National Post (National Edition)
Gushue expects unique test at Brier
Team Canada skip expects to deal with rust
Before he left The Rock for The Bubble, defending Canadian men's curling champion Brad Gushue went to school.
Back home in St. John's, he spent a lot of time watching the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on TV, trying to pick up on the nuances of curling in a bubble environment, with no fans in the stands and with teams having not practised in the months leading up to the event.
“I learned that you're probably going to have to accept some mistakes,” Gushue said this week as his team prepared to start play in the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier on Friday at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary.
“We saw, with the women's event, that they were a bit rusty at the start, which is completely understandable.
“You can't be too hard on yourself if you miss a shot or an opportunity because there's probably going to be more of that than there typically is at the Brier. Wrapping your head around that is going to be important.”
After Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., won the Scotties last Sunday, the women cleared out of the bubble at Canada Olympic Park and the men started moving in.
Gushue's Team Canada — and the other 17 teams in the field — arrived in Calgary Tuesday, received COVID-19 tests, and then started a couple days of self-isolation in individual hotel rooms.
They started practising on Thursday, which was somewhat of a novel concept for many of the teams. In many areas of the country, teams were not able to get practice or playing time in due to health restrictions.
“We haven't played a game, as a team, since the Brier final (in March of 2020 in Kingston, Ont.), so we're going to be a bit rusty as a team,” Gushue said.
“Just the lack of games, lack of practice, lack of time together as a team, it creates that level of uncertainty as we start the Brier.”
Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker, won their third Brier title in four years in Kingston and will wear Team Canada colours in Calgary. The 2006 Olympic gold medallist was impressed with how Einarson and her teammates handled themselves in the Scotties.
“Kerri and her team did a great job … they looked like they were having the most fun out there,” Gushue said. “And it proved with the results, so we're trying to take a little bit of that attitude as well.”
While Gushue is the favourite once again for the Brier this year, there are many contenders in one of the deepest fields ever assembled for men's curling.
Many would argue that the Kingston Brier was one of the best ever, in terms of strength of field and on-ice performance. It could be very similar this year, if curlers can shake off the rust quickly.
“One advantage the men are going to have is that the ice makers will have completely dialed the ice in by now,” Manitoba skip Jason Gunnlaugson said. “Any time it's a new building, the first half of the first week, they're experimenting, but they're going to have it completely dialed in now. We might have a chance to be just a touch more on point from the get-go.”
Among the other top contenders over the next 10 days are four-time champion Kevin Koe of Calgary (Wild Card No. 2), 2014 Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, Alberta's Brendan Bottcher — who has been runner-up for the last three years — Ontario's John Epping, Winnipeg's Mike McEwen (Wild Card No. 1) and Saskatchewan's Matt Dunstone, who won a bronze medal last year at age 24.
“The depth on the men's side in Canada right now could be the best it's ever been,” Dunstone said. “There's eight, nine teams here that are complete pick 'ems as to who could win this week. You could come out and curl 90 per cent here and have a .500 record.”
Dunstone has a slightly different team this year, with the addition of former provincial championship-winning skip Kirk Muyres at second. His team is also coming in with a strong desire for more success.
“We have 100 per cent belief in this team,” said Dunstone, who also curls with third Braeden Moskowy and lead Dustin Kidby.
“For us it's not just going to the Brier any more — it's quite simply just to win it. This team fully believes that we can do it.”
Gushue realizes how impressive it is for his team to win a championship in field like this.
“To get through last year, with the level of play that was there … looking back, I'm pretty proud of it,” Gushue said. “There were some incredible shots, incredible games.”