Have no fear, Mini Merk is here.
That might just be the refrain shouted out at Archie Browning Sports Centre and Esquimalt Curling Club over the next nine days as Mike Merklinger looks after both surfaces at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships as head icemaker.
Son of legendary icemaker Dave Merklinger, Mike was tagged with that nickname at a young age when he learned the trade from his father in Ontario.
The Merklingers eventually moved west and Mike is based out of the Vancouver area, where the now 36-year-old has handled his own contracts for the last 10 years. This is his first-ever national event as head ice technician, but he has worked on several World Curling Tour Grand Slam events and provincials.
He and his crew of a dozen volunteers took over the two facilities and have been busy preparing for the event, which begins today. Rocks were finally thrown in Friday鈥檚 practice day for the 14 junior women鈥檚 teams and 13 men鈥檚 rinks.
鈥淚 do take pride in it. I put my time in volunteering at events, like these guys [his crew] at nationals and worlds, just to learn and get the experience,鈥� said Merklinger. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be asked to handle this as head icemaker 鈥� my first national event. It鈥檚 a big one for me, for sure, and you want the ice to be good.鈥�
Which means quick sheets, with about five feet of curl on each side. Rocks were certainly moving in practice.
鈥淚deally, four to five feet is good. No less than four, but it鈥檚 a fine line because six is on the edge of being too much. Curlers like a good four feet of curl, and quick,鈥� said Merklinger, who has Ken McArdle of the Royal City club in New Westminster as his assistant on the Archie Browning side.
Cody Hall of the Victoria Curling Centre and Darren Horton of the Nanaimo Curling Club will look after matters on the Esquimalt Curling Club side, all under Merklinger鈥檚 direction.
The Ottawa native doesn鈥檛 expect many difficulties to crop up during the nine-day event.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a pretty decent building, there are dehumidifiers, so I鈥檓 not too worried about humidity,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no heat to speak of, there are no heaters in this building, but it鈥檚 not cold outside. It鈥檚 fairly small, so even if it鈥檚 full, there鈥檚 not much heat load compared to a big arena.鈥�
Any rain that falls during the event also shouldn鈥檛 affect the ice with the dehumidifiers in place.
Merklinger 鈥� who worked on the ice at a Grand Slam event in Cranbrook in November, and also at the recent junior provincials at Royal City and will be head icemaker at the sa国际传媒 men鈥檚 championships next month 鈥� took over the two buildings here last Saturday, but couldn鈥檛 get going with ice until Sunday morning
鈥淭heir ice was nice and flat, which made our job a little easier,鈥� he said of the Arch. 鈥淚t was dry cut to the depth we wanted to start at, between an inch and inch and half.鈥�
Another inch will be added by the time play begins.
鈥淣o major problems, everything has been pretty smooth,鈥� said Merklinger. 鈥淭he refrigeration plant seems pretty good, so there hasn鈥檛 been a problem keeping it cold.鈥�
What may cause an issue are the new rocks being used on the Archie Browning side, which were purchased by Curling sa国际传媒 from sa国际传媒 Curling Stone in Ontario. It might make matters interesting, although Curl sa国际传媒 also purchased similar rocks this year that were used at the sa国际传媒 Juniors and are in Duncan this week for the women鈥檚 event and have received strong reviews.
Rocks for the Esquimalt club side came in from the World Curling Federation after the Continental Cup concluded Sunday in Las Vegas.
A total of five sheets will be used in the arena and four in the curling club.
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