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Inside curling’s emotional, unprecedented and ‘brutal’ free agency period
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I t’s March 14, 2022, and Hebert is driving home to Calgary from Lethbridge. Last night, the 39-year-old Team Koe lead lost his second straight national championship final, and this time, to Team Gushue. As he drives, Hebert is wallowing in what he calls “the depression den.”
His mood lifts significantly when his phone rings, and it’s his old pal, Marc Kennedy. The pair talk a bit about the Brier. And then Kennedy gets right to it: “I’m in,” he tells Hebert. He’d been waiting until after the Brier to decide on next season, not knowing yet if Team Jacobs would stay together. When he found out the team was disbanding, he knew he wanted to join Hebert, who’d pitched him on an all-Alberta team featuring Hebert at lead and Gallant at second.
“It feels a little bit like comin’ home,” Kennedy says later, of rejoining his long-time buddy. Hebert adds: “I know from playing with Marc and then not playing with Marc, sometimes you don’t know what you have until you lost it.”
Once Hebert knew Kennedy was in, he texted Gallant something he remembers like this: “Hey, congratulations on beating us in the Brier. F— you. Marc’s in. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a great team. Let’s send a note to Brendan [Bottcher] and see if he’s in.”