McEwen controls own fate

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This article was published 25/11/2021 (1604 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SASKATOON — Mike McEwen has a roadmap in hand to the Canadian Olympic Trials playoffs and needs no outside help to get him there.

McEwen’s curling team from West St. Paul has carved out a 4-2 record, good for a third-place tie in the standings after Thursday’s lone men’s draw at SaskTel Centre.

Full marks to the official drawmaster for randomly dealing McEwen a pair of Brads on Friday to wrap up the round robin. The Brandon-born skip and his teammates, third Reid Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson, meet Brad Gushue (6-1) and Brad Jacobs (5-1), the teams they’re chasing.

It’s come down to one of those win-and-you’re-in situations athletes totally prefer.

“We’ve got an opportunity to bring two teams back. Yeah, we can’t ask for anything more (to) control our own destiny going into Friday,” McEwen said, following an all-important 6-2 win over Toronto’s John Epping, now 3-3. “That would have been our goal from the start, to not be relying on anybody else.

“It’s a good feeling. That was a tough game. John and his team played very, very well. We finally got a key miss from him in the eighth end and that blew open the game.

Indeed, the tide turned late in the game when Epping whiffed on a difficult takeout attempt, giving McEwen a nose hit for a collosal count of three and a 4-2 lead. Carruthers had made a clutch shot earlier to drastically alter the end.

Epping’s flash came as a shock to the system, said Samagalski.

“We were just trying to hang in there and making shots, hoping to get a bit of a break, and in the eighth end we got a massive break and we took advantage of it,” said the resident of Carberry, sporting a ballcap and moustache (much to the chagrin of his wife, Selena). “You’re expecting every guy to make every shot perfect out here, so to get a break like that, you don’t get those too often.”

Calgary’s Kevin Koe, Canada’s representative at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, is also 4-2.

For six ends, McEwen and Epping showcased curling’s version of paint drying, playing to a 1-1 tie. Lots of open hits, clean ends and zeros on the board.

Finally, the seventh end featured a busy house, with six rocks above the T-line before thirds began throwing. After a few mighty deliveries by both sides, Epping was left with a hit for a potential deuce but settled for a single and a 2-1 lead when a measure for second shot went in McEwen’s favour.

McEwen said his willingness to play a low-scoring, defensive game was absolutely by design.

“We kind of played it tight to the belt and we capitalized on our moment,” said McEwen, who stole two more in the ninth end. “We didn’t get the hammer to start the game, so that was part of the plan, to just be patient and avoid letting that game get away from us.”

McEwen meets the Jacobs gang from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., at 9 a.m. and Gushue, the three-time Brier champion from St. John’s N.L., on the 7 p.m. draw.

Gushue, who joined third Mark Nichols atop the podium at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, already has a playoff spot secured after dispatching of Tanner Horgan of Kingston, Ont., 10-1.

Now, 41 and a father of two, Gushue admitted his desire to return to the Winter Games remains fierce.

“You know what, it’s been driving me for a lot longer than just this week. A lot of stuff has happened over the past couple of years and if you’re not motivated by the Olympics you probably don’t keep doing what we’re doing,” said Gushue, who has a bye Friday morning. “We do it because we love it, we do it cause we want another (Olympic) opportunity.

“It is an incredible experience, it’s a life-changing experience. The luxury that Mark and I have, it’s probably not going to change our lives because we’ve been there, but certainly for Brett (Gallant) and Geoff (Walker), or any other athlete that has a chance to win this week that hasn’t been there, it is a life-changing experience.”

Horgan, just 23, stepped aside to let his 21-year-old brother and team alternate, Jacob, skip the eighth end before handshake time. Their sister is Tracy Fleury, the runaway leader in the women’s field.

Jacobs, the 2014 Olympic champion, made short work of Koe in an 8-2 rout in eight ends.

Jason Gunnlaugson of Morris is just 2-4 after a 7-6 defeat to Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (2-5). The Manitobans finish up with Koe in the morning and Matt Dunstone in the evening.

Dunstone, formerly of Winnipeg now living in Kamloops, B.C., but skipping a Regina team, is 1-5, the same record as Horgan.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell