McEwen blows lead, faces old foe Stoughton in semifinal

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/02/2015 (4128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — Just when it seemed like absolutely nothing or no one was going to stand between Mike McEwen and his first Manitoba men’s curling championship this weekend, along came Reid Carruthers Saturday night.

Trailing McEwen 4-1 in the 1 vs. 1 game, Carruthers took advantage of changing ice conditions to score a deuce in the seventh end, steal two more in the eight end and then score a game-winning single in the extra end to win 6-5 and send his third-seeded team to this afternoon’s provincial final (2:30 p.m., Sportsnet West), where Manitoba’s representative in the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier will be determined.

It was all sweet vindication for a Carruthers squad that has been largely overlooked at Westman Place, at an event where all the focus has been on 11-time Manitoba champion Jeff Stoughton and his fiercest provincial rival, McEwen.

“This isn’t a flash in the pan kind of thing,” insisted Carruthers Saturday night. “We have a good team, we’ve been playing well and we have a lot of heart. We stuck in there.”

The loss to Carruthers was the first of this event for McEwen and it came after what had been a 5-0 run that was as dominating as it was unblemished heading into Saturday night.

And it comes at an event where McEwen has a long and tortured history, having lost four finals and a semifinal since 2010.

Three of those McEwen losses in the final — and the loss in the semifinal — came at the hands of Stoughton. And it is Stoughton who McEwen will once again have to try to get past this year if he’s going to finally lay claim to his team’s elusive first Manitoba men’s title.

With three victories here on Saturday — including a 6-4 victory over Braden Calvert in Saturday night’s 2 vs. 2 game — Stoughton advanced to this morning’s semifinal (9 a.m., Sportsnet One) where he will yet again go head-to-head with McEwen.

McEwen was asked if Stoughton has the advantage, given the history between the two teams at this event.

“Not this time,” said a defiant McEwen. “Not this time.”

The same question was posed to Stoughton, who has a record 11 Manitoba men’s titles and has only lost one provincial men’s final in all these years.

“I hope so — that’d be nice,” said Stoughton, laughing. “Sure — I mean, I love it. I’ve been pretty lucky to have been in a lot of finals and won quite a few. And that’s what this game is all about.

“I relish the opportunity.”

Every meaningful sign — with the lone but notable exception of the squad’s tortured history at this event — pointed to a McEwen victory this weekend prior to the collapse against Carruthers.

The McEwen squad came into this event off a cashspiel season that was historic in its dominance and they picked up here right where they left off on the cashspiel circuit, running the table to head into Saturday night as the only undefeated team still remaining.

They’d outscored their five opponents 40-11 heading into Saturday night and had played just one 10-end game — until Saturday night.

Plus, they’d swept the all-star awards at every position at this event.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

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

Yes, they are young and have years of curling in front of them. And yet one cannot help but wonder — if not this year for McEwen, then when?

McEwen insisted Saturday’s collapse — and the memory of all the collapses at this event that came before it — would not weigh on him today.

“I feel fine,” said McEwen. “It feels like it’s been a long year and we can finally get what we want tomorrow morning against Jeff and put ourselves in the final.

“I feel good about that.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @PaulWiecek