Team ‘Toba at home for Brier
Combo of McEwen and Carruthers vying for title
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2019 (2602 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BRANDON — The partnership between Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers has not been without its trials and tribulations.
Both curlers expected an adjustment period when they joined forces for the 2018-19 competitive season, yet neither anticipated the kind of shuffling and reshuffling of the deck that occurred through those early, rocky months.
But a winning formula was discovered mere weeks before the provincial championship in Virden, and now the two fast friends off the ice are hoping to ride the positive vibes — and the massive boost of playing at home — all the way to a Brier title.
Brandon-born McEwen will skip Team Manitoba at the 2019 Canadian men’s curling championship, beginning Saturday at Brandon’s Westoba Place. He’ll guide a crew from the West St. Paul Club with Carruthers at third, Derek Samagalski (who recently moved to Brandon) at second and Colin Hodgson at lead.
Home-ice advantage can’t be understated, said McEwen, who learned to play at the old Brandon Club, tossed a ton of granite at the Wheat City and “crushed butter tarts” at the Riverview.
“We’ve talked as a team, and even though I have even a closer connection to Brandon, just being able to play a Brier in your home province is amazing. That doesn’t come around that often. So, it’s an opportunity that’s very special, and, if anything, it’s extra incentive to take it all in,” McEwen said in a conversation Thursday with the Free Press.
“I still have lots of friends in the area. Most of my family will be driving in, my mom and stepdad, in-laws, (wife) Dawn and (daughter) Vienna. We’ll be motivated by the crowd. It’ll be a good thing for us and I’m hoping it will propel us.”
Consider McEwen’s collection of exceptional throwers one of the Brier favourites, along with some of the biggest names in the curling world, such as Brad Gushue, skip of Team Canada, Alberta’s Kevin Koe, Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs and Team Wild-Card — either John Epping or Brendan Bottcher.
Good thing the McEwen crew has its, er… sheet together because it’s too late for more tinkering. Manitoba will take on Saskatchewan’s Kirk Muyres on the opening draw, Saturday at 2 p.m.
In all, 16 teams will vie for the Brier title and the opportunity to represent Canada at the world men’s championship, March 30 to April 7 in Lethbridge, Alta.
Make no mistake, this is McEwen’s team. And it has been since a couple of weeks before the Manitoba championship in early February.
When the curling season began, Carruthers called the game and delivered third stones while McEwen threw fourth. When that combination failed to produce, a switch to McEwen as outright skip was made a few weeks before Christmas. Less than satisfied with that permutation, the team went back to Carruthers as the outright skip and McEwen as third.
Three weeks before stepping foot in Virden, they went back to McEwen calling the shots and tossing the brick.
“It’s fair to say we did a good job exploring and experimenting and being open to trying to see what would work best for all of us,” said McEwen, who will compete in his fourth straight Canadian championship. “We obviously had some different lineups, who was throwing last rock and who was calling the game, etc. We had different skill sets and it wasn’t clear what was going to work. Some things worked well for a bit, some didn’t, so it was a tough year. But it was a process that’s going to benefit us long-term.”
Ceding responsibility proved to be far more taxing than either of the two longtime skips had imagined. Egos needed to be stowed away in the locker room.
“It’s one of those things where we both were probably at fault for some or our inconsistency. The dynamic was counterproductive but it was never anything malicious. We both care, we both want to win,” said Carruthers, who’s been to six Briers, winning the crown in 2011 while playing second for Jeff Stoughton and capturing a world title that same year.
“It’s just taken a little bit of time to figure each other out, and I feel like we’re really close to that point now where it becomes second nature. We’re getting really comfortable together on the ice.”
“Credit to Reid, he’s really worked hard at that role of being a great third. And I’ve really felt like he’s thrown his support behind me. We’re just looking for whoever’s going to be on the T (line) to really be in a leadership role and feel like the team’s supporting him, and I feel like we’ve got that now,” said McEwen.
“I think we’re in a really good place where we are on performance level and emotionally and mentally going into Brandon.”
Manitoba plays a round robin with the other seven teams in Pool A: Northern Ontario, Wild-Card, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfoundland-Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Yukon.
Friday’s wild-card game pits last year’s Brier semifinalists, Bottcher and Epping, two of the world’s best who slipped up in their own provincials. That’s why that 16th spot in the Brier was created — to give an elite team one final chance.
In Pool B, it’s Team Canada, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Carruthers said there’s no room for error in the round robin.
“You have your first bracket you have to get out of, so that’s my only focus, being one of the top four teams coming out of our pool. We probably need a record of one loss or two losses at most to feel comfortable going into the second round,” he said
The talented foursome leaves the scouting work to coach Rob Meakin, a former world champion with skip Kerry Burtnyk.
“Rob is the ultimate team player. He wasn’t on Kerry’s team all those years just for his shotmaking. He’s an all-around great guy and I think with out team we’ve had some ups and down this year and he’s been really good as the guy who keeps us on track,” said Carruthers.
