The changing of the Norwegian curling guard — and those fancy pants

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. —There's a new Norwegian curling team on the block — and no, they don't have fancy pants.

But the curlers are wearing fancy socks, a fashion nod to their curling countrymen who came before them and were known for their splashy slacks.

"We're trying to spice it up a bit. But we're trying to get noticed by playing some good curling," says 20-year-old skip Magnus Ramsfjell.

For more than two decades Norwegian curling had been dominated by famous skip Thomas Ulsrud and his team out of Oslo. Ulsrud and his Norwegian squad bolted into the curling fashion limelight at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver by wearing their splashy, patterned pants. For years they garnered a lot of attention at every bonspiel.

Ulsrud made his first world championship appearance for Norway in 1998 — he'd go on to represent the country on 12 occasions, winning it all in 2014. He also represented the country at three Olympics.

In a lot of ways, it's what casual curling fans have come to know from Norwegian curling — Ulsrud and those pants.

Not anymore.

The team took to their Facebook page in the middle of March to announce they would be ending their competitive curling careers together — this came after losing in the national final to a team full of young curlers who weren't even born when Ulsrud made his first world championship appearance.

"Everyone is used to Ulsrud. We're coming out of nowhere. Big changes are coming," says the team's third, Michael Mellemseter.

Mellemseter, 20, is still trying to bring a bit of fashion flare to the ice. Fans watching him this week at the men's world curling championship in Lethbridge will notice his long blonde hair that he puts up in a ponytail which also sticks up from his head.

"The hair is falling out all over the place and waving around. It's annoying so I put it up," he says with a smile.

He usually starts the game with it down but after an end or two of sweeping the ice he puts it up in the ponytail.

"I guess I'm the guy with the hair," Mellemseter says. "No superstition or anything. I'm not thinking about that. It just gets in my eyes."

World championship debut

The bright lights, the big venue and being in Canada at a world curling championship – it's what the young team has always wanted in their curling careers but couldn't fathom getting past Ulsrud to get to the world stage. Now they've done it – faster than any member of the team could even imagine.

"It's definitely something else with all the people here watching," Mellemseter says. "It was a dream come true — representing Norway at this age."

This same team was also in Canada earlier this winter, competing at the world junior championships in Nova Scotia. It placed fourth, losing the semifinal game to Canada before also dropping in the bronze-medal game.

Ramsfjell and his rink went on to compete at the Norway national championships and certainly didn't have expectations of beating Ulsrud or Steffen Walstad's team. But they knocked off both curling giants to punch their ticket to the big event in Canada.

"We played really well, especially in the final to beat Ulsrud," Ramsfjell says. "They've been Team Norway for as long as I can remember. They've always been the team to beat."

Norway plays the hometown Canadian squad Monday afternoon. They've yet to win a game at the world championship so far – and don't seem overly worried about it either. These are valuable lessons for a young team still trying to find its footing on the international curling stage.

"It's just amazing to be here," Ramsfjell says. "Hearing random people cheering for us feels really nice. We expect the fans will grow to love us."

Just like they did with Ulsrud.