Mike McEwen reflects on Rock League debut and reunion with former teammate Colton Flasch

For the better part of two decades, Mike McEwen has curled professionally on some of the largest stages in the sport.

He’s achieved seven Grand Slam victories, 11 appearances at the Brier and a handful of trips to the Canadian Olympic Trials. But standing in the hack earlier this month during the launch week for Rock League was something entirely different for the Saskatchewan skip.

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Branded as the sport’s first professional to provide a stable income to athletes, Rock League held its first abbreviated season in Toronto with more than 60 of the world’s top curlers taking part.

“That’s the dream right?” McEwen said. “Growing up, I always dreamed of something professional. Just to be standing here and in the inaugural season of this is kind of surreal for me.”

Launched in collaboration with The Curling Group, Rock League has split its athletes into six mixed-gender teams, with points awarded in men’s, women’s, mixed doubles and mixed fours events.

Once the league’s round-robin is complete, teams advance to a weekend playoff stage, with a championship final deciding the winner of each event.

McEwen said skipping Maple United’s men’s team involved a lot of learning on the fly, as he juggled new teammates, new rules and unfamiliar playing styles.

“I remember specifically, our first game, looking around and kind of feeling like a fish out of water,” McEwen said. “It’s so faced paced. You’re learning new teammates. It’s quite a different environment.”

The pace of play has been expedited in Rock League, with only seven ends and thinking time for skips like McEwen decreased from 31 minutes to 21 minutes in four-player games.

Rock League also limits curlers to just one blanked end while adding a hog-line challenge, a no-tick rule for guards and a two-point bonus for rocks covering the pin hole in the final end.

“It’s really cool to go through those scenarios as a player, because you have to think about the game differently,” McEwen said.

“It’s exciting because a lot of leads built up on the scoreboard are not entirely protected. I think it’s great, from a fan-viewing experience.”

Both Maple United and Shield Curling Club mainly feature players from Canada, while Europe is represented by the Alpine Curling Club and Northern United.

Rounding out the league are Frontier Curling Club from the United States and Typhoon Curling Club, representing the Asia-Pacific region, though each team features curlers from different parts of the world.

“You’re seeing 11-person teams really develop camaraderie and a common goal in a big, team setting,” McEwen said.

“I think that’s pretty special. It’s been great on our front, building those team dynamics and having to do it on warp speed.”

Each team is also being overseen by a general manager, who sets the daily lineups while the event is underway.

Rock League reunion

Saskatchewan is represented on Maple United by both McEwen and Colton Flasch, while Dan Marsh is playing lead for Shield.

It’s a reunion for McEwen and Flasch after a split last month which saw Flasch and brothers Dan and Kevin Marsh replace McEwen with a younger skip, Tyler Tardi, after McEwen spent three years leading the team.

The 45-year-old McEwen has since linked up with the Rylan Kleiter rink, but said he’s had no issues reuniting as teammates with Flasch in Rock League play.

“Colton and I are good,” McEwen said.

“We’re pros. We’ve been through changes and teammates before. There’s not any animosity between us. I’m having fun playing with him. He’s my teammate in this, but I can also sit back and think ‘I’m really excited about my new teammates.’”

Colton Flasch made his Rock League debut with Maple United alongside former teammate Mike McEwen earlier this month in Toronto. (Rock League/Maple United)

The duo poked fun at the reunion in a social media video prior to the event, with Flasch stating they’d ‘run this one more time’ in Toronto.

While the split was the source of much discussion in the curling world, McEwen said he doesn’t hold any ill will towards Flasch and has embraced the chance to play competitively with him again.

“I still get to play with a guy I really enjoyed playing with and had a great three years,” McEwen said.

“I still get excited for where I’m going next, so no problems there. He’s a great competitor.”

Future financial stability

The inaugural Rock League event in Toronto saw the six teams split $250,000 in prize money, with Shield Curling Club earning $100,000 for their players by emerging victorious over Typhoon Curling Club in the final.

Athletes earned a participation fee along with their prize earnings, according to the league.

McEwen said he’s watched the business of curling fluctuate over the years, specifically when it comes to the financial hurdles which elite-level athletes have had to face.

Although it’s a small sample size, McEwen said he’s encouraged by what he’s seen from the new league, and is hopeful more doors will open for young curlers now that there’s another path to make money on the ice.

“It was not trending in the right direction,” McEwen said.

“Simply, that is a major red flag. There was a gap where there was a five-to-10-year period where we lost a lot of great players, men’s and ladies, on the Canadian side. I don’t think there was enough opportunity for them. We need this.”

Rock League’s first full season of operations will begin in Saskatchewan, running from Jan. 7-10, 2027 at the Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw.