TIM HORTONS BRIER Gushue begins title defence with victory over B.C.
REGINA — Team Canada’s Brad Gushue rolled past British Columbia’s Sean Geall 10-2 in eight ends on Saturday in the second draw of the Tim Hortons Brier.
Gushue scored four in the sixth end and added two in the seventh for his first win of Canada’s men’s curling championship.
He and his rink from St. John’s, N.L., are the defending champions.
Alternate Tom Sallows got a chance to try out the ice, replacing second Brett Gallant in the final end for Canada.
It was a mostly even matchup between Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and Nova Scotia’s James Murphy. Both skips made admirable shots when the pressure was on, but Murphy edged Bottcher 7-6 in 11 ends.
Mike McEwen saw some pressure from Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin in Draw 2. However, the rookie from Whitehorse lost momentum after McEwen scored two in the sixth end, falling 5-3 to the wildcard team.
Brier veteran Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories was challenged by rookie skip Greg Smith from Newfoundland and Labrador, who got that province’s entry with Gushue already representing Canada. Koe prevailed 9-7.
Earlier, hometown favourite Steve Laycock and his Saskatchewan rink fell to Quebec’s Mike Fournier 5-2 in nine ends in the first draw.
Laycock lost after allowing a steal of two in the eighth and one in the ninth, in his opening game of the round-robin tournament at Canada’s men’s curling championship.
Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs topped Ontario’s John Epping 4-3, despite the pressure from the Toronto-based rink.
Top-seeded Reid Carruthers of Manitoba overcame some stressful situations from Prince Edward Island. But Eddie MacKenzie’s team couldn’t capitalize enough, dropping a 12-7 decision to Carruthers in eight ends.
New Brunswick’s James Grattan led for most of the game against Nunavut’s Dave St. Louis, scoring deuces in the eighth and ninth end for a final score of 9-3.