The Brier returns to Brandon for the first time since 1982, when Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner defeated B.C.’s Brent Giles in the final.
While most of the Westoba crowd will throw its unabashed support behind Manitoba, each of McEwen, Carruthers, and the sensational front-end duo of Samagalski and Hodgson will, undoubtedly, have their own pocket of ardent fans.
“On a scale of one to 10 (on the elation level), I’m easily at a 10,” said Carruthers. “I’m going to make sure I enjoy every moment in Brandon. I think we’re going to ham it up a little bit with the crowd and that’s going to help.”
jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @WFPJasonBell
The field
Here’s a look at how the Brier pools set up, including the two teams playing in today’s wild-card game. Seedings for each pool were established by Curling Canada as per the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS):
• Pool A
Northern Ontario (2): skip Brad Jacobs, third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Lee Toner; coach Adam Kingsbury; Sault Ste. Marie
It’s near-impossible to exclude the 2013 Brier and 2014 Olympic gold medallists from the list of favourites, even though the team’s season has come with some struggles. Ryan Fry, a Winnipegger, took a leave from the team after being turfed from a bonspiel while sparing for another team for excessive partying but rejoined the Jacobs crew for a pair of Grand Slams and the Northern Ontario playdowns. Count them in as a playoff team.
Team Wild-Card (3): to be determined
Wild-card combatants:
• Skip Brendan Bottcher, third Darren Moulding, second Brad Thiessen, lead Karrick Marti; Edmonton
Bottcher fell to Kevin Koe in the Alberta semifinal and then had to cheer for Koe to defeat Ted Appleman in the provincial championship so his team could make it into the wild-card game. The rest is history. The Bottcher-Epping battle is a rematch of the ‘18 Brier semifinal, won by the Albertans.
• Skip John Epping, third Mathew Camm, second Brent Laing, lead Craig Savill; coach Jim Wilson; Toronto
Epping was the favourite in the Ontario playdowns but lost three times to Scott McDonald and needs a win in today’s last-chance game to sneak back in. The Toronto skip, who debuted at the Brier last year in Regina, has a new-look team with an all-star front end.
Regardless of which squad prevails, bank on Team Wild-Card being in the thick of the playoff hunt. These are two of the country’s very best.
Manitoba (6): skip Mike McEwen, third Reid Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski, lead Colin Hodgson; coach Rob Meakin; West St. Paul
Apart, Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers have been Manitoba’s most dominant skips for the last five years. Both were at the Brier in Regina a year ago skipping their own teams, yet neither cracked the final four. Let’s see how things go with the two joining forces. McEwen started calling the shots in January and the squad won a couple of events and rolled through the provincial Viterra. With home-ice advantage, don’t be surprised if something truly special happens in Brandon.
Saskatchewan (7): skip Kirk Muyres, third Kevin Marsh, second Daniel Marsh, lead Dallan Muyres; coach Lyle Muyres; Saskatoon
The Muyres team upended a team skipped by former Winnipegger Matt Dunstone in the Saskatchewan final and likely comes to western Manitoba flanked by a legion of fans from just across the provincial border. Kirk Muyres has been to Briers before with Steve Laycock but this is his first time in command. Expect them to make the championship pool but they’ll be hard-pressed to crack the playoffs.
Quebec (10): skip Martin Crête, third Philippe Lemay, second Éric Sylvain, lead Philippe Ménard, alternate Philippe Brassard; coach Robert Ménard; Saint-Romuald
Fans of the game know Crête from the years he was tossing third stones for Jean-Michel Menard. But now the fiery player is the man in charge. He’ll entertain the crowd, to be sure, but qualifying for the weekend will be a tall order.
Newfoundland/Labrador (11): skip Andrew Symonds, third Chris Ford, second Adam Boland, lead Keith Jewer, coach Craig Jewer; St. John’s
Symonds and Team Canada skip Brad Gushue both hail from St. John’s but the similarities end there. There’s not much experience on the elite circuit with this group, and picking up a couple of wins would be a terrific achievement.
Prince Edward Island (14): skip John Likely, third Anson Carmody, second Steve Burgess, lead Robbie Doherty; coach Matt Nabuurs; Alberton/Charlottetown
Earned a trip to the Brier by knocking off Eddie MacKenzie, who had donned P.E.I. colours at the last two national championships. The skipper was at a Brier 17 years ago in Calgary. Earning a place in the championship pool is highly unlikely.
Yukon (15): skip Jon Solberg, third Bob Smallwood, second Clinton Abel, lead Scott Odian; coach Larry Snow; Whitehorse
Just one win, any win, would be a major storyline in Brandon.
