McEwen Mr. Confident

Playing great, feeling good, ready to get down to business

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 2:10 AM CST Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015

BRANDON -- He's had his heart broken so often at this event it'd be hard to blame Mike McEwen if he was feeling a little trepidatious Friday as he pondered the final weekend of the Manitoba men's curling championship.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/02/2015 (4132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — He’s had his heart broken so often at this event it’d be hard to blame Mike McEwen if he was feeling a little trepidatious Friday as he pondered the final weekend of the Manitoba men’s curling championship.

Five times in the last five years, McEwen has advanced to the final weekend playoff round at the Safeway Championship. And five times, he has come up short — once in the semifinal and an agonizing four times in the final.

So, McEwen was asked Friday morning moments after he qualified for the playoffs for a sixth straight year: Any apprehensions about revisiting this icy boulevard of broken dreams once again?

Tim Smith / Brandon Sun
Mike McEwen throws a rock during the Safeway Championship provincial men's curling at Westman Place on Friday evening. — Tim Smith / Brandon Sun Mike McEwen throws a rock during the Safeway Championship provincial men's curling at Westman Place on Friday evening.

“Not yet, ” said McEwen with a grin. “But ask me again tomorrow.”

Truth be told, there’s been no reason to this point — other than the overwhelming weight of history — for McEwen to feel anything but confident what was a dominating cash spiel season for his team has carried through to the final weekend of this event at Westman Place.

With two more wins Friday — 8-1 over Jared Kolomaya on the morning draw to qualify for the playoff round and then 7-1 over Evan Martin in the opening round of the playoffs last night — McEwen is 4-0 heading into today, having outscored his four opponents by an eye-popping combined score of 32-6 and doing it in just 26 out of a possible 40 ends.

McEwen has, in other words, quite literally nothing to fear at this point other than fear itself. Well, fear and Jeff Stoughton.

It is Stoughton, after all, who authored three of those McEwen defeats in the final — and that McEwen semi-final loss too. And Stoughton — an 11-time Manitoba men’s champion — is once again very much a presence again this weekend, having qualified for the playoff round with an 8-4 win over Daley Peters Friday morning.

But Stoughton has problems of his own coming into today. Stoughton was thrashed 9-3 by former teammate Reid Carruthers in the opening round of the playoffs Friday night and is in a must-win situation heading into this morning, needing to win back-to-back games today to qualify for the Final 4 championship round that begins tonight.

In the other two opening round playoff games Friday night, Stonewall’s Jared Kolomaya defeated two-time defending Canadian junior champion Braden Calvert 6-5, while Matt Dunstone’s junior squad (skipped by Jason Gunnlaugson) defeated Carberry’s Kelly Marnoch 6-4.

Gunnlaugson made the shot of the night to beat Marnoch. Down 4-2, Gunnlaugson authored a spectacular triple takeout for a game-winning four-ender with the final rock of the game.

Stoughton will play Marnoch this morning in a must-win game, while Calvert will play Martin in the morning’s other must-win affair.

McEwen, meanwhile, will play Kolomaya at 9 a.m. today, with the winner advancing straight to tonight’s final four and the loser getting a second chance. And finally, Carruthers will play Dunstone, with that winner advancing and the loser getting a second chance.

It’s a more complicated path for Stoughton than he has normally taken at an event he has frequently gone undefeated at over the years. But that’s how it’s gone in what has been a challenging season for Stoughton, who has an entirely new team that has struggled to find traction on the cash spiel circuit this year.

“It was a terrible game,” Stoughton said after the loss to Carruthers. “The guys didn’t play well and didn’t set up much…

“But we’ll play tomorrow. And as long as you keep winning, you get to play on Sunday. And that’s all you can ask for.”

Carruthers, who is third seed at this event behind McEwen and Stoughton respectively, was pumped Friday night to have beaten a skipping legend with whom he won a 2011 world title as second.

“You get pumped up to play a guy you respect so much,” said Carruthers.

“That’s the best game we’ve played probably. It’s a good time to turn it on, I’d say,” continued Carruthers, whose squad had an early stumble at this event and had to qualify from the B-side.

paul,wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek

The infamous Grassie roll

BRANDON — Sean Grassie had his Safeway Championship come to an end Friday in a way he will want to forget as soon as possible.

The 2013 Manitoba men’s runner-up had three shots to win his B-side game against East St. Paul’s Evan Martin — and he missed all three.

Leading 8-7 and holding hammer in the 10th end, Grassie had a draw to the four-foot with backing with the final rock of the game for the win but elected for a double-takeout instead. Grassie removed one Martin stone but not the other to give Martin a game-tying steal and send the game to an extra end.

In the 11th end, Grassie had a draw to the eight-foot with the last rock of the end but once again elected a takeout. Grassie removed the Martin counter but also spilled out his own rock, blanking the end and sending the game to a rare 12th end.

Finally, with Martin lying shot in the 12th, Grassie tried a draw for the win but was heavy, handing Martin another steal and a 9-8 win.

Martin then proved the win over Grassie was no fluke, defeating Richard Muntain 8-6 in a B-side qualifier to advance to Friday night’s playoff round.

— Wiecek