'Hard to beat': Mixed Curling Super Series makes its way to Moose Jaw

The Mixed Doubles Super Series will take to the ice at the Moose Jaw Curling Club from October 26-29 as part of its cross-country event.

Moose Jaw marks the third and only Saskatchewan stop of seven across Canada for the event that features elite mixed doubles curlers from around the world.

That includes Saskatchewan’s own Kirk Muyres, who is alongside Laura Walker, his partner since 2018.

“I’ll say it until the day I die, there’s nothing better than playing curling in your home province. Saskatchewan’s fans are the best so it’s cool to come back and see some of the clubs we grew up playing in,” Muyres said.

“I love playing in Saskatchewan. The people here are so knowledgeable, the curling fans know what’s going on and they love curling here. I feel like since playing with Kirk I’ve become an honourary member of Team Saskatchewan,” joked Walker, who grew up in Toronto but has lived in Edmonton for the last ten years.

The duo now trains mainly out of Edmonton where Walker currently lives.

Muyres travels back and forth from Humboldt when they are not on the road competing.

In their first two Super Series events they lost in the final and then the semi-final.

The two continue to try and build off their success of the 2018 Canadian Championships where they took home gold and a World Bronze medal.

They have also captured the 2019 World Cup gold and silver medals for Canada.

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Their team is one of 18 competing this weekend where they will be alongside Olympian and World Champion curlers.

These include teams from across the globe from places like Estonia, Switzerland and Japan. And that’s not all according to Muyres.

“Jennifer Jones and her husband Brent Laing [are here]. I mean Jennifer Jones is the best curler ever, arguable, and she’s going to be in Moose Jaw this weekend, an Olympic Gold medalist,” he exclaimed.

“Also Lisa Weagle, two-time Olympian, she’s going to be here this weekend.”

Jones herself said she’s impressed by the event.

“It’s so amazing that they put the time and effort into growing the Mixed Doubles game,” she said. “It’s such a great game. I think it’s going to help curling clubs because you just need to find that one friend instead of three to come out and play.”

“This series is going to do for Mixed Doubles what the Grand Slams did for men’s and women’s curling around the world,” Laing added.

Muyres and Walker were also adamant this style of the sport is a must-watch.

“A man and a woman playing together on the same ice surface is super exciting. The quickness of it, it’s an hour-hour and half game. You don’t have to be out there for four hours and it’s always action,” Muyres said. “There’s always rocks in play, there’s always big scoring and the two players on the ice are always involved in the play.”

Walker agreed with that the play is speedy and exciting.

“The speed of the game is something that’s hard to beat,” she said. “I think it’s really fun when we come off the ice and a fan will ask us ‘What were you doing here?’ Or ‘What does this mean?’ And you’re not going to see blank ends, you’ll see lots of big shots, lots of rocks in play. It’s a ton of fun to watch.”

This is only the second year of the Super Series event. However, both Muyres and Walker hope their performance gets them closer to their goal of representing Canada at the Winter Olympics in 2026.

“We need to continue to elevate but at the end of the day it is going to take a little bit of luck too. You know there’s probably 50 other teams in the country that could represent Canada at the Olympic Games, we’ve positioned ourselves as well as we could to be one of those teams,” Muyres said.

The Super Series final is to take place at 3:00 p.m. Sunday.