Calgary Herald

`THREE AMIGOS' RALLY AS ONE

Rare curling trio more than holding its own at Princess Auto Players' Championsh­ip

- TODD SAELHOF tsaelhof@postmedia.com Twitter: Toddsaelho­fpm

If curling ever decides to put together a triples format, sign these guys up.

They look like they can handle it.

After all, despite being forced to come to terms with being a trio on the eve of entering the Calgary curling bubble, Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski and Tyler Tardi are proving to be quite the game rink during grand-slam play.

“We're calling ourselves The Three Amigos,” said Carruthers, bringing to mind the crazy troupe of Martin Short, Chevy Chase and Steve Martin in the movie of the same name.

“Derek's got a good moustache for it.”

Officially, they are here at Winsport — out to halt all the El Guapos of the curling world — under the banner of Manitoba's Team Mcewen.

With the team's skip, Mike Mcewen, opting to stay home with wife Dawn — Jennifer Jones' usual lead — to tend to the arrival of Avalon — their baby girl who was born last week — Carruthers was bumped up to skip duties for both last week's Humpty's Champions Cup and this week's Princess Auto Players' Championsh­ip.

Then as the rink readied itself to enter the bubble without Mcewen, lead Colin Hodgson — an Alberta product with plenty of ties to the Calgary area, where he lived for a few years — opted out due to personal reasons.

Because of the late notice, it was against quarantine policy to replace Hodgson, so they forged ahead as a unique curling trio.

“We decided as a group that we have the players to play as three and be successful as long as we get the breaks and gel well,” Carruthers said. “It's three guys who have played mixed doubles. So our approach of having Derek and Tyler throwing three rocks each (per end), it's kind of like a normal mixed doubles setting.

“So it's one of those scenarios where if one of those two get hot, they could be tough to beat because they're throwing three rocks each. And right now, Derek and Tyler are playing well.”

Well enough, in fact, that through three days of the Players' Championsh­ip, Team Mcewen sits atop Men's Pool B action.

On Thursday, Carruthers &

Co. beat Switzerlan­d's Yannick Schwaller 6-2 after a quick start of two in the first end and a steal of two more in the second in a pivotal battle between 2-1 sides.

The win all but qualified Team Mcewen for a berth into the playoff round.

“We've put ourselves in a good spot,” Carruthers said. “I think there's a good chance we've qualified for playoffs, but it's not official yet. Even if we finish 3-2, we're in the tiebreaker scenario, worst case.”

Not bad for a newly formed triumvirat­e.

The extent of Carruthers' time with B.C.'S Tardi prior to these two weeks of grand-slam action was one practice.

That unfamiliar­ity likely contribute­d to what was a 1-3 record in the Champions Cup, the first of these two consecutiv­e Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling events.

“We finished 1-3 in the first slam but lost two games on the last rock,” Carruthers said. “So we had some really close games.

“For us to have gelled right out of the gate, it would've been a lot to ask — especially against the other top 11 teams in the world,” continued Mcewen's usual 36-year-old third. “But I would say we're definitely gaining some momentum in this slam.”

CHAMPIONSH­IP SCORES

Thursday's morning draw also saw: another Manitoba rink skipped by Jennifer Jones, a sixtime winner of the event, double up Ottawa's Rachel Homan (1-2) 8-4; Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa get by Russia's Alina Kovaleva 7-4; and Switzerlan­d's Anna Hasselborg torch Scotland's

Eve Muirhead (0-3) 7-1. … The afternoon draw saw: Switzerlan­d's Elena Stern (2-2) defeat South Korea's Min-ji Kim (2-1) 6-3; Ontario's Brad Jacobs (2-2) get the better of Sweden's Niklas Edin (2-2) 6-2; Switzerlan­d's Silvana Tirinzoni (2-1) cruise to 10-3 win over Manitoba's Kerri Einarson (2-1); and Manitoba's Tracy Fleury (2-2), skipped by Calgary's Chelsea Carey, earn a 7-4 triumph over American Tabitha Peterson (0-3). … Draw 10 also saw: Scotland's Bruce Mouat (4-0) beat Winnipeg's Jason Gunnlaugso­n (1-3) 6-3; Saskatchew­an's Matt Dunstone (2-1) blast Newfoundla­nd and Labrador's Brad Gushue (2-0) 7-2; and Calgary's Kevin Koe (1-3) finally forge a win, 7-4 over Ontario's John Epping (0-3). … The night games featured: Hasselborg (2-1) vs. Kovaleva (2-1); Edmonton's Brendan Bottcher (0-3) vs. Switzerlan­d's Peter De Cruz (2-1); Homan (1-2) vs. Muirhead (0-3) and Fujisawa (2-1) vs. Jones (2-1).

EXTRA ENDS

Friday is the final day of round-robin action in the Players' Championsh­ip. Draws go at 8 a.m., noon (Sportsnet West), 4 p.m. (Sportsnet West) and 8 p.m. (Sportsnet 360). … If needed, tiebreaker­s are slated for Saturday (noon) followed by the quarter-finals (4 p.m.) and semifinals (8 p.m.), leading into Sunday's two finals for the women (9:30 a.m.) and men (2 p.m.). … The payout is $40,000 to the winners and $25,000 to the runners-up.

 ?? KEVIN KING/FILES ?? With Mike Mcewen opting to stay home with a newborn, Reid Carruthers, pictured, has been skip for both last week's Humpty's Champions Cup and this week's Princess Auto Players' Championsh­ip.
KEVIN KING/FILES With Mike Mcewen opting to stay home with a newborn, Reid Carruthers, pictured, has been skip for both last week's Humpty's Champions Cup and this week's Princess Auto Players' Championsh­ip.
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