Darren Moulding joins James Grattan's New Brunswick rink following Team Bottcher exit
CBC
Less than three weeks after being cut by Team Bottcher, third Darren Moulding has found a new curling team and is preparing to make a run for the Brier in Lethbridge, Alta., this upcoming March.
CBC Sports has learned Moulding will be teaming up with James Grattan and his veteran rink out of New Brunswick.
Grattan is no stranger to the men's national championship, having curled in the Brier 13 times. In the days following Moulding's abrupt firing from Team Bottcher, Grattan reached out to Moulding and set things in motion.
"A few days after the split with my old team, I got a message from James. He said if I was looking for a way to Lethbridge he might have an idea. The team offered me a position going forward for the year," Moulding told CBC Sports.
"I read the message and thought about it. I took some extra time. We talked a few times and I weighed my options," he said.
WATCH l Bottcher, Moulding open up about latter's departure from team:
Moulding says he had a few things to consider, the most important being his health and the competitiveness of the team he would be joining — most importantly he wants to be on a team that has a shot at making it to the Brier in his home province of Alberta and a city he knows well.
"It's another crazy turn in my curling career. But I'm just grateful for the guys on the team for making a spot for me. It's a really good veteran team. That was really important to me."
Grattan says he heard Moulding was exploring opportunities to join a team and try and make it to the Brier — and that he had to reach out.
"Darren is obviously one of the most likable curlers in the game," Grattan told CBC Sports.
"After talking with my team we decided to reach out to Darren and see if we could be a part of making that happen."
In some ways, this is a full-circle moment for Moulding, who recalls seeing Grattan play for the first time at the 1997 Brier.
It was Grattan's first appearance at the event.
"I was 14 years old. Calgary was hosting the Brier that year and I was a volunteer selling programs which meant you could get in and watch the games," Moulding recalls.
