Carruthers squeezes into men’s final

Reid Carruthers has been involved in some big games and competed in some prestigious events during his curling career, mostly as a lead or second.

If the Winnipeg native can win the Canada Cup men’s final against Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland and Labrador team Sunday night, it would be the biggest victory of his career as a skip.

The winner Sunday will earn a $14,000 cheque, but more importantly, it will lock up a berth in next December’s Roar of the Rings Olympic qualifying event in Ottawa.

“It would be tops,” Carruthers said after his 6-5 extra end semifinal win Saturday night over Toronto’s John Epping. “Winning the provincials was something that was really cool, but winning the Canada Cup with the best seven teams in Canada here, this would be pretty cool.”

Regular third Mark Nichols, who played with Carruthers on Jeff Stoughton’s team, has been skipping the foursome this fall while Gushue recovers from an injury, but it hasn’t missed a beat. Nichols and Co. advanced directly to the final with a 4-2 round-robin mark and has been the top men’s team this season.

“He’s my former roommate, so I know a lot about him,” Carruthers said with a smile. “We’re gonna have to play even just a little sharper than we did tonight. We had some really good ends, but that’s the beauty of 10-end games. You can’t take a couple off.”