontario men's curling championship". Toronto Sun. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  12. ^ "Is this the year?". Curling Canada. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  13. ^ "One win away!". Curling Canada. March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "Mann upsets Jones in Stu Sells Toronto Tankard final; Epping edges Howard in men's final". TSN. October 12, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  16. ^ Devin Heroux (December 21, 2020). "Ontario, Manitoba cancel playdowns for Scotties, Brier". CBC Sports. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  17. ^ "2021 Tim Hortons Brier: Scores, schedule, standings". Sportsnet. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  18. ^ "Epping to play with Camm, Janssen, Chadwick next season". TSN. 11 July 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  19. ^ "McEwen to play out of Ontario next season with new team". TSN. 5 August 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  20. ^ "McEwen: I'm really proud of how we turned this around". TSN. 11 March 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  21. ^ "McEwen, Flasch team up for new Saskatchewan-based rink". TSN. 30 March 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  22. ^ "Canada's Jones, Laing fall to Norway in bronze-medal game at mixed doubles curling worlds". CBC. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  23. ^ Cameron, Allen (11 July 2012). "Jennifer Jones shifts focus from curling to motherhood". National Post. Postmedia News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  24. ^ "Jul 2012: Curling queen Jones expecting". Winnipeg Free Press. 10 July 2012.
  25. ^ Wiecek, Paul (29 November 2012). "Nov 2012: New girl in the HOUSE". Winnipeg Free Press.
  26. ^ "2024 Montana's Brier Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  27. ^ "Meaford foursome enlisted Howard's aid". Owen Sound Sun-Times. January 13, 1997. p. 12. Retrieved April 29, 2023.