Stoughton vs. all of Ontario

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/03/2011 (5508 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LONDON, Ont. — Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton will play against Glenn Howard — and a loud and partisan Ontario crowd — for a Canadian men’s curling championship tonight.

Ontario’s Howard advanced to the Tim Hortons Brier final (TSN, 6:30 p.m.) with a pair of sudden-death victories on Saturday, dropping Alberta’s Kevin Martin 5-4 in the Page playoff 3-4 game and then Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue 7-6 in the evening semifinal.

And so with that, Stoughton, who locked up his berth in the final Friday night, finally knows the identity of the team standing between him and his first Brier championship in 12 years — a Howard team that finished fourth in the round-robin at 8-3 but heads into tonight as perhaps the hotter of the two teams.

Not that you could get Howard to admit it, however. “I’m not biting,” he laughed. “I’m saying it’s 50-50.

“This is what we came here for — we came here to win it and you can’t win it until you’re in the final. We had our moments throughout the week, but our guys hung in there and did what we had to do.

“We came back, beat Kevin, beat Brad and now it’s Jeff, who I know is playing very well so we’ll have our hands full… We’ll have to go out and play like we did today and if we don’t we’ll lose the game.”

Ontario lead Craig Savill played the best of all Saturday. Although battling the flu, Savill shot 100 per cent against Gushue.

It will be the second year in a row that Howard has played in a Brier final. He lost the 2010 final to Alberta’s Kevin Koe, who like Howard this year, played his way to the final through the 3-4 game.

Stoughton lost the 2009 Brier final to Martin.

It is the second major curling championship in a row that a Manitoba team will play for in the final. Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones played in the final of the Canadian women’s curling championship in Charlottetown last month, losing the final to Saskatchewan.

Like Stoughton, Jones also qualified for the final by winning the 1-2 game.

Organizers here are expecting a capacity crowd for tonight’s final — and there is no question on whose side they will be.

“I really like it. I get a buzz off it,” Howard said. “I just get an adrenaline rush off it. I do think it’s a factor. I think it’s a big plus for us.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Manitoba had a relaxing day on Saturday, practising in the morning and then taking part in an autograph session and fundraising drive at night. They did not make themselves available to the media following Howard’s victory.

Howard won the round-robin matchup between the two teams, handing Manitoba its first of only two losses this week, 7-4 on Draw 11 Tuesday night.

Whatever happens tonight, Manitoba’s record as the winningest province at the Brier will remain intact for at least another year. With 25 wins as a province, Alberta had a chance this year to catch Manitoba’s record 26 Brier titles, but that evaporated when Howard eliminated Martin.

LOOSEHAIRS — Brian Recksiedler of Morris was named the curling club volunteer of the year by the Canadian Curling Association on Saturday.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca MORE BRIER COVERAGE ON PAGE 24