Jubilant Gushue expects to feel right at home playing in Edmonton
St. John’s rink will be sporting Maple Leaf for world championship in early April
The celebration for Brad Gushue and his team went on through the night and into the morning in St. John’s, N.L., after winning the Brier.
“We shut it down at 7:30 a.m., had breakfast and went to bed,” he said in a late-afternoon call to your correspondent Monday.
The celebration, he said, will continue April 1-9 at the Ford World Curling Championship in Edmonton.
But by that, he wasn’t talking about partying until 7:30 a.m.
“We’re a Canadian team in Canada and I think we’re going to have incredible support. There are a lot of people with Newfoundland roots in Edmonton and Alberta and I’m sure they’re going to come out and support it. That’s going to be wonderful,” said Gushue.
“It’s going to be very similar, I believe, to what we felt here in St. John’s. We really tried to soak in the moments just when people were cheering for you when you were just sliding down the ice. You want to look back in 20 years time and remember those moments.
“I was quite happy with the job I did personally with staying in the moment as well as enjoying the moment. And I certainly want to do that in Edmonton as well.”
Nothing is going to compare with Gushue’s storybook win of his first Brier in his hometown of St. John’s in his 14th appearance, only the second Newfoundlander to win a Brier. Jack MacDuff was the first in 1976.
But to win it at home in St. John’s and then come to Edmonton, in the province where so many Newfoundlanders have relocated, is about as good a double whammy as he could ever have imagined.
Gushue once said that winning a Brier would mean more for him than winning the gold medal at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.
He did that Sunday and will now come to Edmonton wearing the red Maple Leaf on his back as Team Canada for the first time since 2006 to play in the 2017 Ford World Curling Championship.
Gushue has been around long enough he knows that winning the Brier, to complete the effect, has to be followed by winning the Worlds. But in this case, it’ll be a case of trying to ride a wave while you attempt to do it.
“I think the fact that we did it at home under the pressure that we had in front of family and friends and 6,000 other friends. I think it ranks right up there,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s a really difficult comparison with the magnitude of the Olympics but the fact that we did it at home under the circumstances that our team had this year with injuries and whatnot, boy it’s hard to top this.
“I don’t remember feeling happier in a long time. It was such a feeling of excitement and relief to be honest. I’m not going to lie. The pressure we felt was intense.”
The expectations weren’t just because of it being 14 kicks at the can and the first Brier in
St. John’s since 1972.
“There was the expectation that also came from being the No. 1 team in the world going into the event. To pull it off is pretty special.”
What happens next will be entirely different than going to some alpine village before 500 fans in Europe.
“It’s been 11 years. It’s pretty special. It’s always a nice feeling when you get that Canadian jersey and outfit. It’s a great moment when you get to see your name and the Maple Leaf on the back of that.”
The wish list for organizers of the Edmonton Worlds was to have either Kevin Koe or Gushue curling for Canada April 1-9, and it was a built-in win-win scenario with Koe and Gushue making it to the Brier final.
Koe definitely would have worked.
Last year’s Brier winner and defending world champion won his first of three world titles curling out of the Edmonton Saville Centre in 2010. Marc Kennedy from St. Albert is his third.
But coming to the Edmonton Ford Worlds is Gushue. And he’s nothing short of the best story in the sport. Period.
“We had a spike in ticket sales immediately after the game,” said event coordinator Terry Morris.
“We not only have a great team to represent Canada but I think the entire nation is thrilled for these guys,” he said of Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and Beaverlodge, Alta., born-and-raised lead Geoff Walker.
“With all the Newfoundlanders living in Alberta, I’m sure that will give us a big boost in attendance, too.
“It was our biggest spike in ticket sales to date,” he said of selling 15 full event, 90 closing weekend, 25 opening weekend, 238 single tickets, 49 playoff games and 56 to the final to move the ticket total to 57,542 while Gushue was still on the ice with the Brier Tankard.