Gushue and crew enjoying dream run to Champions Cup
The Golden State Warriors have some company when it comes to amazing winning seasons.
Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue has had a season many curlers could only dream of.
Entering Thursday night’s Draw 9 in the 2016 Champions Cup, Gushue and his rink have a record of 108-18.
That’s an 85.7 winning percentage.
“It’s the best year for sure. We’ve won nine events if you include our provincials. We’ve won over half of the events we’ve entered, and it’s still shocking to us, but we’ve had a lot of things go our way. It’s going to be hard to top this when it comes to a wins and losses perspective,” said Gushue.
“With the exception of one game (Brier final against Kevin Koe), it could’ve been a remarkable year, but we’re very proud of what we accomplished.”
His rink, featuring third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker, has won three Grand Slam titles on the World Curling Tour.
With a victory two weeks ago at the Players Championship in Toronto, Gushue completed the career Grand Slam and has a 16game win streak in Grand Slam events.
Gushue’s team tops the WCT money list, taking home $183,551.
This is the second year the group has been together. Sometimes it takes time for teams to build that chemistry, but the Gushue rink has been red hot since the first rock was thrown back in September. “It comes down to the second year together as a full team and being comfortable in different situations. Mark (Nichols) is playing really well this year and I’ve been playing good and Geoff and Brett continue to get better,” said Gushue.
“When you get to a point where
We’ve had a lot of things go our way. It’s going to be hard to top this when it comes to a wins and losses perspective.
you can say just about anything to a guy and they respect you and compete for you and be your buddy after the game — that comfort really matters.”
The only blemish on the season for the 35-year-old who’s made 13 trips to the Brier is the loss to Koe in the Brier final, but that’s hardly something to be disappointed about.
“It’s something that’s eluded me, and getting that Brier win and a world championship is something that we’re continuing to chase moving forward,” said Gushue.
“(Next year), if our winning percentage drops by five per cent we’ll think of it as being equal if we can win that world championship.”