VANCOUVER VOICE: Valentine's on ice for Canadian curling coaches

CANADIAN curling coaches Lorne and Chris Hamblin have put Valentine's Day on ice.

The pair celebrate their 34th wedding anniversary today but there is no time for romance as the joint coaches of the Swiss men's team prepare for Tuesday's opening match with Denmark

They believe they are the only married curling coaches at an international level and see their partnership as an asset.

"Most of the time we are banging on about the same thing, but I think we can also bring two different opinions to a situation," said Chris.

"It hasn't created any conflicts we can't live with yet," added Lorne. 

"But we think it's our strongest asset, that we are a team."

The Hamblins, who market themselves as a ‘two for one deal', were signed up by the Swiss curling federation last year and will work alongside another Canadian, women's coach Ken Tralnberg.

In 2002, they co-coached a Canadian team that included their three sons, David, Kevin and Doug to a world junior title.

Switzerland are considered one of the medal favourites, after claiming gold in Nagano and bronze in Salt Lake and narrowly missing out on the recent European title in Aberdeen.

"They are very committed, very dedicated athletes and they had an absolutely outstanding performance in the Europeans, only losing to Sweden on the last rock," added Lorne.

"In order for us to medal, we believe we have to be curling at an 85-plus percentage. To have that same focus for each and every shot."