New curling hammer rule to be tested in attempt to boost scoring, entertainment

As far as curling experiments go, a new rule that will be used at the next Grand Slam competition looks like a doozy.

Organizers plan to test a setup that will see a team lose hammer after a second consecutive blank end. The mid-season change, an attempt to boost scoring and entertainment, should have a significant impact on team strategy.

"I'm excited that they're trying something," said Curling Canada chief executive officer Nolan Thiessen. "It's going to change the game. I see a lot of scoreboard management now just because the hammer means so much."

A spokeswoman for the five-event circuit, which has been a testing ground for game tweaks in the past, confirmed the change will come at the Jan. 14-19 WFG Masters.

"We will evaluate following that event if it's a change we want to implement permanently," Grand Slam events manager Jenni Cram said in an email.

The decision was finalized during the recent Kioti National at Mary Brown's Centre in St. John's, N.L.

A packed house eager to cheer on local favourite Brad Gushue watched as Winnipeg's Mike McEwen started with hammer and kept it for three straight blank ends.

"I get it. You take an arena with 6,000 people and it got really quiet," said Team Brad Jacobs coach Paul Webster, a former national development coach with Curling Canada. "However, from a pure curling and performance standpoint, there's [so] many great shots.

"I don't think the armchair quarterbacks at home sometimes realize how many great shots [have to be made] to sometimes create these blank ends."

McEwen ended the scoring drought with a single in the fourth end. He went on to post a 4-3 victory in the round-robin game.

Scotland's Bruce Mouat posted a 5-3 win over Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the