In the midst of an unprecedented start to their Olympic bonspiel, the Canadian women's curling team received a surprise call from someone who knows a thing or two about succeeding on the international stage.
"We were just finishing up our team debrief meeting around midnight, and then Cheryl (Bernard) came into the room with a phone call for (Team Canada skip Rachel Homan), and it was Mike Babcock," Team Canada second Joanne Courtney wrote in a blog post.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' current bench boss is a Team Canada alum himself, having coached Canada's men's hockey team to back-to-back golds at the Vancouver games in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.
At this point, the Canadian women will take any momentum where they can find it. Homan's rink looked dead on arrival, dropping their first three games in round-robin play before finally breaking into the win column with an 11-3 drubbing of Team USA.
"... For him to be watching and thinking of us, it was really neat to hear his words and hear that he’s pulling for us," Courtney wrote of Babcock's pep talk. "He just reminded us to keep our heads down, working as hard as we can to get the results we want."
Perhaps Babcock should call more often. In their most recent game, the Canadians beat a tough Swiss rink 10-8. The win brought their record to 2-3, resuscitating their medal hopes for the moment.
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