Ed Koivula was enjoying his morning coffee and reading the newspaper on Monday morning, when his son Colin came calling.
"You're playing, Dad," the 29-year-old skip said.
Colin Koivula, somewhat unexpectedly given his 1-6 record in Men's Major League of Curling this season, had scrambled his way into the final of the $16,000 Great Lakes Curling Tour event at Port Arthur Curling Club.
His rag-tag crew, which included seven different curlers, survived elimination after being relegated to C-side in the triple knockout format event, then on Monday, with the title on the line, he made a spectacular triple takeout with his final stone of the match to preserve a 5-2 championship win over Duluth's Tyler George.
Koivula, the 2003 Northern Ontario junior men's champion, took home $5,000 for the win and said there was no doubt what he wanted to do with the match up for grabs.
"I just tried to run it straight back to get rid of two of them," he said. "The three was a bonus, but it didn't really matter."
Winning with his father playing lead, alongside second Jordan Potts and third Kory Carr, was especially gratifying, he said.
"It feels pretty good. We had a really slow start to the year this season and it's been a little rough. We haven't been playing much, but we really pieced it together. We had a lot of spares coming out this weekend.
"We had seven players in total playing with us. It was a different group every day, except for today, when we had the old man out. That was nice. It's always nice (to play with him). It's something special you get to do every now and again. It's something you might not be able to do again."
Ed Koivula was equally excited to celebrate a championship with his son, a win that automatically qualifies the team for the Northern Ontario play-downs, the lead-in to the Brier.
"That was a great thrill. These young guys make you look good out there, I tell you, with their sweeping. I can throw any rock up there and they'd just make it for me," he said.
"I've spared for him once or twice in the last few years, but nothing major."
Colin Koivula originally had asked former world champion Rick Lang to spare as well, when it looked like Potter might not be able to make the Monday afternoon match due to previous commitments.
The victorious crew started the final with a steal in each of the first two ends, each coming on a George mistake on his final shot.
The two teams blanked the third and fourth ends, then Colin Koivula forced George to take one with a hit-and-stick in the fifth.
The sixth end – they played eight all weekend – proved to be the deciding factor in this one.
With his final stone, George attempted to pick out Koivula's shot rock, but flashed, giving the Thunder Bay skip a full-four-foot draw for two and a three shot lead.
George took one back in the seventh, but came up short trying to steal in the final end.
Asked what he thinks his share of the prize money should be, Ed Koivula said he won't ask for much.
"A few beer, anyway," he said, grinning.
