Carruthers defeats Howard in Classic final

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This article was published 16/10/2017 (3112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — Nearly four years into the journey, Reid Carruthers continues to derive critical information about his curling team and how it stacks up against the rest of Canada’s elite.

A terrific Monday night on the pebbled surface was another learning experience for the West St. Paul skip, who guided his team to a second Canad Inns Classic men’s curling bonspiel title in as many years.

The Carruthers team posted a 6-1 triumph over Canadian curling living legend Glenn Howard of Penetanguishine, Ont., in the final at the Portage Curling Club.

Carruthers took home $18,000, while Howard settled for a $10,000 runner-up cheque.

The bonspiel circuit is not just about beefing up the bank account this fall. Carruthers and his team of third Braeden Moskowy, second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson are priming their game for the Roar of the Rings national Olympic curling trials, set for Dec. 2-10 in Ottawa.

The skipper said repeating as Classic champions was a giant step in the right direction — after four less-than-stellar performances on the bonspiel circuit this fall.

“This is by far the best we’ve played this year,” said Carruthers. “We had a couple of bonspiels of not qualifying, then losing a couple of quarter-finals and now finally getting our first win. The guys played really, really well. And to play Glenn in the final was great. I was watching some of their games and he was playing exceptional all week.”

Carruthers said he takes a page from his former skip, Jeff Stoughton, an 11-time provincial championship, three-time Brier winner and two-time world titleist, who was never content with the status quo.

“He never stopped learning something about every team he was on,” said Carruthers. “Each event we play in, we’re always learning and we’re doing a lot of talking. That’s what I absolutely love about curling with my guys, is how well we communicate and how serious we are about it. We aren’t just happy being a top-five team, we want to be the very best team.

“For us, there are things we work on at each event, setting little mini-goals for what we want to work on as we build toward Ottawa. We’ve had quite a few matches with some of the trials teams already, so it’s always a measuring stick.”

Leading 2-1 after four ends, Carruthers had three blue counters perched at the top of the house, leaving Howard with near-impossible draw to a spot that offered is shot rock any kind of safety. His delivery was sound but the chiselled granite edge caught some debris, slowed up and came to rest well short, giving the 2015 Manitoba champion a free toss for a count of four.

Both teams were a perfect 5-0 during the event to set up the evening showdown.

Howard said the lopsided loss was a bit of a stinger, considering how well his foursome of his son, third Scott Howard, second David Mathers and fill-in lead Fraser Reid performed all weekend.

“We played really well. If you’ve have told me we’d get to the final, I’d have said, ‘Really?'” said Howard. “Obviously, you get to the final you want to win. Reid was by far the better team today. Kudos to them, they played amazing.”

Howard’s team had to shake off some tough news, as longtime third Richard Hart might be sidelined for the rest of the season with knee troubles, leaving a gaping hole with the Roar of the Rings pre-trials looming in Summerside, P.E.I., Nov. 6-12.

“It doesn’t look like we know what kind of team we’ll have for the rest of the year. Richie’s knees are in pretty rough shape. He’s such a great player. If it doesn’t turn out the way it’s supposed to, he’s going to be really upset,” Howard said.

Howard, who won his first world men’s title 30 years ago and has added three more (1993, 2007, 2012) since, still has a shot at qualifying for the Canadian Olympic trials. Two men’s teams will emerge from Summerside and slide into the trials. Howard, now 55, wants in.

“The competitive fire is still there. I’ve been to every one of the trials and I’d love to go again,” he said. “If we play like we have here, maybe we can get out of P.E.I. and get to the trials. I love to curl, I love to compete, I still have fun. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be playing.”

Interesting, Howard has already punched his ticket to South Korea for the Winter Olympics as coach of Eve Muirhead’s sensational team from Perth, Scotland.

Earlier in the day, Carruthers sidelined two-time world men’s champion Kevin Koe of Calgary 6-1 in one semifinal, while Howard downed Mike McEwen of the Fort Rouge Club in Winnipeg 8-6 in the other.

The McEwen and Koe teams settled for $6,000 in prize money apiece. Both teams will join Carruthers in the Olympic trials.

In the morning quarter-finals, Carruthers dumped John Shuster’s Duluth, Minn., team 8-2, McEwen slipped past former 2014 Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 3-2, Koe beat Dylan Johnston of Thunder Bay, On., 5-3, and Howard defeated Yusuke Morozumi of Karuizawa, Japan, 6-4.

The 32-team Canad Inns Women’s Classic begins this Friday in Portage and features some of the finest foursomes on the planet, including 2014 Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones of St. Vital and 2017 Manitoba women’s champion Michelle Englot of the Granite. The star-studded lineup also includes Muirhead, Chelsea Carey of Calgary, Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Anna Hasselborg of Sundbyberg, Sweden, Nina Roth of Blaine, Minn., and Bingyu Wang of Harbin, China.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell