McEwen a title away from joining Manitoba’s elite

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CST Monday, Jan. 5, 2009

It's been a few years since there has been a dominant Big 3 in Manitoba curling.

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It's been a few years since there has been a dominant Big 3 in Manitoba curling.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/01/2009 (6356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s been a few years since there has been a dominant Big 3 in Manitoba curling.

With former Canadian champion Vic Peters in semi-retirement, the former Big 3 has become the Big 2 of Jeff Stoughton and Kerry Burtnyk in recent years.

That may be about to change, however. Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen is making a strong case this winter that his team might be on the cusp of joining Burtnyk and Stoughton in the elite class they currently occupy in this province.

McEwen made his latest statement toward that end Sunday in Morris when he captured the Manitoba Curling Tour men’s championship with a 7-4 victory over Brandon’s Terry McNamee in the final.

The win is the second MCT title in a row for McEwen and makes his team the first in the 18-year history of the MCT to capture back-to-back tour titles.

Even more importantly, however, is the berth into February’s Safeway provincial men’s curling championship that McEwen and his foursome — B.J. Neufeld, Matt Wozniak and Denni Neufeld — also earned in Morris.

Burtnyk and Stoughton already have their Safeway berths and McEwen knows that sooner or later he’s going to have to beat them in a provincials to graduate to that next rung on the ladder.

"It’s that one big carrot still hanging out there that I think would take us to the next level — winning a Manitoba championship," McEwen, 28, said Sunday night.

McEwen has had a career season on the cashspiel tours, racking up about $33,000 in winnings, including last night’s $7,000 cheque. He’s also earned a spot in the Canada Cup and a spot in this month’s Grand Slam event at MTS Centre.

But in the end, he knows he still has to pass a big test to be considered in Stoughton’s and Burtnyk’s company.

In the women’s MCT championship, Chelsea Carey set a tone for the upcoming women’s provincial curling championship in Neepawa, drilling former Manitoba women’s champion Janet Harvey 7-1 in just five ends to capture the women’s tour title and the $4,000 first prize.