Not much rest for Gushue and Brier champions

Brad Gushue and his Brier championship curling rink from St. John’s won’t be celebrating their latest Canadian men’s curling championship with fans back in Newfoundland until next week. After capturing their second consecutive Brier title in Regina on Sunday, Gushue and teammates Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker moved one province over to Winnipeg, where the Elite 10, the final event on the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule begins Thursday.

After wrapping up play in Winnipeg, the team is set to return to St. John’s. However, it won’t be long before they are heading out again as they will once again be representing Canada at the world men’s curling championship which begins March 31 in Las Vegas.

Gushue and Co. face rinks skipped by Glenn Howard and Niklas Edin on Thursday, the latter being a preview of last year’s world men’s final. The Gushue rink plays Brier bronze-medallist John Epping and Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in pool play Friday at the Elite 10. The playoffs start Saturday and the final is Sunday morning.

There are two more Grand Slam events in April, the Players Championship in Toronto and the Champions Cup in Calgary.

The Gushue rink, which claimed the Elite 10 two years ago, has won two Grand Slam events this season, the Tour Challenge and the Masters, both victories coming in the fall.