Banged-up defending champs stay in hunt at the Brier
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Canada lead Ben Hebert called his right knee injury a little tweak. Canada skip Kevin Koe called it a torn meniscus that would require surgery.
Canada alternate Scott Pfeifer can call it an opportunity.
With Hebert watching from the back bench and Pfeifer throwing first stones, Koe guided the defending champs to an 8-5 win over Nova Scotia’s Jamie Murphy at the Tim Hortons Brier on Tuesday.
A three-point eighth end helped Canada earn the victory at Mile One Centre. Hebert is prepared to play through the pain as needed but may sit out if the injury flares up again.
“He’s got a torn meniscus in his knee,” Koe said. “He’s going to need surgery after the season or maybe after the event depending how well we [do]. So it’s just trying to manage it. He’ll still be playing some games but he’s just not going to be able to play every game.
“We’re going to need him at the end so the decision was made to give him a game off.”
Hebert, who was walking with a slight limp after the morning draw, returned to the lineup in the evening but his rink dropped a 6-4 decision to Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher.
The 2010 Olympic champion downplayed the severity of the injury.
“It’s unfortunate but I’m fine,” Hebert said. “I’ll play on some painkillers.”
Manitoba’s Mike McEwen suffered his first loss of the competition Tuesday night. B.C.’s John Morris scored a pair in the eighth end and hung on for a 7-5 victory.
McEwen outscored New Brunswick’s Mike Kennedy 9-7 earlier in the day despite throwing a team-low 79 per cent. He needed three straight deuces to salvage the win.
“You’re probably going to have an ugly victory here or there,” he said.
Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard and Saskatchewan’s Adam Casey picked up two wins apiece on the day. Menard edged Ontario’s Glenn Howard 7-6 and topped Morris 5-4 while Casey beat Kennedy 7-6 and then downed Howard 9-5.
Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories picked up his first win by upsetting local favourite Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador 8-4. Gushue bounced back with a 7-5 victory over Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs.
After 10 draws of round-robin play, McEwen leads the round-robin standings at 5-1. Jacobs is alone in second place at 5-2. Kevin Koe, Gushue and Menard are next at 4-2.