Cool rules at Safeway

It's paying off for McEwen and Stoughton and

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CST Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011

BEAUSEJOUR -- If Mike McEwen goes on to win his first Manitoba men's curling championship Sunday afternoon -- and the top seed's quest is still unblemished heading into today -- it will be as much about what he has not been doing here this week as what he has.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/02/2011 (5536 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEAUSEJOUR — If Mike McEwen goes on to win his first Manitoba men’s curling championship Sunday afternoon — and the top seed’s quest is still unblemished heading into today — it will be as much about what he has not been doing here this week as what he has.

Because what McEwen has not been doing here this week — what his entire team in fact has not been doing — is losing their cool amidst plenty of adversity.

There was a time not so very long ago when McEwen would have become unglued by things like the debris that littered the ice here Thursday in his game against Garth Smith or the official who walked along the end boards just as McEwen was throwing a draw against four last night against Bob Sigurdson.

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES
Mike McEwen: advances — DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Mike McEwen: advances

But instead of coming unglued, McEwen found a way, edging Smith on a last rock and then manufacturing an extra-end 4-3 win over Sigurdson in a nail-biter Friday night.

Times have changed. “It’s tough,” McEwen explained. “Sometimes you get down out there and stressed out if the ice isn’t quite perfect and things aren’t going your way.

“Complaining about it is not going to do anything. You just have to stay focused. If it’s tricky out there, you just have to be better at picking up any differences.

“As a team, that was something where we had a bit of a weakness in the past,” McEwen continued. “We just have a better aura out there as a team and how we work together…

“I don’t know what it is. Maybe age, patience. It’s just something that’s developed over time, especially in the last season.”

The results have been on display here this week. While McEwen has been something far short of the dominant force that took the men’s cashspiel circuit by storm this winter, he has kept his composure and heads into today a perfect 4-0 and one win away from qualifying for tonight’s 1 vs. 1 page playoff game.

It has been the same story — but a very different path — for Stoughton. The eight-time Manitoba men’s champion is also 4-0, but has made every game look easy, including a 6-1, six-end tear-down of Andy Stewart Friday.

Stoughton has seen the tenth end just once here this week and was even asked Friday if he’d prefer a closer game at some point.

“No,” replied an incredulous Stoughton. “Who wants that? Let’s be honest: Sure, every skip wants to draw in the tenth end to win the game. But I think every skip also wants to throw an open hit up three or four coming home.”

This morning, Stoughton will play former teammate Rob Fowler — who defeated Randy Neufeld 8-3 last night — with the winner advancing to the 1 vs. 1 game tonight. Also this morning and for the same stakes, McEwen will face Terry McNamee — who defeated Vic Peters 9-6 last night to advance.

On the B-side this morning and needing a win just to stay alive, Neufeld plays Stewart while Peters takes on Sigurdson.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca