Pal Trulsen was supposed to be a ski jumper. It was the sport of his father. Admittedly, Pal was a little too husky and grew tired of walking to the top of the hill for each run. At 14 he and three friends (Flemming Davanger, Stig-Arne Gunnestad and Kjell Berg) discovered a four sheet curling club and took to the sport, eventually reaching the Uniroyal World Junior Championships in 1980. They returned in 1981 and then again in 1983, where they won a Silver medal, losing to Canada's John Base in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Pal would return to the World stage as fifth man for his junior teammates at the 1992 Olympics and the Worlds in 1993. Pal finally appeared at the Worlds as a skip in 1997 and again from 1999 to 2004, taking home a Silver and two Bronze medals during that run, while also winning Gold for Norway at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Pal shares his early experiences, reflects on his temperament, recalls playing the great teams of his era and being invited to the TSN Skins game. After we wrap, Pal adds a short story about that 2003 Skins event (held in Gimli, Manitoba) and what happened when Shorty Jenkins was brought in to make ice at Hans Wuthrich's hometown.
This episode includes longer ramblings from me than usual. If you don't want to hear my thoughts on how to handle burnt stones, the longer version of what happened to the curling ice at the Albertville Olympics, or why Japanese coaches are called Wallys, you can skip ahead to 14:45 to hear my conversation with Pal. You can also watch clips from Pal's 2002 Olympic Gold medal victory on YouTube and at Olympic.org.
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