Ménard wants to bring title back to Quebec

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This article was published 08/03/2017 (3353 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Jean-Michel Ménard knows a thing or two about building a happy, high-functioning team.

He’s an expert — at work and at play.

Ménard is a human resources manager, based out of Quebec City, for the federal government. He’s also recruited, retained and developed one of the finest curling teams to ever emerge from La Belle Province.

And the boys from the Etchemin Curling Club — in the petite community of Lévis across the St. Lawrence River from the Quebec capital — are achieving measurable results at the 2017 Brier this week.

An 0-2 start to the national men’s curling championship seems a distant memory for Ménard and his veteran foursome of third Martin Crête, second Éric Sylvain and lead Philippe Ménard, the skip’s younger brother, who are playing in their fifth straight Brier and gunning for their first playoff appearance since 2014 in Kamloops, B.C.

After getting tripped up by two of the favourites here, Kevin Koe of Team Canada and Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, Team Quebec went on a heater, stringing together five consecutive victories, including an 8-5 win Wednesday morning over Brendan Bottcher’s young squad from Edmonton. They cooled somewhat with a 7-3 loss against Brad Gushue’s N.L. crew in the late draw and sit fifth in the standings

Ménard, 41, offered a resoundingly positive performance review of his team following the win over Bottcher.

“We’re playing well enough, we’re getting lots of breaks,” he said. “Strategy-wise, we’re running a good game, trying to manage the scoreboard, making sure as much as possible we get hammer in the even ends. Things are working well for us right now, so it’s kind of momentum-building.

“Even after our first two games, we weren’t too discouraged. After our first win against Nova Scotia, it gave us confidence and we were able to pull another nice one after that against Saskatchewan. And things have been snowballing from there. When that happens, you try to take as much advantage of it.

“I’ll just keep quiet and continue doing the stuff we’re doing now.”

On the ice, Ménard and Crête are an animated tandem, rarely staying silent. Their big, booming voices are easy to distinguish, even cutting through the crowd noise when hometown favourite Gushue is on a nearby sheet, making fans freak out.

“That’s the kind of curling we play, lots of intensity and passion. We try not to get too over the top but that’s part of our game, the way we play,” said Crête.

Ménard swears his third’s got him beat in the ‘Hurry, hard’ howling.

“Martin certainly is the loudest. I used to be louder than that, but now I’m letting the kid yell and trying to save my voice,” he said. “Actually, it’s pretty good. Usually, on Wednesday of the Brier my voice is gone, but it’s still there.”

Ménard lost in the semifinals to Koe three years ago, but that wasn’t his most memorable Brier finish. Not by a long shot.

He skipped a Quebec quartet that included Sylvain to a Brier title in 2006 in Regina, knocking off Ontario’s Glenn Howard 8-7 in the final to become just the second Quebec-based skip to win the Canadian crown.

Ménard and Sylvain, flanked by third François Roberge and lead Maxime Elmaleh settled for a silver medal at the world men’s championship in Lowell, Mass., just seven hours from home, falling to Scotland’s David Murdoch in the final.

“It’s 11 years ago but it feels like it was yesterday in my mind,” said Ménard, 41. “Things were just piling up rightfully for us, and when we got into the final against Glenn we weren’t very stressed. We were just happy to be there. We were lucky enough to win the game, and the funny thing is they asked , ‘Do you know where the world championship is?’ And I didn’t have a clue where it was. It was Lowell, Mass. For us, people say you want to play the worlds in Sweden or Norway or Denmark, but for us it was perfect. All of our friends from Quebec City drove down.

“We lost against Murdoch in the final, but if someone had told me at the beginning we would have a world silver medal, I probably would think he was hung over.”

Getting the better of Howard — a 7-6 triumph Tuesday morning — certainly brought back some memories, said Ménard, the father of two young daughters. His wife, Annie Lemay, is a five-time Quebec champion, the last three as second for Marie-France Larouche.

“Playing a Brier final against a curling legend was quite something, and every time I play against Glenn it’s always special for me. He’s an amazing curler, an amazing strategist, and usually we have good games against him,” said Ménard. “He’ll beat us most of the time, but sometimes like (Tuesday) we’ll pull one off.”

Howard, a four-time Canadian and world champion, said Ménard was a worthy champion.

“He was the best that week and he was the best that final game. He should cherish it,” he said. “He’s a class act.”

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