Manitoba teams in line for Brier wild-card bid

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This article was published 04/02/2020 (2396 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba curling teams are big on second chances.

Kerri Einarson slipped into the 2018 national Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Team Wild-Card, while Mike McEwen qualified for that year’s Brier the same way.

Einarson dumped Alberta’s Chelsea Carey under the lights in Penticton, B.C., on the Friday — the eve of the Scotties. McEwen upended fellow Manitoban Jason Gunnlaugson in the Brier’s ‘play-in’ game.

This year, Tracy Fleury and Jennifer Jones, both of Manitoba, will get reacquainted in a one-game showdown for the final Scotties spot later this month in Moose Jaw, Sask. And in Kingston, Ont., later this month, the Brier’s wild-card game will include a Manitoba team again. Maybe even two.

That’s according to the latest standings of the Canadian Team Ranking Systems.

McEwen, the heavy favourite this week at the Viterra provincial men’s championship, is a lock to play in Kingston, although repeating is the preferred route to the full Brier draw. But if the sky falls here on he and his West St. Paul teammates, a fourth-place perch on the CTRS means a wild-card spot because they would be the highest-ranked team without a regional berth.

“It’s nice. I don’t look at it as too comforting. I’ve played in that game and it’s a heart-wrencher. It’s a do-or-die all game and that’s the first one of the week. It’s pretty tough to play in,” McEwen said Tuesday.

Gunnlaugson, skipping a Morris-based team, is ranked eighth and in great shape for the wild-card game, unless they win the Viterra and don’t require a second chance. Five of seven teams ahead of Gunnlaugson have punched tickets to the Brier, while McEwen and Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher are expected to do likewise.

Gunnlaugson has already felt the sting of squandering a second chance, losing to McEwen in Regina.

“Being through the experience, it’s wonderful to get a second chance but it’s a really tough game to plan for, so you really don’t want it,” he said. “To win the province would be a lot better. I don’t think we’ll be thinking about it as much this time around at all.”

Tanner Horgan’s young team from Winnipeg Beach is ranked 10th and needs some help.

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The import skip, who resides in Sudbury, Ont., and is now aligned with Colton Lott, Kyle Doering and Tanner Lott, must place no lower than third at provincials, needs either McEwen or Gunnlaugson to take the Manitoba title and have Bottcher reign supreme in Alberta.

“In a way, it’s the (two) favourites winning, provided we also step up and get third or better. Of course, first would guarantee it and that would be special in its own right,” said Horgan, just 21. He lost the Northern Ontario men’s final to Brad Jacobs in 2018 and then joined the team as fifth player in Regina.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell