`BIZARRO BRIER' HAS BEEN GREAT FOR CURLING FANS
A few mid-ranked teams have been giving Canada's top foursomes all they can handle
It hasn't had quite the same mystery, intrigue and emotion of the recent Scotties Tournament of Hearts, but the 2024 Montana's Brier is still shaping up to be memorable for reasons no one expected.
Call it the “Bizarro Brier” if you will, with long-shots contending for first place, top teams fighting for playoff spots and a four-time champion and perennial contender already crashed out of the competition.
This week in Regina has been wild, and while the usual suspects may yet emerge on the weekend to play for the Canadian championship, the excitement created by upsets and strong performances from teams that are not part of the Grand Slam circuit has been refreshing.
“It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen,” Saskatchewan skip Mike McEwen told reporters.
He was specifically referring to “Blue Monday,” a day like few others in the history of the Brier.
On that day, teams among the top six seeds of the event lost five games. Kevin Koe and Brad Gushue have nine Brier titles between them but combined for three losses on that day, two of them to much lower-ranked teams. Top seed Brendan Bottcher fell to Northern Ontario's Trevor Bonot and McEwen lost to Matt Manuel of Nova Scotia.
Gushue told me before the Brier that the key to success this week would be winning games over the teams you are supposed to beat. That's completely out the window now.
Alberta's three teams — top seeded Bottcher, third-seeded Koe and seventh-seed Aaron Sluchinski — combined to lose five games on Monday.
“I've just never seen it happen, so many big upsets,” McEwen said. “That's wild. Some of the mid-ranked teams played their A-games and the seeded teams came out with their B-games. Those mid-ranked teams are playing well. There have been really good performances out there.”
The entertainment value has been off the charts.
All this comes on the heels of a Scotties that was marked by the still unsolved Briane Harris “ineligibility” mystery, the farewell tour of Jennifer Jones and the remarkable 11-0 championship run by Rachel Homan.
Fans of the game of curling have been the real winners.
Heading into the afternoon games on Wednesday, Brier rookie Bonot of Northern Ontario was alone in first place in Pool A with a 5-1 record, with Bottcher and Manitoba's Reid Carruthers (with Brad Jacobs skipping) not far behind at 4-1.
Over in Pool B, Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories, Tyler Smith of Prince Edward Island and Mike McEwen of Saskatchewan entered Wednesday's action tied for top spot at 4-1.
If you put money on that triumvirate leading the way, you are probably making a killing.
By the end of the morning draw, things looked a little more normal, with McEwen breaking away at 5-1, two-time defending champion Gushue on his heels at 5-2, Jamie Koe and Smith tied for the final playoff spot at 4-2.
Meanwhile Kevin Koe, who came into the Brier as the third seed and was seeking his fifth Canadian men's curling championship, was languishing near the bottom of the standings with a stunning 1-5 record.
“This is about rock bottom,” Koe said. “This is a new feeling. It sucks.”
Koe's shocking fall and the impressive performances by “non-Slam” teams like Bonot, Jamie Koe and Smith have made things much more interesting than some of the recent Briers.
The six playoff teams in 2023 included Slammers Kevin Koe, Brendan Bottcher, Matt Dunstone, McEwen, Gushue and Darren Moulding.
In 2022, it was Brad Jacobs, Colton Flasch, Gushue, Jason Gunnlaugson, Koe and Bottcher, all Slam regulars, in the playoffs.
We may yet see a final between Gushue and Bottcher on Sunday, but it's been fun seeing some of the little guys make such an impact on the round robin.