Horgan Setting Focus on Brier Goals

Tanner Horgan says "spirits are high" for his team as it eases into the curling season with a focus on peaking at the Northern Ontario championship in a few months time. Horgan is playing at the Stu Sells Tankard over the Thanksgiving weekend at the Barrie Curling Club. "We're getting into the swing of things," Horgan said. "We're not playing a huge schedule. We're easing into the season and focusing on playdowns and whatnot. We've all finally got some practice ice in our respective hometowns. Horgan split four games at last month's Stu Sells Oakville Tankard. He also missed the playoffs after going 1-4 at the Shorty Jenkins Classic. However, the Sudbury, Ont.-based team split their opening two games at the Barrie event with a 7-2 win over Brantford's Carter Bryant. then dropping a 7-1 decision to South Korea's Jongduk Park on Friday evening. Horgan returns to the ice Saturday afternoon with a match-uo against Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter, a game that can be seen on CurlingZone's Youtube channel. Horgan's brother, Jacob, is throwing third this season after Darren Moulding retired earlier this year. Lead Colin Hodgson also stepped away from the four-player game. The brothers threw third and fourth stones for many years together at the junior level. "It took virtually no time to get back in the swing of things," Horgan said. "It feels very comfortable out there." Moulding and Hodgson - two Brier veterans - helped the Horgan brothers reach the national men's championship last season. With coach Mike Harris on the bench, the Northern Ontario side reached the playoffs before falling to Brendan Bottcher in a crossover elimination game. Horgan said it was a great learning experience even though they didn't make the final weekend. "It was about setting high expectations, (having) a winner's attitude and doing all the right things," he said. Working as a back-end duo with Moulding helped Horgan improve his hammer efficiency. "You have a philosophy of playing ends with the hammer very patiently and not trying to set up your deuce too early in the end, then waiting for a miss or manufacturing something late in the end," Horgan said. "Then all it would take is one miss from the skip to get a deuce or something like that. "So we've been doing that really well so far. We've been scoring a lot with the hammer." Moulding's knowledge of the ice was also helpful. "He's a very good icemaker and ice reader," Horgan said. "It kind of goes hand in hand. There were a lot of things he would look for before the game and during the game that we would pick up on." The team's new front end includes Ian McMillan and Scott Chadwick. "We've got a lot of talent on the team," Horgan said. "Through the first couple of events, you can tell that everybody throws the rock really well. Everybody has got experience and confidence and stuff. It's just about putting everything together as a unit." The Stu Sells Tankard - a triple-knockout competition - continues through Monday. Glenn Howard, John Epping and John Shuster are some of the other big names in the 24-team men's field. The 24-team women's field includes teams skipped by Krista McCarville, Hollie Duncan and Lauren Mann. The Stu Sells Junior Tankard is also on the schedule this weekend.