Oh baby, this will be a most interesting for members of 91大黄鸭鈥檚 Sean Geall rink.

With not one, but two team members expecting the arrival of babies this week, the chances are very high that curling fans will see fifth man Brad Wood get into some action when the Canadian men鈥檚 curling championship in Regina.

鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting on two babies, so we鈥檒l be a full team until we get phone calls on those,鈥� Geall told Curl BC on Thursday night, following a team supper on the eve of a first practice session on Friday.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e either going to see a full Team BC all week long because the babies are holding off or, in a worst-case scenario, it鈥檒l be myself Andrew Nerpin and Woody playing as a three-man team.

鈥淚t鈥檚 family first for us and we knew that going in and that鈥檚 what we鈥檒l deal with. I鈥檓 quite positive that with two babies expected, we might see a lot of Woody.鈥�

Geall鈥檚 third Jeff Richard and wife Brooklyn Leitch are expecting their first child later next week and lead David Harper and wife Jessica are awaiting the arrival of their second child earlier in the week. Geall, second Nerpin, Wood and coach Gerry Richard are patiently awaiting to light their cigars.

The event features 16 teams divided into two pools of eight in the new format, which was also featured at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The top four teams in each pool advance to the championship round where teams will compete against the opposing pool鈥檚 four remaining teams.

The top four teams鈥攔ecords will carry from the original pools to the championship round鈥攚ill then advance to the Page playoffs.

It鈥檒l be no picnic for Geall, who played defending champion Brad Gushue (Team Canada) in Game 1 then faced wild-card Mike McEwen on Sunday before challenging Alberta鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher on Monday morning.

Also joining Geall in Pool A is Nova Scotia鈥檚 Jamie Murphy, Yukon鈥檚 Thomas Scoffin, Greg Smith of Newfoundland/Labrador and Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories.

Geall and Richard both have previous experience at Briers in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Harper was the fifth man for Jim Cotter and Co. last year, but saw limited action.

鈥淚鈥檓 actually really optimistic. I think it鈥檚 a good block,鈥� Geall said of his pool. 鈥淚t may look bad on Monday, with those first three games, but to be honest, even if we lost those first three we still think we can be squarely in the hunt. If we can win one or two of those first three games we鈥檇 be in a heck of a good spot.

鈥淥ur goal is to get into that championship pool and then you see what happens after that. We have to be there and if you get a couple of wins there, maybe we can sneak into that Page 3-4 game,鈥� Geall added. 鈥淪ure, with a front end that hasn鈥檛 played at the Brier it would be unrealistic to think we could find our way into the Page 1-2 game, but hey, stranger thing shave happened.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a while, to be honest,鈥� Geall said, referring to his first time around at The Brier back in 2009 in Calgary. 鈥淚t鈥檚 completely different than the first time I was here. It鈥檚 nice to be back in this atmosphere.鈥�

The Geall rink won the B.C. men鈥檚 title last month in Parksville.

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