While elite curlers compete under bright lights at national and international championships, the conditions they rely on are often created by ice makers with roots in small Manitoba communities.
George Hacking, skip of the provincial senior men’s champions, sweeps during a practice game at the Selkirk Curling Club. The game helped break in freshly prepared ice ahead of men’s provincials
That connection was on display at the Selkirk Curling Club, where fresh ice was being prepared ahead of men’s provincial competition under the direction of Matt Rankinee, a Manitoba-based ice technician whose work regularly takes him across North America.
Rankine is part of a group of Manitoba and Winnipeg ice makers widely respected within curling circles for their technical expertise and consistency at major events. Another Manitoba ice maker, Greg Ewasko of Tyndall, is currently in Italy preparing ice for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games. Ewasko would otherwise have been part of the Selkirk crew, Rankine said.
From Rankine’s perspective, Manitoba’s reputation for producing world-class curling ice is built on decades of mentorship and shared knowledge.
“I would say it’s kind of a legacy thing,” Rankine said. “We were fortunate enough to have Hans Wuthrich in our province, and Eric Montford, who — along with Shorty Jenkins out of Ontario — really developed this way of making ice. The grassroots of it started right here in Manitoba.”
That knowledge, Rankine said, was passed down through generations of technicians, including Mark Shurek and Ewasko, both of whom have worked major national and international events.
“I’m two generations removed from that,” he said. “I got the opportunity to learn from Greg Ewasko, Hans Wuthrich, Mark Shurek and Eric Montford, who is my uncle. To be able to learn from the best in the world is a pretty special thing.”
Curling ice preparation is a highly specialized skill requiring precise control of temperature, humidity, pebble and surface texture. Even small imperfections can affect stone movement and fairness of play.
“It has to be perfectly flat and perfectly level,” Rankine said. “The rocks will always find areas that are not level.”
At Selkirk, Rankine worked alongside club volunteers to break in newly refreshed, or “green,” ice — a stage where technicians are still fine-tuning conditions and want stones running repeatedly over every sheet.
That process included a practice game played by the provincial senior men’s champions, skipped by George Hacking. The goal, Hacking said, was to help “work in” both the ice and the rocks before the provincials begin.
“We always appreciate the opportunity to practice on competition ice, so we volunteered to play against a Selkirk team to break in the rocks and the ice,” Hacking said. “We had a very good turnout of volunteers and the exercise was a great success.”
From a curler’s perspective, Hacking said green ice can play differently than a settled surface, especially when stones have been freshly sanded.
“Green ice is very heavy and with fresh sanded stones it’s very swingy and heavy,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity to work on positive releases to try and ‘set a rock back’ to delay the massive curl at the end.”
Hacking said the practice game also serves a practical purpose for the ice crew: it gives technicians immediate, real-world information about how the stones are tracking — and whether anything needs to be corrected before competition begins.
“They watch and look for any feedback — hopefully the rocks track consistently and fairly evenly as to line and weight,” he said. “The more consistent the rocks, the more personal skill is a factor.”
As experienced competitors, Hacking said senior-level curlers can help identify issues early, including stones that aren’t running true.
“The main thing is to get the rocks moving,” he said. “If we saw a ‘bad rock’ we could notify him, but the Curl Manitoba rocks are high quality and consistent.”
While curlers can offer feedback, Hacking emphasized that ice maker expertise is the foundation of fair, consistent championship conditions.
“Ice maker expertise is the most critical factor — balancing temp and humidity to keep the ice hard, without a lot of frost buildup,” he said. “Curlers are at their mercy — but it’s the same for both teams.”
Rankine said that balance is achieved through constant monitoring and adjustment, including control over building temperatures.
“You’re constantly just trying to make sure the water is the best, the scraper blade is the best, the temperatures are set proper — everything,” he said. “Because without that, they’ll notice.”
Volunteers remain essential to delivering that standard, Rankine added.
“It’s huge,” he said. “Without volunteers, we couldn’t do this.”
Although Selkirk’s senior men’s team is not competing this week due to scheduling conflicts between Manitoba qualifying and the Canadian championships, Hacking said the club’s involvement remains significant.
“Selkirk hosts quite often in the rotation and other than Steinbach’s new facility, Selkirk’s one of the best places to watch,” he said. “It takes hundreds of volunteers, and Selkirk and area curling clubs step up to volunteer and provide the best ice, sight lines and entertainment value whenever we host.”
Hacking also pointed to Selkirk’s ability to deliver under pressure, including hosting a provincial event in a modified bubble in 2022.
“The committee works countless hours and should be commended for bringing Selkirk to the forefront of the curling world whenever we host,” he said.
Rather than being measured solely by teams on the ice, Manitoba’s influence on curling continues to be felt behind the scenes — through the ice makers, volunteers and veteran curlers who help shape championship play long before the first draw begins.
