Going gets tough now for McEwen

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This article was published 02/03/2020 (2259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KINGSTON, Ont. — The route to the 16-team Canadian men’s curling championship cleared up for Reid Carruthers and his cohorts under the bright Friday night lights.

Four days later, the team from West St. Paul continues to navigate the perils and pitfalls of one of the deepest Brier fields ever. But a couple of tall, concrete barriers go up today.

Team Wild Card, skipped by Mike McEwen, with Carruthers at third, second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson, has rattled off four consecutive victories to remain unbeaten at Leon’s Centre. (Five if a triumph over Ontario’s Glenn Howard in the last-chance, play-in game Friday is counted.)

‘The way the schedule was built, getting to 4-0 with a couple of big games ahead, I think we’re feeling really good about how we’re positioned’
— Team Wild Card third Reid Carruthers

The foursome upended Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories 6-2 in the morning and then doubled up on Steve Laycock of British Columbia 10-5 on the afternoon draw to improve to 4-0 in Pool A.

McEwen steps onto the ice with Team Canada’s Kevin Koe (3-1), the defending champion, at 1 p.m., and then battles Ontario’s John Epping (3-1) in the evening.

Carruthers said the collective confidence is sky-high right now.

“The way the schedule was built, getting to 4-0 with a couple of big games ahead, I think we’re feeling really good about how we’re positioned. We know there are tough teams ahead,” he said. “They’re teams we’ve played a lot and have a ton of respect for.

“The last time we met Kevin (Koe), we beat him in Yorkton (Sask.) in a really close battle (at the Canadian Open, a Grand Slam event in January). With Epping, I think he’s beaten us the last two. He’s had such a great year and will be hard to beat. And playing Kevin Koe at the Brier, it doesn’t get much better that.”

In Pool B play, Manitoba’s Jason Gunnlaugson showed some spunk in the late draw, climbing back from a four-point deficit after six ends to push Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher to an extra end. But facing a pair of counters in the eight-foot, Bottcher coolly drew to a nip a piece of the button for a 7-6 triumph.

Gunnlaugson, with third Alex Forrest, second Adam Casey — a seven-time Brier veteran and Charlottetown resident — and lead Connor Njegovan, dropped to 2-2. The Morris-based team meets Prince Edward Island (2-2) in the morning draw today.

“We obviously gave up one big end there and that hurt,” said Forrest, referring to a three in the fifth. “You get down a deficit like that against those guys, it’s going to be pretty tough. At least we made him throw his last rock. That’s a bit of a win after being down like that. But four down was just too many.”

Bottcher (4-0) is the only unbeaten team in Pool B, while Brad Gushue of Newfoundland-Labrador is 3-1 after posting a remarkable 7-6 comeback win over Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario. Gushue surrendered a huge four in the first end but kept chipping away, executing a brilliant, thin double-takeout to blank the ninth and retain hammer down a point.

Jacobs, meanwhile, has stumbled to a 1-3 start, an almost unthinkable predicament for the event’s top seed and the No. 1 team in the World Curling Federation rankings.

Jamie Murphy of Nova Scotia is 3-1, Quebec is 1-3, while Nunavut is 0-4.

McEwen’s crew has been solid this year after a difficult go during the 2018-19 season, their first as a unit. But a loss to Gunnlaugson in the Manitoba men’s final last month was a hiccup. Thank goodness for second chances. Because of a lofty fourth-place standing in the Canadian Team Ranking System standings, they were eligible to play in the wild-card game.

Carruthers said there’s a precision to their game that wasn’t as evident at the Viterra in early February at Eric Coy Arena.

“We’re hitting really well. One of the biggest differences here versus the provincials is we’re making those nose hits and we’re not rolling out. Eliminating those half-shots that can cost you against good teams,” Carruthers said. “We’re a little bit more dialled in with our (rock delivery) and our hit weights. So, it’s allowed us to use our brooms and make some good line calls.”

The official Brier statistics back up his claim. Wild Card was the front-runner with an outstanding 91 per cent shooting accuracy. Carruthers (92 per cent) leads all thirds, while the others McEwen (89), Samagalski (90) and Hodgson (94) are second or tied for second at their respective positions.

Late Monday, Epping suffered a surprising 6-4 loss to New Brunswick’s James Grattan (2-2).

Matt Dunstone of Saskatchewan is also 3-1, Laycock is 1-3, while Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin and Northwest Territories are each 0-4.

Just two days of round-robin play remains, and the field gets sliced in half for championship-pool play Thursday and Friday. The top four teams in each pool cross over and collide with the four teams on the other side to determine the quartet of teams that will participate in the Page playoffs.

The semifinal is set for Sunday at 12 p.m., and the Brier final is at 7 p.m.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell