Team McEwen ready to defend provincial curling title

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This article was published 04/02/2020 (2301 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers already agree on the state of the union, so that’s a constructive start for the Manitoba’s defending men’s curling champions.

McEwen, the guy calling the shots and delivering the final two, says the defending champions are primed and ready to defend their Viterra Manitoba men’s curling title. There’s a cohesiveness to the group, an element that was lacking during its first season together.

A collective talent head and shoulders above the rest of the field in Virden last year proved more than enough to vault McEwen, third Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson to the national Brier in Brandon.

But a fifth-place finish on home ice was monumentally disappointing for the first-year team, which didn’t feel in sync for much of the 2018-19 competitive season.

Fast-forward to Tuesday, the eve of the Manitoba rockfest, and the best buddies feel there’s a comfort level in their second season together that wasn’t apparent in Year 1.

“Good… it means we’re on the same page already,” said Carruthers, when informed by a reporter McEwen had just talked up the team’s consistency and comfort level. 

“We’ve been a lot more consistent. I think that’s the theme for our team, finding that consistency (and) we’ve done  that a lot better than we did last year. We’ve got a season under our belts of getting to know each other, settling into our roles. And I feel pretty confident in not only my own play but my teammates. We’ve been playing great all year, we’ve out ourselves in a good spot (on the Canadian Team Ranking System) moving forward.”

Team McEwen is ranked fourth in Canada and is fifth on the World Curling Tour after a splendid season to date on the cash bonspiel circuit and a couple of Grand Slam events.

“Actually, we’re kinda like quietly having a good year. We’ve snuck up to fourth in Canada, fifth in the world, so we’ve definitely been playing, our last two or three events, our best curling in the last year and a half as a unit,” said McEwen. “Quietly we’ve had a good year. We snuck up the standings without anybody noticing too much.”

They knocked heads as Manitoba’s premier skips for several seasons before joining forces. In fact, the last time a team that wasn’t skipped by McEwen or Carruthers won a provincial title was Jeff Stoughton’s final crown in 2014.

But the powerhouse foursome struggled throughout the cash bonspiel season, switching up skipping duties a couple of times, struggling with agreement on strategy. With McEwen firmly at the helm at the 2019 Brier, they missed the playoffs with a 6-5 record. Frustrated but undeterred, the quartet plowed ahead, still out for its first national title.

“For sure. It’s totally different playing against someone than playing with someone. Two completely different things. What I’m saying and thinking on the ice is a little bit different than if I’m playing against him,” said Carruthers. “With Mike, figuring out how to get him to play at his best, like you saw at the (2018 Olympic) Trials, that’s the goal because he was unbelievable. And I’ve seen that out of him so many times over the years. So, for me, getting him to that level.

“Also, flip the script on that. He’s now got three guys playing underneath him that he’s never curled with before. So, it’s taken a while for all of us to get used to that.”

McEwen begins the journey back to the Brier on today’s 4 p.m. draw against Viterra rookie Paul Scinocca.

Some might figure the Scinocca team from St. Vital has the unenviable task of facing McEwen in its debut. But far from it, said the 51-year-old skip.

The club curler is living the dream, playing in his first Manitoba men’s championship and about to share the same slide path with one of Canada’s finest players.

Name another sport where a local realtor and his buddies can trade shots with the world’s fifth-ranked team? 

“We’re super excited. It doesn’t happen very often that a club team gets to play a guy that puts the time and effort into it, in essence at the professional level versus the club level. So, we’re stoked to be here,” said Scinocca, who is joined by first-timers Ed Barr, Tim Loeb and Justin Hartloper.

“This is going to be fun, especially for some of us getting up in age a bit. The fact that we can play a professional-level team is outstanding.”

Scinocca’s crew caught fire at the Manitoba Open last month to earn a berth to the championship, ultimately dropping the bonspiel finale to Stonewall’s Josh Friesen. But the Friesen team had locked up an early spot, so Scinocca slid in, too.

“We went undefeated in the Manitoba Open up until the final. I don’t think going into that ’spiel we had aspirations of getting to (the Viterra) but we just got on a good roll. Sometimes, you get on a streak and put things together. We had a lot of confidence, and the more we played the more we won, the more confident we got.”

Tuesday’s practise session at Eric Coy was their first time tossing on swingy arena ice.

“We’re finding it’s a little different than we’re used to, but it’s fun. It’s really nice to get curl on both sides. It’s moving both ways, so no fear of going to the corners with curl like that. The way it curls from inside out, we just have to make sure we’re positive on our releases and make sure we’re not dumping our rocks inside or we’re going to lose those ones,” said Scinocca.

From McEwen’s perspective, that first draw — perceived as a likely cakewalk — is by no means an inconvenience.

“Not to put words in his mouth but I imagine he’s pretty excited. I would be. I think it’s fun to be in that situation because we feed off that energy, too,” said McEwen. “That’s what has made the Manitoba provincials very special, with our larger field. We still have that opportunity for a lot of teams to get this experience. I think that’s important.”

Manitoba’s 32-team draw is far and away the largest of any provincial men’s field in Canada.

“I know the tide has changed for other provincial championships, but Manitoba men’s is still very unique and a one-of-a-kind format that, hopefully, we keep going as long as we can.” 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell