Manitoba one win away from Brier final

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This article was published 08/03/2012 (4955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SASKATOON — Richard Daneault summed it up best Thursday afternoon.

“The only ones who didn’t believe we could win,” said the Manitoba second, “was everyone else.”

Well, if everyone else didn’t believe before, they certainly believe now.

Because thanks to a four-game winning streak and a loss by Alberta to Ontario to wrap up the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier round-robin Thursday night, Daneault and the rest of Rob Fowler’s Manitoba foursome are now just one win away from playing in the Brier final.

With victories over Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario on Thursday, Manitoba finished the round robin at 8-3 and will now play Ontario’s Glenn Howard (10-1) in tonight’s page playoff 1 vs. 2 game (TSN, 6:30 p.m.), where the winner advances straight to Sunday evening’s Brier final while the loser gets a second chance in Saturday evening’s semifinal against the winner of Saturday afternoon’s 3 vs. 4 game.

And what a 3-4 game it will be, with Alberta’s Kevin Koe taking on his brother Jamie Koe of the Territories in what will also the first time a team from the north has competed in the Brier playoffs.

It is a game Kevin Koe did not want to play. The 2010 world champion could have finished first overall and faced Howard in the 1-2 game with a win over Ontario last night, but Alberta lost 6-3 instead to fall into a tie for second with Manitoba’s Fowler at 8-3. And Fowler won the tiebreaker between the two teams thanks to an 8-5 round-robin victory over Alberta Wednesday night.

Now a Fowler team that wasn’t given much of a chance by most pundits at the start of this event is suddenly peaking at exactly the right time and is now within two victories of giving Manitoba its second Canadian men’s curling championship in a row.

“It was a strong finish,” Fowler said after the 10-4 win over Northern Ontario. “We dropped a couple of games early, but in two of those three (losses) I had shots to basically break the game open. And in all of the games, the team’s played very good.

“So it’s really been a consistent performance in all 11 games and to finish off strong and get to 8-3 is a good spot to be in.”

Fowler shot 88 per cent in the win over Northern Ontario and his team as a whole shot 91 per cent. Combined with a 92 per cent performance in a 9-3 win over Saskatchewan earlier in the day, the Manitobans head into the playoffs off their two sharpest performances of the week and having out-scored their last two opponents 19-7.

While Fowler is skipping in his first Brier, the rarified air of the Brier playoffs on the final weekend are something he knows well. Fowler curled second for Jeff Stoughton in the 2009 Brier final.

Daneault also has Brier experience, although not in the playoffs, as second for Kerry Burtnyk in 2008. But Manitoba third Allan Lyburn and lead Derek Samagalski are raw Brier rookies and how they are affected by the hot lights that come with being the only game on the ice in the Brier playoffs remains to be seen.

No worries, said Fowler.

“I think it’s going to be great. The guys have been great all week. And we love it out there when it’s just us.

“To be a champion, you have to play your best when it means the most. And that will be the focus here this weekend.”

Lyburn, who has been one of the best thirds here all week, said he has found comfort this week in the knowledge his rocks aren’t the last ones to get thrown every end. “I’m really comfortable with the position I’m playing,” said Lyburn. “I think I’d be a lot more nervous if I was throwing the last one.” And then, with a laugh: “Plus, I’m 40 now. I’ve got a lot more experience.”

Manitoba lost 8-4 to Ontario during the round robin on Tuesday night, but the game was closer than the final score indicated. Manitoba was trailing 2-1 with hammer when Fowler came up light on a draw in the fifth end to gift-wrap what proved to be a decisive steal of three for Ontario.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca