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DICK ELLIS TROPHY
for Outstanding Male Team
Greg McAulay Team
Nominated by the Canadian Curling Association
When 2000 Canadian and world curling champion Greg McAulay dropped in on his hometown of Selkirk, Man., last summer, 10,000 people lined the streets to cheer him. He is the first world champion the town has ever produced, and his presence was a highlight of its annual summer festival.
Curling champions rarely come from rural areas. Selkirk, which is 40 minutes north of Winnipeg, has only one curling club--with 40 clubs, the Manitoba capital has produced more than its share of winners--and has difficulty providing the competition to develop a champion. A move to the west coast 11 years ago exposed McAulay to the competitive cashpiel circuit and before long, he was beginning to beat the big names. His first trip to the Labatt Brier, in 1998, ended with a loss in the tiebreaker for the fourth playoff position. Two years later, playing with lead Jody Sveustrup, third Brent Pierce, and second Bryan Miki, a more seasoned McAulay faced two-time Canadian and world champion Russ Howard in the final and surprised everyone with a 9-5 upset, a feat the normally unflappable skip called "awesome."
After the emotional roller coaster of the Brier, the world championship was somewhat anticlimactic. Curling brilliantly and outscoring the collective competition 96-43, McAulay's New Westminster foursome encountered few obstacles and lost only once enroute to the final where they defeated world champion Peter Lindholm of Sweden 9-4 to capture Canada's 26th world title.
With Kelley Law's victory in women's play, Canada remains the only country to sweep both crowns in the same year, and it has accomplished the feat nine times.
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