EPPING WALKS AWAY WITH BRONZE AT BRIER
Sometimes you just have to congratulate the other guy and be thankful for the experience.
John Epping of Toronto headed home from his first Brier with feeling like he had his pocket picked Friday and Saturday night by Team Canada’s Brad Gushue and again Sunday by Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher.
But he had a bronze medal in his pocket and $42,000 to share with teammates Mathew Camm, Patrick Janssen and Tim March.
And after having his pockets picked on a regular basis by Glenn Howard in Ontario playdowns, this time he finally played in the Brier.
“This was unbelievable. It was so memorable. For me, it was a really special first Brier.
“It was amazing. The crowds were great. Saskatchewan has always been one of my favourite places to curl.”
While Regina 2018 didn’t set any attendance records, it did break the 100,000 mark with crowds of 5,432, 6,087, 5,766, 6,005 and 5,310 to push the count going into Sunday’s final to 104,640.
Epping, who lost the final game of the championship round to Gushue on Friday and lost to Gushue again on Saturday in the 1-2 game, came down heavy with his last rock in the seventh end to give up a steal of two that turned out to be the turning point in their 6-4 loss to Alberta in Sunday’s semifinal.
“I think the weight was good. I just took a little bit too much ice,” he said.
But you can make the case that Bottcher’s “hero shots” as he calls them, from earlier in the game set the table for the inevitable result.
“Brendan’s been playing extremely well. He made a couple of saves. He made one on the fifth end that if he doesn’t make, we probably score four or five on that end. If he doesn’t make that shot, we probably win the game,” said Epping of Bottcher’s hit and roll.
Bottcher also registered a skip’s double, making two shots to save the fourth end after everybody else on the team had misses.
PRINCE OF PEBBLE
Brier icemaker Jamie Bourassa of Alberta is a busy man.
There are no days off for the popular producer of pebble who made the ice for both Alberta men’s and women’s championships and the Brier in succession. He headed from here early Monday morning to North Bay, Ont. to make the ice for the Ford women’s world championship that opens Saturday.
And he’s not done then. It’ll be back to Alberta for the pilot project of a combination of championships in Leduc.
The unprecedented presentation of four Canadian championships will be held at the Leduc Recreation Centre’s combination of arenas and curling rink over a nine-day span:
■ U Sports championship runs from March 24-28
■ Canadian College Athletic Association championship March 24-28
■ Canadian Wheelchair Championship March 26-31
■ Canadian Mixed Doubles March 29-April 1
When Bourassa is done there, he’ll head to Sweden to work the world mixed doubles.