Gushue gloomy as major curling events teem with teams
Team Canada skip doesn’t hate worlds format like the Brier, but says playoffs are too much
Brad Gushue would give up his free pass as Team Canada to next year’s Brier if Curling Canada would ditch its new 16-team format for the 13-team one being used at the world men’s curling championship.
It’s the year of the format change in curling, and Gushue doesn’t hate the one adopted for this year’s event in Sin City as much as he hated the one put into play for the Brier. There are things Gushue doesn’t like about the new 13-team setup at the world event. The defending champion skip summed up his first-day play as “terrible” after beating Russia 7-6 and losing 8-7 to Scotland. Gushue doesn’t hate the new 13-team, six-teams-into-theplayoffs format like he hated the 16-team, two-pool format the membership of Curling Canada foisted upon the paying public in Regina for this year’s Brier.
“If they decided to go to a 13-team Brier and we had to go qualify out of Newfoundland and give up being Team Canada again next year, we’d gladly do it — no problem at all,” Gushue said. “I said that right from the time they brought Team Canada in, I don’t believe it was necessary. I’m not going to change my mind because I’m in the advantageous position of being Team Canada and getting the free pass into the Brier.”
Before the 16-team Brier, Gushue said: “I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all.” In the middle of the event: “The more I play it, the more I hate it.” After running a 12-team worlds last year in Edmonton, the World Curling Federation decided to qualify three teams from Asia instead of two.
“I don’t mind the 13 teams. That’s not an issue for me. It’s just an extra game,” Gushue said. “But the playoff system with six out of 13 teams is too many.” That’s what Gushue doesn’t like about this format.
The top two teams in the round robin each advance to a semifinal. Third place meets sixth place and fourth place meets fifth place in playoff games with the winners advancing to their respective semifinals.
“You’re almost at 50 per cent of the field,” he said. “A typical curling event when we play on tour is 32 teams with eight qualifying for the playoffs, or 25 per cent.” Gushue followed the women’s worlds from North Bay, Ont., where the system made its debut. “Jennifer Jones went through undefeated and played a semifinal against the U.S.A. team that had six losses,” he said.
“I’m good with the 13 teams, but I think four in the playoffs with the Page playoff system is what we should have here. I’d certainly like to see the Page.” In that system, the top two teams are matched up. That winner advances to the final, and the loser drops down to play in a semifinal against the winner of a match between third and fourth place.
How about a 13-team Brier? “You could have a 13-team round robin at the Brier if you eliminated Team Canada and the wild card team and maybe did something with the territories. I think of bringing them down to just a couple of teams because they don’t have as many competitive teams up there,” Gushue said, without an actual mention of Nunavut.
The way these worlds began for Gushue, maybe six teams in the playoffs is a good thing. After running the table with a 13-0 record at the Edmonton worlds, Gushue opened against Russia’s Alexey Timofeev, who was 0-11 last year. Gushue scored three on the first end but had to throw one of his skip rocks in the 10th end to get the win.
The record for consecutive victories in back-to-back years at worlds remained with Don Duguid of Winnipeg, who won 17 straight in capturing backto-back titles in 1970 and ’71. Gushue’s streak was stopped at 14 with the loss to Scotland in the night draw.
Gushue scored two on the opening end, but Scotland’s Bruce Mouat was a tough out. Facing five in the seventh, Gushue rolled off a takeout to give up a steal of two, then removed his own rock on an in-off to give Mouat a routine draw to score two and win it in the 10th. There is precedent for a halfdozen-team playoff. In 1995, after Randy Ferbey won his fourth Brier as a skip, he went to Victoria for worlds where there was a six-way tie for first after the round robin.