Free Press scribes Ed Tait and Paul Wiecek take a look back at the Brier week that was at the MTS Centre, offering up some highlights,
some lowlights and some of the absolutely atrocious...
The Good
The Crowds -- Look, critics will undoubtedly reference the 200,000-plus crowds Briers in Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon (twice each) have drawn in the last 11 years, but with a total of (165,075) taking in games in Winnipeg, the Canadian Curling Association expects to turn a profit of at least $500,000. The attendance totals are still short of the 200,000 organizers had hoped for, but a last-minute rush by curling fans in town -- surprise, surprise -- makes this the seventh-best attended Brier in the 79 years of the event.
Hometown Boy Does Good -- Two thumbs up -- wa-a-a-y up -- for the work of B.C. skip Bob Ursel, the Winnipeg product who won the Canadian juniors and world juniors wearing Manitoba colours back in 1984-85. Fans had their fingers crossed Kerry Burtnyk's crew would be playing on the final weekend, but Ursel shook off an 0-3 start to win seven of his last eight games to make the playoffs before falling to Ontario in the 3-4 playoff game. Not too shabby for a bunch of guys who don't play a lot the World Curling Tour.
A Big Salute -- It was one of those 'you-had-to-be-there' moments, but the standing ovation Burtnyk got from the home crowd after he was ousted from the playoff picture on Thursday night was heartfelt and genuine. Kudos to Pat Simmons and his Saskatchewan crew for joining in honouring a curling icon.
Burton Belts It Out -- The Brier Patch was humming, as per usual, especially on the opening and closing weekends. And Burton Cummings gets our vote for the best performance by a collection of dandy acts that took the Patch stage.
Mr. Unsung Gets it Done -- There were some challenges at the MTS Centre, especially working in a new building that had never staged a Brier before and which suffered through some ventilation issues when the mercury rose. However, ice technician Hans Wuthrich kept the ice at a world-class level. His work just further justified the decision to have him handle the ice-making duties at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
The Bad
Losing Sucks. Losing at Home Is Even Worse -- Curling fans had high hopes for Kerry Burtnyk's foursome, but after beating up on some of the Brier patsies to open 4-0, the Assiniboine Memorial squad would win only two of its last seven to finish 6-5 and miss the playoffs. And in a province that has racked up more Brier titles than any other -- 26 -- that just doesn't cut it.
What Gives, Captain High Liner? -- Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse, a dead ringer for the guy who serves up fish sticks, took Alberta to the last rock, lost to Manitoba in an extra end, dropped an 8-7 nailbiter to B.C., knocked off a former Olympic champ in Newfoundland's Brad Gushue and kept finalists Alberta and Ontario close in 8-6 losses. And then he was spanked 13-2 by Quebec, 13-3 by P.E.I. and lost 7-2 to Northern Ontario. That's 0-3 and being outscored 33-7 against three doormats who combined to win 10 games.
Saskatchewan's Same-old, Same-old -- Go ahead and shed a tear for Pat Simmons, whom some are calling the hard-luck squad of the Brier after he lost 8-7 to Alberta with a picked last rock in the 1-2 playoff game and then lost by the same score to Ontario in the semifinal. The cold, hard reality, however, is this: Saskatchewan's Brier drought has now reached 29 years, dating back to Rick Folk in 1980. Enough said.
Flogging An Old Issue -- That said, we'd still like to get this off our chest: the Brier would be a whole lot more interesting if the Northern Ontario entry was deep-sixed and replaced by a Team Canada.
The Ugly
Can You Smell That The Rock Wasn't Cooking? -- Credit Newfoundland for getting to a tiebreaker after stumbling out of the hack with an 0-2 start, but more -- much more -- was expected from Brad Gushue's bunch. Gushue finished as the third-best skip in shooting percentage behind Kevin Martin and Glenn Howard, but was let down by the rest of his crew. Third Mark Nichols ranked sixth, second Chris Schille was fourth and his lead David Noftall really struggled. Noftall was the seventh-best lead at the Brier and whenever Gushue was looking for his front-end to get some guards in play or generate offence, his lead disappointed, including hogging the first rock of the 10th end in a loss to B.C. in the tiebreaker.
Le Grande Kersplash -- Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard entered the Brier as the dark horse pick of many curling pundits. But the 2006 Brier champ was just 4-7 in the round-robin and their combination of bad luck and boneheaded play was entertaining and disappointing at the same time.
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