Russ Howard

Early Career

Russ Howard started curling in his hometown of Midland, Ontario, at the age of 10. His parents, Bill and Barbara, loved all sports. In the 1940s, they started curling and passed their enthusiasm for the game to their sons, Russell and Glenn.

Bill became the manager and icemaker at the Midland Curling Club, which afforded the boys lots of extra practice time. The story goes that a young Russell, after watching his parents throw rocks at the club, mimicked them by sliding salmon cans across the kitchen floor. “My mom had the linoleum squares, brown and green, and throwing the cans to the brown ones, that was the button,” Howard said in a 2011 interview.

The Brier

Howard skipped Ontario teams to eight provincial titles and added six more (1999, 2000, 2002–04 and 2009) for New Brunswick after his family moved to Moncton in 2000. Howard had appeared in more Briers (the Canadian men’s curling championship) than any other player (14) and played more games at the Brier (174) than any other curler until his younger brother Glenn tied this record in 2012. Glenn eventually surpassed his sibling for most games played at the tournament.

Russ Howard won the Brier twice, in 1987 and 1993. He also won four silver medals (with Team Ontario in 1986, 1992 and 1994 and with Team New Brunswick in 2000) and two bronze medals (with Team Ontario in 1989 and Team New Brunswick in 2002).

World Championships

After winning the Brier, Russ skipped Team Canada at the World Championships twice, winning gold in 1987 and 1993. The 1987 team (inducted into the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame four years later) featured brother Glenn at vice, second Tim Belcourt and lead Kent Carstairs. The team defeated West Germany 9–5 in the final held at Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium.

In 1993, in Geneva, Switzerland, Russ skipped the team of Wayne Middaugh (second), Glenn Howard (third) and Peter Corner (lead) to Canada’s 21st title — and his second world championship — defeating Scotland 8–4 in the final.

The “Moncton Rule”

Off the ice, Russ Howard is also a trailblazer. In the 1980s, he developed a new curling innovation that revolutionized the sport. The seeds for this rule started simply as a practice drill with his younger brother Glenn. They would make the first four rocks of an end “untouchable,” meaning they could not be removed from play; they could be knocked outside or inside the rings, but not out of play. If they were, they would be put back into play where they laid, and the opponent’s rock that hit it would be removed. This made it harder to hit rocks out, keeping more rocks in play and thus increasing the offence.

The “Moncton Rule” is so named because it was first introduced in competition at the 1989 men’s bonspiel in Moncton, New Brunswick. It ended up adding more excitement for spectators and new layers of strategy for players. Beginning in the 1993–94 season, the World Curling Federation adopted the four-rock rule — now known as the Free Guard Zone rule — as an official international and Olympic rule.

In a Grand Slam of Curling article, Glenn Howard explained the lasting impact of this change: “Of all the rule changes and all the things that have happened in curling, I think it’s the best move that we’ve ever made in the history of curling. It revolutionized our sport… If we didn’t change that rule back then, I don’t know where our sport would be today.”

Olympic Gold

At the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, Russ Howard played second on Team Gushue (led by skip Brad Gushue), which also included lead Jamie Korab and third Mark Nichols. Originally, Howard joined the team as an alternate to help coach the young players. Then, shortly before the Olympic trials began, Gushue asked him to skip the team, and Mike Adam volunteered his spot.

Underdogs heading into the trials and taking the final entry, this Cinderella team surprised everyone by earning a trip to Turin. In Italy, the foursome defeated Finland 10–4, becoming the first Canadian team to win a gold medal in men’s curling. The excitement surrounding the team led to more CBC viewers watching Olympic curling than ice hockey or figure skating.

Howard also became the oldest Canadian to win Olympic gold. “It was insane because I had skipped my entire life,” Howard recalled in a TSN interview on the tenth anniversary of this milestone. “I’d skipped since Grade 10 and here I am, 49 years old [the gold-medal game was five days after his 50th birthday], and I wasn’t used to a 25-year-old saying, ‘Well no, I think I’d rather do that.’” Two thousand fans greeted the team at St. John’s International Airport when they arrived home at 1:30 a.m.

Broadcast Analyst

In 2001, Howard joined the TSN broadcast crew to call the shots and add expert analysis for the Tim Hortons Brier. Since then, he has been a regular on TSN’s curling coverage. During the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, he worked as a colour commentator for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.

Coach and Author

For several years, Howard worked as a golf professional at the Brooklea Golf & Country Club in Midland. A certified Level 3 curling coach, he has also frequently conducted curling camps and promotional clinics. During the 2008–09 season, he served as the National Men’s Coach for Switzerland. He has also published a pair of books: Hurry Hard: The Russ Howard Story (2007), co-authored with journalist Bob Weeks, and Curl to Win: Expert Advice to Improve Your Game (2014).

Personal Life and Family

Russ Howard comes from an athletic family. His great-aunt, Jean Thompson, competed for Canada in the women’s 800 m at the 1928 Olympic Summer Games. His younger brother Glenn is also an accomplished curler.

Russ and his wife, Wendy, have two children: a daughter, Ashley, and a son, Steve. They both curl competitively. Ashley Howard is the executive director of CurlSask.

Russ Howard still curls competitively but spends most of his time as a broadcaster and coach. He and his wife have lived in Regina, Saskatchewan, since 2019.

See also Canada National Curling Champions Men (Brier); Canadian World Curling Champions Men.

Honours

• Inductee (Team Canada 1987), Canadian Curling Hall of Fame (1991)
• Member, Order of Newfoundland and Labrador (2006)
• Inductee, Midland Sports Hall of Fame (2006)
• Inductee, New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame (2006)
• Inductee, Ontario Sports Hall of Fame (2011)
• Inductee, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (2013)
• Inductee, World Curling Federation Hall of Fame (2015)
• Member, Order of Canada (2015)