Ontario emerges as only unbeaten rink left in Brier
Gushue now 7-1
EDMONTON — And then there was Ontario.
Glenn Howard’s Ontario rink walked out of Rexall Place on Wednesday night as the lone undefeated squad (7-0) at the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier, thanks to some help from Jeff Stoughton. Stoughton led his Manitoba team (6-1) to a 9-5, nine-end win over previously undefeated Newfoundland and Labrador, which is now 7-1.
Ontario topped New Brunswick (4-4) 7-3 in eight ends.
“That’s the best thing, is that second number stays at zero,” Howard said of the perfect record. “I can’t say enough about my guys. We didn’t miss anything. It was a pleasure to be a part of.”
Howard used a four-ender in the eighth end to wrap the game up.
“I just can’t say enough about how we’re playing,” Howard said. “I just love that my three guys are making everything in front of me, which makes my life so much simpler. We’re making all the right shots at the right time and hopefully our mistakes aren’t too many.”
Gushue said the loss was disappointing.
“I didn’t expect to go 11-0,” he said. “I would have rathered it come later, I guess.”
Kevin Martin has a flicker of light in front of him that will lead his Alberta team into Thursday.
Martin used a four-ender in the third to wipe out a 2-0 Northwest Territories/Yukon advantage that translated into an 8-3, eight-end win. Martin, the four-time Brier champ, is now 3-4. The loss sent Jamie Koe’s Territories team to 3-5.
“I just said (on Tuesday) that we just have to come out here and win as many as we can,” Martin said. “Obviously the four losses at the start were not good and it might even be too many for that matter, but for us, we played well and hopefully (on Thursday) we’ll win two and then we can talk about seeing what the chances are, that kind of thing.”
In the longest match of the night, Eddie MacKenzie’s Prince Edward Island rink picked up its first win, a 10-7 victory over B.C.
P.E.I. jumped out to an 5-1 lead in the fifth end, but B.C. skip Andrew Bilesky pushed his team back into the game.
“It went down to last rock. It could have been done a little earlier, I suppose, but it’s nice to pull ’er out,” MacKenzie said. “Now we’ll try to get a few more before we leave.”
The win is MacKenzie’s fourth in three Brier trips.
He almost went 2-0 on the day but his rink gave up three 10th-end points in an 8-6 loss to James Grattan and New Brunswick.