Miskew can’t wait for Rock League homecoming in Ottawa

The lights at TD Place will shine bright on Ottawa’s own Emma Miskew when Rock League rolls into town in the new year.

The professional curling league is set to hit the road with five stops during its expanded second season, including TD Place, Feb. 4-7, 2027. 

Miskew said during a Rock League media event Wednesday in Ottawa that she can’t wait for the event to begin. 

“Having a Rock League event in Ottawa is really exciting,” she said. “I think that it's such a cool opportunity for fans in the curling community to come out and experience really exciting and entertaining curling. Playing at home is just going to be awesome.” 

Miskew knows from first-hand experience what that’s like. Playing with longtime tour teammate Rachel Homan, Miskew achieved one of her dreams when their team won the Canadian Olympic curling trials in 2017 at Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre. That earned Team Homan the right to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“A home crowd is the best feeling,” said Miskew, who also competed for Canada at the Winter Olympics this year in Milano Cortina and captured the bronze medal. “As Team Homan, we've got to experience that a few times, including the trials here in 2017, and being in Sydney for our world championship win a couple of years ago. It honestly brings you energy. 

“There's no better feeling than having a home crowd, so I'm really excited for this Rock League event. I will be kind of the hometown athlete, and it's gonna be really exciting. I hope everyone comes out and cheers.”

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Since teaming up all the way back in bantam, Homan and Miskew have won just about everything together, including Olympic bronze, three world championships, five Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles and a record 20 Grand Slam of Curling championships. They’ll be on opposite sides of the sheet when they hit the ice for Rock League, though.

Rock League features six franchises with the world’s top men’s and women’s curlers competing in a variety of different disciplines. While Homan is the captain of Canada’s Maple United, Miskew plays for the European-based Alpine Curling Club, which has Swiss tour rival Alina Pätz serving as captain. 

The league made its debut last April with a condensed one-week season in Toronto. Franchises faced off in men’s fours, women’s fours and mixed doubles games during each match of the preliminary round and playoffs, plus a day in between of mixed fours games that acted like a “double jeopardy” round. 

“I think it's so unique in that you're playing against your competitors, and how naturally you fall into just playing your game, even though it's players that you've always just played against and not with,” Miskew said. “How quickly you just become a team, I thought it would be harder to do that with players that you don't normally play with. 

“It was actually not only super fun, but everyone gelled together so well, and you could see it on all the teams. Everyone's just so good at adapting to a new team and just jumping in. Seeing how everyone plays together and communicates is really fun to watch.” 

Miskew is also getting more involved in helping shape the future of the league. She was recently appointed as a player rep to Rock League’s competition committee along with Scotland’s Robin Brydone from Northern United.

“I think that with Rock League, it's new and it's something that's so exciting for everyone, but I’m just looking forward to being a part of some conversations and advocating in the middle for both the players and for the development of Rock League,” she said. “I think having players involved in some of these discussions is going to just help overall to make decisions and rules. 

“It's a nice opportunity for me to also just be able to chat with everyone and see where everyone's head is at in regards to growing the sport, and I'm hoping I can make a difference.” 

Before Rock League kicks off its season, there’s the fall tour schedule. While other teams have already hit multiple stops on tour, Miskew and Team Homan will finally kick things off this weekend for “The Battle” against fellow Canadian Olympians Team Brad Jacobs in Port Elgin, Ontario. The team is then set to take on the world’s best at the GSOC Co-op Invitational, Oct. 13-18, in Victoria.

“We've been on a longer break than normal this year. We felt that we needed a little extra time this summer than we usually have after the last four years and coming off the Olympics,” said Miskew, who throws second stones on Team Homan. “We had a training camp last week, which is great getting on the ice with everyone, starting up this weekend and then right to Victoria after that. 

“I’m really excited to get back on the ice with my team, to get back on the road. It was a longer break and needed, but it really fuelled that fire back up to get back on the ice together. It's exciting that we get to stay together and play together longer. With all the team shakeups, there's some consistency for us and it's nice.”

Full-event and weekend ticket passes for all five Rock League stops go on sale Friday.