Manitoba’s Gunnlaugson hoping to stick around at Brier this time

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This article was published 28/02/2020 (2362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KINGSTON, Ont. — Jason Gunnlaugson packed for a week-and-a-half and hit the road, just to get his pride pounded after an abbreviated stay at the Canadian men’s curling championship two years ago.

Granted, a 90-minute flight to Regina wasn’t a hardship, but getting bumped from the 2018 Brier basically before it even began was less than optimal, to say the least. He lost to fellow Manitoban Mike McEwen in the wild-card game, waged on the eve of the 16-team championship for Canada’s top-ranked foursomes that failed to qualify out of their province or territory.

McEwen went hunting for a title. Gunnlaugson just went home.

Fast-forward to this weekend in Kingston, Ont., and his Morris-based team is a full-fledged member of the Brier fraternity. No second chance was required. Gunnlaugson, with Alex Forrest, Adam Casey and Connor Njegovan, is representing Manitoba at one of the country’s most celebrated sporting events.

The Brier begins today at Leon’s Centre, where the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs usually play.

“Knowing you are going to be there the whole time makes it easier to play, that’s for sure,” said Gunnlaugson, 35, one of curling’s most familiar faces, despite being a Brier rookie. “As people who work and curl, it’s nice to know we’re actually taking that vacation time and using it, not coming back with our tails between your legs and going back to work Monday morning.”

Gunnlaugson’s crew, ranked seventh on the Canadian Team Ranking System and seeded eighth here, won’t get the luxury of easing its way in. A major winter storm delayed the team’s arrival for a day, but the foursome practised Friday afternoon — under the watchful eye of two-time coach Garry Van Den Berghe — and curls on the opening draw today at 1 p.m. against 2006 Olympic gold medallist and 2017 world champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., who’s making his 17th Brier appearance.

Leaping right into the deep end of Pool B has its advantages, said Gunnlaugson.

“Yeah, we’ve got a front-loaded start. We play the top-three seeds in the pool in our first four games, so definitely it will be a good way to start it off. I think I prefer it that way, for sure,” he said.

“There’s always the most crazy things happening early in the week, the first couple of draws, so I think it’s a good thing to be playing Gushue, who’s obviously so good, maybe you can catch him on an off day early in the week.”

On Sunday, Manitoba faces No.1-seed Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, and fourth-seed Brendan Bottcher of Alberta Monday.

Gunnlaugson has some company from back home. Late Friday, Mike McEwen’s West St. Paul team slipped into the Brier field with a 5-4 victory over Glenn Howard of Ontario in the wild-card game.

The field is split, and teams play seven round-robin games. The top four in each group advance to the championship round, where they’ll play four more games to determine which four teams qualify for the Page playoffs.

Defending champion Kevin Koe skips the Team Canada entry – in Pool B — and is hoping to etch his name in the Brier record books. The Edmonton skip owns four national men’s titles, tied for most with legends Ernie Richardson, Randy Ferbey and Kevin Martin, and is on the drive for five.

Gushue, Jacobs, Bottcher, Koe, Ontario’s John Epping, former Winnipegger Matt Dunstone, now skipping Saskatchewan, and either McEwen or Howard — the upper crust of a rock-solid field, to be sure, with just four making it to the weekend playoffs.

But Gunnlaugson said he doesn’t scare easily.

He’s run up against all the contenders, most more than once, during an unusually hectic 2019-20 competitive season. They played a remarkable 89 games (60-29) in Canada and abroad, won three events and hold down 11th spot on the World Curling Tour.

“That’s the big thing. We’ve spent the time and effort and a ton of cost travelling and playing in (Grand) Slams and all over the world to be a high-ranked team, so there shouldn’t be nerves playing anyone,” he said.

“It will be exciting on the first day, for sure, a new experience for most of us. And both Adam and Garry bring a ton of experience.”

Casey is the import of the group in the truest sense. A resident of Prince Edward Island, he’s participating in his seventh Brier and joins former Winnipegger Ryan Fry as the only curlers to represent four different provinces at the nationals. Casey previously represented Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan.

Fry, tossing third stones for Epping, previously won Olympic gold with Jacobs in 2014 and also played on behalf of Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Gunnlaugson, admittedly a ball of energy who has shown in the past he can lose his focus, said Casey has been a calming influence. Casey throws second but holds the broom calls line on his skipper’s two stones.

“We’ve picked his brain quite a bit,” said Gunnlaugson. “We’ve had a lot of meetings as a team — the beauty of video conferencing — and we’ve talked through a lot of things. One of the things I’ve heard is that guys that maybe took a while to break out as skips, they’re putting a little too much pressure on themselves and actually making it harder than it is. I tried to, myself and as a team, really bottle that up at the (provincials) and try to enjoy it and spend some time appreciating the fans (at Eric Coy Arena) when we did get a minute. Hopefully, we do that at the Brier.”

Manitoba curlers are on a hot streak of late. Jacques Gauthier of Winnipeg and Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona captured world junior titles in Russia, last week, while Kerri Einarson’s Gimli team seized its first Scotties Tournament of Hearts women’s title.

Gunnlaugson doesn’t need reminding the buffalo herd has already set a lofty example

“We know them all are super-proud of all them, for sure. Manitoba has always had a history of success and it doesn’t seem like that’s stopping any time soon,” he said.

“I’d had a few jokes from people saying there’s a pile of pressure on us. But we’re feeling really prepared.

“Whether that means we make the championship round, or challenge for the final weekend, or pull off a Kerri Einarson, we’ll see how things go. We’re definitely ready.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell