Mcdonah brothers off to Brier
Truro curlers comprise front end on Greg Smith’s N.L. rink
It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks for brothers Alex and Evan Mcdonah of Truro, who are now busy packing their bags for a trip to Calgary this week and the 2021 edition of the Tim Hortons Brier opening Friday.
The Mcdonahs make up Greg Smith's front end, with Evan throwing lead stones and Alex at second. Greg Blyde is third and Adam Boland is fifth on the team from the Remax Centre/st. John's Curling Club, and Bally Haly, coached by Leslie Anne Walsh.
It's a complete new team from the group Smith curled with last season, and the foursome that represented Newfoundland and Labrador in the 2018 Brier in Regina, Sask., where Smith was 1-6.
Smith had actually reached out to Evan Mcdonah about curling with the team last spring.
Turns out the timing was perfect. Evan had planned on returning to Memorial University to study civil engineering.
“We knew Evan through junior play,” said Smith, and he was always a talent with the draw game. It was a natural fit to get him in at lead. He said he was going to be living in St. John's, attending MUN. It worked out perfect.'
Mcdonah was joining the team with Smith, Blyde, and Winnipeg's Braden Zawada.
However, because of COVID-19 and quarantine rules, plans to use Zawada throughout at the season at second were short-lived.
It was January when Smith told Evan Mcdonah to place a call to his brother.
“Tell him he's on the team,” Smith said.
Evan, at 22, is two years older than Alex. Evan has never played in a Canadian championship, but Alex curled in the under-18 nationals with Nova Scotia.
Alex is also attending Memorial, studying biology with a plan to do optometry later on.
Alex Mcdonah was going to curl with Ryan McneilLamswood of St. John's in junior this season but with no junior nationals, McneilLamswood played in the Tankard provincial men's championship with his St. John's Super League team.
“That left Alex open to play with us,” Smith said. “We knew he was good.”
“He moved here in January,” Evan Mcdonah said of his brother, “and now here we are going to the Brier.
“It's been a lot of fun, some of the most fun I've ever had in curling,” he said. “It's pretty exciting to win a Tankard, and to do it with Alex is pretty special.”
Newfoundland and Labrador's first game at the Brier is 9:30 p.m. Friday (AT) against Quebec.