Curling free agency season kicks off with a bang as some top teams announce splits

When Reid Carruthers was a young curler on tour, he knew he'd have to do his own legwork when free agency season rolled around.

He got creative years ago and it paid off when he caught the eye of fellow Winnipegger Jeff Stoughton. Carruthers found out when the veteran skip would practise at the Granite Curling Club and made a point of training on a nearby sheet.

"I made sure that he saw that effort that I was willing to put in because I was also at the rink," Carruthers said in a recent interview. "I knew he went on his lunch hour. It also happened to be the same curling club that had some of the best ice in the city.

"So [it] was killing two birds with one stone."

Stoughton later reached out to Carruthers and they spent a quadrennial together as teammates, winning world gold in 2011.

Since there are no general managers, agents or team owners on the sport's domestic scene, curlers are on their own to facilitate interaction with an eye to the next four-year cycle.

That process is already well underway now that the Beijing Games are complete and the focus has turned to the 2026 Milan Olympics.

So grab your popcorn and settle in, curling fans. Roster changes will be the norm for the Roaring Game over the coming days and weeks.

"This is probably the most you'll ever see for changes on the men's and women's front," said John Morris, who won Brier silver last week with Alberta skip Kevin Koe. "I wouldn't necessarily say it's a bad thing because we're getting beat by international teams right now on the women's and men's level."

Team Jennifer Jones got things started by announcing it would be splitting at the end of the season. Team Tracy Fleury, Team Brad Jacobs and Team Kevin Koe - also top-five teams in the world rankings -