Stoughton more laid-back than Gushue . . . and he has better hair too.

 Jim Bender talked with new Stoughton front-ender Mark Nichols who left Newfoundland and Labrador for Winnipeg. So far the move is working as the Stoughton rink captured the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard and $15,000 over the holiday weekend.

When he was asked to compare the two skips, Nichols was prepared:

“I knew that question was coming,” Nichols said with a laugh. “Both are driven. I don’t want to use the word intense, but they both expect a lot of their teammates. But Jeff’s a little more laid-back."

OK, we made up the stuff about the hair, but I’m sure that’s what he was thinking.

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Middaugh rolling early

While hubby was back at home closing up the golf course, Sherry and her squad was winning out in Calgary. And, as Al Cameron notes, she’s in good shape to get to her fourth Canadian Curling Trials.

There's still a lot of curling to be done this season, ofcourse, but Middaugh has cause for optimism that she'll claim a fourth crack atthe Trials (she also qualified in 1997 at Brandon, Man., 2001 in Regina and2005 in Halifax; she was one win shy of making it four straight trips in 2009).With Monday's win, she'll take over top spot in the Canadian Team RankingSystem standings after finishing third last season behind two teams thatclaimed direct-entry Trials berths - Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg and HeatherNedohin of Edmonton.

Middaugh, by the way, won the Autumn Gold for the third time, the second time as a Skip Kann

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The App Man wins the Westcoast Classic

Kevin Martin, who will be in Toronto next week to roll out his new App for mobile, led his team to the Westcoast Curling Classic for the seventh time. Here are the details. 

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Dolan recognized in PEI Hall of Fame

What’s that you say? Tiny PEI has a curling hall of fame? Yup, and Kim Dolan is being inducted. Good choice too. She’s done it all, from playing to organizing. And, hey, you have to love a woman who owns a pub!

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You’re going to curl for how long?

I’m gonna bet this idea was hatched over a couple of beers, but 10 curlers out in Campbell River, B.C., are going to try and toss rocks continuously for something like 62 hours in an attempt to break the world record.

Of note is that they only get a five-minute bathroom break every hour. So might not be a good idea to be tipping too many ales during the contest.

Here are the details.