Pool B
Alberta (1): skip Kevin Koe, third B.J. Neufeld, second Colton Flasch, lead Ben Hebert; coach John Dunn; Calgary
The revamped team includes Winnipegger Neufeld, former longtime third for Mike McEwen. Koe has three Brier titles (2010, 2014, 2016) and has a chance to move into elite company with Randy Ferbey, Kevin Martin and Ernie Richardson as the only skips ever to win four. Falling short of the playoff round would be a shocker.
Team Canada (4): skip Brad Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant, lead Geoff Walker, alternate Tom Sallows; coach Jules Owchar; St. John’s
Gushue is gunning for a third consecutive Canadian title and would be only the second team in history to register the three-peat. Ferbey’s Edmonton team won in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Gushue, playing in his 16th Brier, will have a massive target on his back in a field where as many as six other teams could win. They’re a slam-dunk to make the playoffs and the favourite to repeat — again.
Ontario (5): skip Scott McDonald, third Jonathan Beuk, second Wesley Forget, lead Scott Chadwick, alternate Jeff Grant; coach Sean Turriff; Kingston
Knock the likes of Glenn Howard and Epping to the sidelines en route to a perfect 11-0 record and that’s a well-earned place in the national championship. The McDonald quartet is making its debut at the Brier but could be the absolute sleeper in this field.
Nova Scotia (8): skip Stuart Thompson, third Colten Steele, second Travis Colter, lead Taylor Ardiel, alternate Bill MacPhee; coach Kevin Patterson; Dartmouth
What, no Jamie Murphy? That’s right, there’s a new crew representing Nova Scotia this year. Thompson isn’t exactly a household name outside of the Maritimes, although he did nearly guide the team to a bonspiel win in Toronto before losing to Carruthers in the final in early October. But they’ll likley be done after round-robin play.
British Columbia (9): skip Jim Cotter, third Steve Laycock, second Tyrel Griffith, lead Rick Sawatsky; coach Brad Wood; Vernon
Cotter has been in the mix the last few years with vice John Morris along for the ride, however, Morris stepped away to focus on mixed doubles and so Steve Laycock of Saskatchewan was recruited. Cotter should qualify for the championship pool but likely isn’t a playoff team.
Northwest Territories (12): skip Jamie Koe, third David Aho, second Matthew Ng, lead Cole Parson; Yellowknife
Koe has a few new teammates this season and they’ll win a few games but won’t be around for the weekend intrigue.
New Brunswick (13): skip Terry Odishaw, third Jordan Pinder, second Marc Lecoq, lead Grant Odishaw; coach Jamie Brannen; Moncton
He’s a familiar face at the Canadian playdown but Odishaw isn’t expected to win more than a game or two in his pool.
Nunavut (16): skip Dave St. Louis, third Peter Mackey, second Jeff Nadeau, lead Lloyd Kendall; coach Barry Westman; Iqaluit
Posting just one victory in Brandon would be a terrific accomplishment.
Bell’s Picks
Championship pool: Northern Ontario, Wild-Card, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Team Canada, Ontario, British Columbia.
Playoff pool: Northern Ontario, Manitoba, Team Canada, Alberta.
2019 Brier final: Team Canada vs. Manitoba.
Champion: Team Canada.
2019 Brandon Brier
Who: 16 men’s teams, including representatives from all 10 provinces (a pair from Ontario) and three from each of Canada’s northern territories, the defending champion (Team Canada) and the winner of Friday’s wild-card game, featuring the top two teams on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) list.
What: week-long championship to determine the country’s premier men’s team for the 2018-19 curling season.
Where: the Brier is set for the 5,100-seat Westoba Place in Brandon, located 215 kilometres west of Winnipeg. It’s the third time Brandon has hosted the national playdown (1963, 1982), and it’s the first time since 2008 (Winnipeg) that the championship has been staged in Manitoba.
When: the main event begins Saturday; the champion will be crowned March 10.
• The wild-card game is set for today at 7 p.m. between Ontario’s John Epping and Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher. Admission is free, with donations supporting youth curling across Canada accepted at the door.
• The field is split into pools of eight, with round-robin play to run Saturday through Wednesday.
• Eight teams qualify for the championship pool, with games Thursday and Friday.
• On Saturday, the 3 vs. 4 Page playoff game is at 2 p.m., while the 1 vs. 2 game is at 7 p.m.
• The semifinal is Sunday at 1 p.m. The Brier championship game is Sunday at 7 p.m.
Why: because in this country, that’s what we do. Since 1927, the Brier has crowned Canada’s premier men’s curling crew. The champion will wear the Maple Leaf on behalf of Canada at the world men’s championship in Lethbridge, Alta., March 30 to April 7, and will also defend as Team Canada at the 2020 Brier in Kingston, Ont.
How to watch
• In person at Westoba Place. Purchase tickets at the box office, online at curling.ca/tickets or by phone at 204-726-3555.
• On the tube on TSN/RDS2, which is providing complete coverage of every draw, from the wild-card game to Sunday’s grand finale.
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History
Updated on Thursday, February 28, 2019 11:11 PM CST: adds fact box