Neufeld has sights set on Brier

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This article was published 06/02/2019 (2660 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VIRDEN — Denni Neufeld occasionally ponders what might have been, but never with regret.

One of Canada’s finest front-end players prefers to focus on the future.

Neufeld is competing at the Viterra provincial men’s curling championship, tossing for one of the favourites in Virden this week. Nothing new to report there. Significantly altered, however, is the personnel he’s surrounded by.

After 11 seasons as lead with the ultra-dominant Mike McEwen foursome, the Winnipegger now plays second for Jason Gunnlaugson. The McEwen team disbanded not long after missing the playoffs at the 2018 Brier in Regina, its third consecutive appearance at the national men’s championship.

With McEwen on the T-line, Denni’s younger brother, B.J., at third and Matt Wozniak at second, the foursome stuck it out through painful defeats in five provincial finals before finally breaking through in Selkirk in 2016 and then capturing a second consecutive Manitoba title in 2017.

They represented Manitoba at the nationals in Ottawa and St. John’s, N.L., and sneaked into the 2018 Canadian championship in Regina as the wild-card team.

“We were good enough to win a Brier, 100 per cent. We had a few chances that slipped away from us but we were definitely good enough,” Neufeld said Wednesday morning. “Do I have any regrets? No, definitely not. It was a great team. We had a lot of talent and we were successful even when things weren’t looking great.

“It’s really hard to win a Brier. The stars have to align perfectly for that to happen. I have zero regrets being part of that team for 11 years. It was phenomenal.”

The higher the stakes, the better Neufeld performed. He was a first-team all-star at the last three Briers.

“Maybe when my career is over I’ll think about those things, but I’m looking for a Brier title. That’s what I want on the mantle,” he said.

The Gunnlaugson crew, playing out of Morris as the event’s No. 2 seed, scored four in the first end and cruised to a 10-2 victory over Darren Perche of Charleswood in the opening draw Wednesday at Tundra Oil & Gas Place.

Gunnlaugson meets hometown favourite Graham Freeman today in a preliminary A-side matchup.

Neufeld said transitioning from a familiar fit to something new this season — with Gunnlaugson at the helm, third Alex Forrest and lead Connor Njegovan — was easier than he’d anticipated.

“The team dynamic and the way we operate felt really comfortable right off the bat. These guys are so easygoing, it’s impossible not to get along with them,” he said. “They’re so professional in the way they handle themselves, on and off the ice. That’s something that was really important to me.

“I saw them as a team definitely on their way up. I thought I could bring in a few things I had with my previous team that would help — structure and stuff — so, it’s been a really good fit so far.”

The ‘previous’ team to which the 38-year-old real estate agent refers to goes down as one of the finest in Manitoba history. Team McEwen played Grand Slam events and cash bonspiels around the world and, during a stretch, was the World Curling Tour’s top-ranked team.

They were a shot away from a trip to the Olympics last year, too.

Fourteen months ago in Ottawa, McEwen was poised to steal the winning point in the 10th end of the Canadian Trials final against Kevin Koe. The Fort Rouge foursome had a stone biting the top of the four-foot and one at the back, but Koe’s perfect draw sealed it for the Calgary squad.

The sting of that defeat still lingers, Neufeld admitted.

“We’re inches away, right? That’s the biggest loss. And there isn’t much I would have changed that week. We played phenomenal. Somebody has to win and somebody has to lose in that game,” he said.

Neufeld said when the team broke up, he strongly considered taking a hiatus from high-level curling. He and his wife, Cheryl, have two young daughters.

But the offer from Gunnlaugson to come aboard for a run in the next Olympic cycle was too enticing.

“We knew we were going our separate ways, but where people were going to go was undetermined. I didn’t know what I was going to do, if I was going to keep playing or if I was going to hang it up. I have a young family and they sacrifice a lot so I can do this and chase my dreams. My family is No. 1 in my life, so that was definitely in my mind,” he said. “But I got a call from these guys and I thought it was a pretty good opportunity,” he said. “(Cheryl) and I discussed it and felt it was a great opportunity for me to start something new.

“Whenever you think you have something left on the table, you want to try to complete it. These guys are of the age where in four years they’ll be at the right age, with the right experience, so for sure it’s exciting.

Gunnlaugson, a fixture on Canada’s competitive circuit for more than a decade, is looking for his first Manitoba men’s crown. Adding a talented thrower such as Neufeld and a coach such as Denni’s dad, 1992 Brier champion Chris Neufeld, strengthens the team’s chances considerably.

“We’re really drawing on the Neufelds’ experience here. We’re trying to go through with the same mentality they brought to these events where they obviously made it deep into the weekend. So, we’re trying to emulate that,” said Gunnlaugson. “It’s been very interesting, just lots of little things that brought them a lot of success over the years, small things but they all add up. We haven’t been as good as (Denni’s) used to, so it’s been a challenge for him to just focus and keep working with us as we’re improving.

“(Denni) brings it with his throwing, he brings it with his brushing, for sure, and just the confidence for a skip. You need someone you can lean on in those big moments, and you know the moment’s not going to be too big for Denni. He’s done it all.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell