Between a rock and a hard place

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This article was published 13/02/2016 (3647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SELKIRK — Mike McEwen is in the final yet again at the Manitoba men’s curling championship.

But after losing five agonizing provincial finals over the last six years, McEwen’s long-awaited first trip to the Brier could come Sunday in the strangest way imaginable — and without even setting foot on the ice.

McEwen will have a trip to next month’s Tim Hortons Brier in Ottawa riding on the outcome of this Sunday’s semifinal between defending Manitoba men’s champion Reid Carruthers and reigning Canadian junior champion Matt Dunstone (9 a.m., Sportsnet West).

If Carruthers defeats Dunstone, it will be business as usual in the final — McEwen and Carruthers will stage a rematch of last year’s provincial final, with a Brier berth going to the winner.

But if Dunstone defeats Carruthers, McEwen will automatically become Manitoba’s 2016 Brier representative regardless of the outcome of this afternoon’s final (2 p.m., Sportsnet West).

That’s because Dunstone has a scheduling conflict that sees this year’s Brier in Ottawa run on the same dates as this year’s World Juniors in Denmark — and Dunstone has already committed to represent Canada at the world juniors regardless of what happens today.

Dunstone reaffirmed that commitment Saturday, making it clear he would decline a Brier invitation even if he were to win it all today.

That puts McEwen in the completely unique position of having his first trip to the Brier riding on the outcome of a semifinal that he’s not playing in.

And it also puts him in very uncharted — and potentially dangerous — territory.

“Is that going to be a big distraction — that game going on in the morning before we go play the final?,” McEwen wondered Saturday night after a 7-2 win over Carruthers in the Page Playoff 1 vs. 1 game advanced his team to the final.

“I think it could be if we don’t handle it properly — it could be a distraction tomorrow morning…

“We’re going to have to have a pow-wow tonight and figure it out. Because that could be a mental drain watching. Let’s say it’s a battle right to the last rock — that could drain us just watching that. That’s something we’ll have to consider tonight.”

McEwen was asked what it would be like if his team already had their Brier berth before they set foot on the ice for the final.

“I might not even touch the ice — I might just be walking on air,” said McEwen.

“Yeah, I’m not going to lie — there would be relief, absolutely. I think that would be an understandable reaction.”

With wins over Carruthers Saturday night and Willie Lyburn Saturday morning, McEwen heads into today a perfect 6-0 — the only undefeated team remaining in the 32-team field — and looking very much like a man whose team is peaking at exactly the right time.

But we’ve all seen this movie before, haven’t we? And the idea McEwen could potentially lose his sixth provincial men’s final — tying the Manitoba record set by Garry Ross — and still advance to this year’s Brier wouldn’t sit well with anyone, least of all the McEwen foursome.

Which is why whatever happens in advance of the final, the McEwen team says they’re in it to win it.

“We want to get to the Brier, obviously,” said McEwen lead Denni Neufeld. “But I want to win my way to the Brier. All the years I imagined what that might be like, I never envisioned I would go to the Brier without winning the province.

“We’d never say no to going to the Brier if we ended up losing that game to Dunstone. But for sure, we want to win our way there.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek