Newfoundland’s Gushue wins Brier, becomes true hometown hero

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This article was published 12/03/2017 (3358 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Fourteenth time’s a charm for Brad Gushue, or maybe this was just preordained.

The guy who’s credited with getting the rock rolling on the St. John’s bid for the 2017 Brier and whose face is on marketing posters plastered in every pub, restaurant and store-front window in town is finally a Canadian men’s curling champion.

And he did it in the most dramatic fashion imaginable.

A year after losing the Brier final to Kevin Koe in Ottawa, Gushue and his Newfoundland and Labrador championship foursome of third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker tasted sweet revenge in, indisputably, the greatest home-ice triumph of their curling careers.

Gushue grabbed a huge lead at the midway point of the game and then hung on desperately for a 7-6 victory over Koe in front of more than 6,000 loud, rambunctious supporters at Mile One Centre, the city’s downtown arena.

Gushue threw a last-rock draw against two Canada yellows. It looked light out of his hand but his sweepers dragged it there, with the throng of screaming supporters urging them on. Walker has been hobbled by a shoulder injury, so Nichols bolted from the house to help Gallant out. And when that red rock found safe haven in the eight-foot ring, it was bedlam in the barn.

“I can’t even control (the emotions) right now,” said Gushue, 36, the married dad of two daughters. “That was incredible. I threw that a little lighter than I wanted. When it was coming down it always looked like it was going to be there. But it only got there by a little bit.

“Excitement to make this shot, excitement for the city of St. John’s,” Gushue added. “To win a Brier with my whole team… me and Mark have been so close so often, it’s pretty emotional.”

Gushue won his 14th provincial title earlier this winter but had yet to win the national crown. He won a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Pinerolo, Italy.

It’s the first Brier title for Newfoundland-Labrador since Jack MacDuff’s surprise win in Regina in 1976.

The Brier has been staged in St. John’s — Canada’s most easterly city and the place Gushue was born and raised — just once before, and that was 45 years ago.

The Gushue quarter will represent Canada at the world men’s curling championship in Edmonton in early April, and will compete as Team Canada at the 2018 Brier in Regina.

He said winning the Brier was the last item left on his curling bucket list.

“I wrote on a Bristol board my 10 goals in curling, and the only one I hadn’t achieved was the Brier,” said Gushue, who owns businesses and real estate in town.

Gushue played a pivotal role in helping his hometown land the event. He sent out a tweet four years ago, challenging the community to step up and fight for the right to host the party. The city’s bid was accepted in 2015.

“You can’t ask for a better story. It’s pretty amazing to do it at home, with this crowd behind us, and with what’s gone on with our team with the injuries. It’s pretty cool,” he said.

Painful hip and groin injuries this season sidelined Gushue until early December.

Down 3-1 after four ends, Koe made several game-savers just to keep Canada’s hopes alive. His perfect freeze in the fifth end prevented Gushue from scoring more than a deuce, his torpedo takeout for three cut Gushue’s lead to one in the sixth, and his hit-and-roll behind cover set up a steal of one to knot the game 5-5 in the seventh.

The teams traded singles heading to the 10th, setting the stage for the Brier rock star’s final number.

“I’ve never swept that hard. It looked light right out of his hand but we didn’t want to jump it,” said Gallant, through tears. “Halfway down, we knew we had to go, so we gave it all we had. That moment when that rock stopped, there’s not many finer moments than that.”

Team Gushue takes home $225,000 in prize money and funding, and earns 83 CRTS points. The team is a near shoe-in for the national Olympic Trials in December in Ottawa, and medalling in Edmonton at the worlds would seal it.

Koe’s crew of Marc Kennedy, Brent Laing and Ben Hebert wins $61,000. The team has already booked a spot in Ottawa.

Losing the right to don the Maple Leaf was very difficult, he said.

“I’m proud of the guys, we fought back and made a game of it. That makes it a little more disappointing because we really fought back,” said Koe. “Tied up coming home, it’s anybody’s ball game. Congrats to them, but its tough to lose a Brier final.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell