Gushue takes it to the next level
Defending champs from St. John’s make a splash as they enter a new pool at the Brier
Brad Gushue and Team Canada got off to a strong start in the championship round of the Tim Hortons Brier Thursday, downing Reid Carruthers and Manitoba 7-2 in a game that saw the defending Canadian men’s curling champions in control almost from the start.
“(Continuing to win) eliminates teams in the pecking order that can get us in that 1-2 game, so yeah, it is important to win those games. To have those two cracks to get into the final is real important.” Brad Gushue
That result left Gushue and his St. John’s team of Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker with a 7-1 record, and tied with Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs and Ontario’s John Epping heading into Thursday night’s late draw.
Sixteen teams participated in the Brier’s preliminary round, which saw teams divided into two pools. Eight teams — the top four from each of the two pools — moved to this next phase while taking their records with them.
Gushue’s championship round opponents are those advancing from the other pool — teams he didn’t face in the preliminary round. That includes Epping and Jacobs, the two teams he plays today, and Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock, his opponent Thursday night.
The result of that game was not available at The Telegram’s press deadline, but can be found online at thetelegram. com
The top four finishers in the
championship round advance to the Page Playoffs.
With his record, Gushue could lose one of his remaining three games and still get to the playoff round, but the goal is to come away with a top-two finish. That would provide a berth in the 1-2 Page playoff game,
with the winner of that one going directly to Sunday’s final.
That makes each result crucial.
“It’s that way for every game we play from this point,” said Gushue after the win over Carruthers. “Now Reid’s got three losses, plus we’ve beaten him,
so really we’re three games ahead of him.
“That eliminates teams in the pecking order (of those) that can get us in that 1-2 game, so yeah, it is important to win those games. To have those two cracks to get into the final is real important.”
The loser of the 1-2 Page Playoffs drops to the semifinal to face the winner of the playoff between the third and fourth seeds.
The semifinal will be played earlier Sunday, so the bronzemedal game has been eliminated from the schedule.
Sunday’s champion represents Canada at the world men’s curling championship in Las Vegas from March 31 -April 8.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s representatives in the Brier, skipped by Greg Smith of St. John’s, didn’t get to the championship round after finishing 1-6 in preliminary play, but have one more game remaining. Smith, Matthew Hunt, Andrew Taylor and Ian Withy come take on Prince Edward Island this morning to determine their final placing.
After that, you can expect them to be cheering on Gushue and Co., and not just because of Newfoundland nationalism.
If Team Canada successfully defends its title, it will mean Gushue’s team won’t participate in the 2019 Tankard provincial men’s championship, giving rinks like Smith a chance to get to the Brier. Prior to this year, Gushue-skipped teams had won the Tankard 11 straight times and 14 of the last 15, the only gap in his Brier-representative streak coming in 2006 when he and Nichols were busy winning Olympic gold for Canada in Italy.