McEwen, Manitoba mates raring to rock in St. John’s

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This article was published 03/03/2017 (3431 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — There were a lot of handshakes, back slaps and even a few hugs this morning as the boys of winter assembled at Mile One Centre for a chance to test out the ice a day before the official start of the 2017 Brier.

Everone knows everyone at the Canadian men’s curling championship.

“Lots of familiar faces,” a grinning Mike McEwen, who is skipping his Fort Rouge team in their second straight Brier, said after a practice session. “We’re all wearing different colours than what we would normally see each other in, on every other given weekend.”

Regular gear boldly bearing the names and logos of team sponsors is nowhere to be seen. McEwen, third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld are sporting traditional Manitoba yellow-and-whites with the buffalo crest on their backs instead.

“You know everybody, and everybody’s pretty loose,” McEwan said. “But things are going to be amplified once this gets going. I’m excited for that. Guys will get pretty amped up (Saturday).”

Team Manitoba takes on Saskatchewan’s Adam Casey in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. opening draw.

Every one of the 5,500 seats at the downtown arena is sold out for the opener. Most fans will be solidly behind Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland-Labrador team, the home-team favourite.

Gushue begins his quest for a first-ever national men’s title against Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher, one sheet over from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan battle.

McEwen is anticipating a raucous crowd.

“Communication might be a little bit cumbersome,” he said. “We might have to use some hand signals, depending on what’s happening beside us.

“I know first draw of a Brier, there’ll be some anxious energy there for all of us. I think we’ll be ready to play, and really feeding off the environment. I think it’ll be exciting to play in.”

Manitoba’s rink takes Saturday night off but assumes the role of the villain Sunday (7:30 a.m.) in a showdown with Gushue. McEwen takes on Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories in the evening draw (5:30 p.m.)

It’s the first time St. John’s has hosted the national men’s championship since 1972, when Winnipeg’s Orest Meleschuk hoisted the Brier trophy.

Gushue, playing in his 14th Canadian men’s championship, played a pivotal role in helping the local bid committee win the favour of Curling Canada to land the event.

The 2006 Olympic gold medallist is now focused on being a competitor, and he’s keenly aware his foursome of third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker will garner a huge chunk of the attention during the nine-day event.

“It feels great. We’ve certainly felt the love the last few weeks,” said Gushue, who grew up about eight minutes from Mile One Centre and now owns several businesses in St. John’s. “For us, it certainly would be nice to win, I’m not going to lie. But at the end of this week, we really want to just embrace this opportunity that we have. It could, arguably, be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity… a full house that is going to be cheering for us.

“We certainly want to put on a good show,” added the 36-year-old curler, who lost the 2016 final to Kevin Koe in Ottawa. “We want to soak it all up and embrace it.”

Koe’s Team Canada begins defence of its crown Saturday evening against Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec.

Meaningful games are already underway this afternoon, with Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut and the Yukon Territories knocking heads in a pre-qualifying round for a single spot in the main Brier draw.

Jamie Murphy of Halifax leads the round-robin at 2-0, while P.E.I.’s Eddie MacKenzie and Yukon’s Craig Kochan are both 1-1. Nunavut’s Jim Nix is 0-2.

Meanwhile, players already have their scintillating shot-making abilities on full display this afternoon at the annual hotshots preliminary competition, with the final set for Satuday morning.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell