Paul Ernest Devlin (September 16, 1946 – March 7, 2021) was a Canadian curler. He has skipped two teams at the Brier, Canada's national men's championship, representing both Alberta and British Columbia.

Curling career

Devlin, originally from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, lost in the finals of the 1969 Manitoba provincial championships to Bobby Robinson. He later moved to

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

around 1977 and lost in the final of the 1978 Alberta men's championship to

Ed Lukowich Edward R. "Ed" Lukowich (born March 1, 1946; nicknamed "Cool Hand Luke") is a former Canadian champion curling, curler. Lukowich is a two-time Tim Hortons Brier, Brier champion, having won the Brier Tankard for Alberta as skip of both the 1978 ...

, who went on to win the Brier. During the 1979 playdowns, Devlin, who was a car salesman, was given the choice by his employer to either pick curling or his career, and he chose curling. That year, he and teammates

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

, Pat Ryan and brother Derek defeated Lukowich in a re-match of the 1978 final, earning them the right to represent the province at the 1979 Macdonald Brier. At the Brier, Devlin led Alberta to a 6–5 record, tied for fourth. Devlin returned to the Alberta final in 1980, but was upended by two-time World Junior champion Paul Gowsell. Devlin moved to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1983, but was controversially allowed to curl in the 1984 Alberta playdowns, despite no longer living in the province. Devlin formed a Vancouver-based team the next season, consisting of Doug Meger, Ken Watson and Dale Reibin. Despite the team struggling in the Vancouver Super League, they found success in the B.C. playdowns, and beat club mate

Craig Lepine Craig may refer to: People and fictional characters *Craig (surname) Craig is a surname, derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''creag'' which (Anglicised to ''cliff, crag'') refers to a small, rocky hill in Scottish English. Variants have been repor ...

in the final of the 1985 BC Men's Curling Championship. This qualified the team to represent British Columbia at the

1985 Labatt Brier The 1985 Labatt Brier, the Canadian national men's curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boule ...

. Devlin became only the second curler to skip two different provinces at the Brier. At the 1985 Brier, he led B.C. to a 5–6 record, tied for seventh. In around 1986, Devlin moved to

Trail, British Columbia Trail is a city in the western Kootenays region of the British Columbia Interior, Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Lan ...

, and did not make it to a provincial men's final again. Later in life, Devlin won a gold medal at the 2016 Canada 55+ Games in the 65+ mixed curling event.

Personal life

Devlin was married and had two daughters. Later in life, he lived in

Fruitvale, British Columbia Fruitvale is a village in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. It is east of the city of Trail along Highway 3B. Early community One of eight original stations on the Nelson and Fort Sheppard Railway opened in 1893, th ...

. A car salesman early in his life, by the time of the 1985 Brier, he was an office computer systems salesman for Remgon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Paul 1946 births 2021 deaths Canadian male curlers Curlers from Winnipeg Curlers from Edmonton Curlers from Vancouver Sportspeople from Trail, British Columbia People from the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary Automobile salespeople 20th-century Canadian sportsmen