Manitoba faces hometown boys in showdown for shortcut to Brier final

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This article was published 10/03/2017 (3368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Manitoba’s Mike McEwen has a battle brewing with the golden boy of the 2017 Brier.

The Manitoba team will face Brad Gushue of Newfoundland-Labrador in the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game at 5:30 p.m. today, and the one left standing gains direct access to the Canadian men’s curling championship final Sunday.

McEwen posted a 5-2 victory over Jean-Michel Ménard of Quebec to complete the round-robin with nine wins and only two defeats.

The Winnipeg foursome of skip McEwen, third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld share the top rung of the Brier standings with Gushue (9-2), who beat Jamie Murphy of Nova Scotia 6-3 this morning.

But the fellows from the Fort Rouge club get the No.1 position and last rock in the first end.

“Hammer is a big advantage, so that’s tremendous. We were able to finish the week like we started the week. Our last three outings were really good,” said McEwen.

Gushue is playing in his 14th Brier but has yet to claim the title. A year ago, he lost the final to Kevin Koe in Ottawa.

McEwen knows the partisan crowd at Mile One Centre will be rocking tonight.

“The crowd’s going to be interesting tonight… it’s going to be loud,” he said. “That will be something we’ve experienced all this week and it’s going to be nothing short of amazing tonight playing in that environment.

“And we’re playing one of the best teams in the world, so we’ll have to be sharp. And if we’re sharp, I think it will be a tight game right down to the finish. I expect a lot out of my guys, and I expect them to be good, as well.”

Manitoba blanked the first two ends against Quebec and then was forced to take a single in the third. Ménard posted the game’s only deuce in the fourth and then McEwen blanked the fifth.

But Manitoba then strung together four consecutive singles — including three big steals — before running Ménard’s crew out of rocks in the 10th.

“The Quebec boys made some really, really good shots and had us scrambling the first half,” said McEwen. “But we stayed patient, made sure we didn’t give up any steals. And we were able to make them throw some (difficult) shots late in the game, and he missed by just tiny bits and that was the difference of us having that kind of lead (5-2) coming home versus it being neck and neck.”

Meanwhile, Koe and Team Canada survived a scare from Mike Kennedy of New Brunswick, winning 7-6 on a last-rock hit-and-stick to finish 8-3 and earn third place. Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs finished round-robin play Thursday with an 8-3 record and settled for the final playoff spot.

While things looked messy earlier today, no tiebreakers are required. The loss left Quebec (7-4) on the outside looking in, while idle B.C. (7-4) is also out.

Manitoba presents a very difficult challenge, said Gushue’s whose team of third Marc Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker came out on the wrong end of an 8-4 decision to McEwen last Sunday.

“Yeah, a good team, obviously. They beat us in the round-robin and it’ll be nice to get another crack at them. Hopefully, we play a little bit sharper than what we did (then). But I kinda like the way our team is going.

“If we could win tonight, it would certainly be a bonus. For us, it would be nice to get that rest before the final.”

Indeed, tonight’s winner gets a well-deserved Saturday off.

Canada and Northern Ontario meet Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in the 3 vs. 4 game. The winner of that game collides with the loser of the 1 vs. 2. game in the Brier semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

The battle for the national title goes Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

McEwen had an 8-3 record a year ago in his first-ever Brier, held in Ottawa, faced Koe in the 3 vs. 4 and was swept from the championship.

The 36-year-old Brandon product said much has changed since then.

“I feel 100 per cent better than last year’s Brier going in, as far as how we’re playing, energy levels, things like that,” he said.

McEwen said so little separates the Brier’s final four.

“Going in here, whatever way you picked them, one through four, that’s what I was thinking,” he said. “There’s been a couple of moments from these teams where they’ve played very good games. But someone’s gotta lose.

“It’s such a fine line between winning and losing so, on any given day, these four teams can throw up huge numbers and win, so it’s going to be exciting.”

Meanwhile, Ontario’s Glenn Howard beat Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories 6-5 in the only other game this morning. Howard finished with a disappointing 4-7 record in his 17th Brier.

Spectators at the downtown arena in St. John’s gave the former Canadian and world champion a standing ovation as he left the ice surface for the final time this week.

“It was a respect thing for our team. I think it was really cool,” he said. “Six thousand people give you a standing ovation? Pretty sweet.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell