ACCOMPLISHED GUSHUE HAS NEW ROLE AT BRIER
Returns to showcase for first time as conquering skip
This year marks the 15th time Brad Gushue has played in the Canadian men’s curling championship but, for the first time, he is returning as skip of Team Canada.
When Gushue won the 2017 Brier, it was straight from a movie script. Returning from injury, he and his team of Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker felt a lot of pressure at the St. John’shosted Brier.
It had been 41 years since Newfoundland last won a Canadian championship, dating back to Jack MacDuff ’s landmark national title win at Regina’s Exhibition Stadium.
“We wanted to play so well at home, and we put so much into it,” Gushue says. “Going into a Brier in your home city as the No. 1 team in the world, and it being the first time we (hosted) the Brier in 45 years, there was a lot of anticipation. We felt the pressure, and a lot of that pressure was put on ourselves because we wanted to play so well.”
Gushue’s rink was diligent in its planning for the event. It was, he says, a battle, with every game coming down to last rock, and every other team playing well.
The entire gold-medal final against Kevin Koe’s Team Canada led to Gushue’s final rock. He threw a draw to the eight-foot ring, just past Koe’s rock, for one point and the win.
“It was pure excitement, and relief, really,” Gushue says. “When it was all over and that final rock stopped, it was almost excitement we didn’t have to feel that pressure anymore. Obviously also the excitement to have won, and to have won at home, all that combined exploded.”
The 2017 Brier well-prepared the team for the 2017 world men’s championship in Edmonton, where the foursome swept the other teams 11-0 to win gold. Gushue says that although competition throughout the world is at a very high level, Canada has an amazing depth of teams.
With the world championship victory, Gushue became the only Canadian skip to win the Canadian and world junior championships, the Canadian and world men’s championships, and an Olympic gold medal.
When asked about his incredible success, he credits “hard work, a great team and a little bit of luck.”
After a successful junior curling career, Gushue was able to smoothly transition from the junior level to the men’s game.
“That transition for me was putting in the work, putting in the effort, and learning from the experienced players like Kevin Martin, Russ Howard, Randy Ferbey — guys I’ve played with and been around,” he says. “And no matter how good you are as a player or as a skip, you’re not going to win without three other good players.”
In addition to his Brier win last year, the 2006 Winter Olympics are clearly another event that stands out as a career highlight.
He calls it a “life-changing experience,” as he and his team were the first Olympic gold medallists from Newfoundland.
“Our province embraced us like no other athlete before,” he adds. “They named streets, highways, schools, parks, all kinds of stuff, after us.
“At 25 years old, that was a little tough to adjust to. But it was fun.”
Gushue missed playing in the 2006 Brier in Regina due to his Olympic commitments, so he’s looking forward to the 2018 event.
As Team Canada, Gushue’s rink knew a full year ahead it would be competing in the 2018 Brier and was not required to play in the provincial competition, though he said the team isn’t approaching the Brier differently than in any other year.
Although Gushue has checked off winning all of the major events on his list of goals, he notes, “that doesn’t mean I can’t do it twice,” including a win at the 2018 Brier.
Although he didn’t represent Canada at the 2018 Olympics, he said likely he will play one more four-year cycle to try for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and then determine his future in curling.
“I just want to continue to play each event and see if we can win them,” he says.