Fowler Officially Rejoins Stoughton

  They didn’t have a contract signing, but the new Jeff Stoughton curling team made it official Tuesday with an informal meeting.
 
  It’s now confirmed that Brandon’s Rob Fowler is rejoining Stoughton after spending four years skipping a team out of the Brandon Curling Club.
 
  Fowler will throw third stone, with former William Lyburn team members Alex Forrest and Connor Njegovan comprising the new front end.
 
  Fowler spent four years playing second for Stoughton from 2006 to 2010, winning a pair of Provincial titles in that span, but left in 2010 with a desire to skip his town team and play out of the Brandon Curling Club.
 
  That what he’s done for the last four years, including a provincial title and Brier appearance in 2012, but the 38-year old says Allan Lyburn’s decision after this year’s Safeway Championship to take a year off from the game made him begin to weigh his options.
 
  "The focus shifted to trying to get back on the best team I could, whether that was skipping or moving to third or a different position, I was open to that," said Fowler on Tuesday night, "When Jeff’s team decided to go their separate ways, that became an option and it was definitely my first choice."
 
  The shuffle on many of the country’s top curling teams, particularly men’s teams, has been going on for the past few weeks as the cycle for the next Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in 2017 begins.
 
  However, Fowler says their focus is completely on the 2014-2015 season.
 
  "Next year doesn’t have any impact on the actual Trials qualification process.  It’s going to be a little different because we’re going to focus on next year, curl on the (World Curling) Tour and, obviously, try to do well on the Tour," said Fowler, "And then, focus on the provincials and work hard to try to have a chance to get back to the Brier."
 
  Fowler’s former lead Derek Samagalski had also jumped on board with Reid Carruthers as his second on another new Manitoba team that formed in recent weeks.
 
  There’s no word on where Fowler’s second, Brendan Taylor, will play next season.