Brier Day 2: Saskatchewan’s McEwen beats Canada’s Gushue to remain undefeated

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Saturday nights are alright for Mike McEwen. 

In front of 5,430 fans in Regina’s Brandt Centre on Saturday night, McEwen and Team Saskatchewan beat Brad Gushue and Team Canada 7-6 in Pool B round robin action at the 2024 Montana’s Brier. 

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It’s the second straight year McEwen has beaten Gushue in the round robin at the Canadian men’s curling championship, as he also handed the two-time defending champion his only loss of the Brier last year while skipping Team Ontario, which was also on Saturday night of the opening weekend in London, Ont. 

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“Feels like last year Saturday night,” McEwen told reporters after the victory. “I love how we played this game. 

“It wasn’t sneaking out one. It was a solid team performance and we’ve got to take advantage of when Brad and team are not at their best.” 

After beating Prince Edward Island in their opening draw on Friday, McEwen and his squad featuring third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Daniel Marsh were even better on Saturday.

Following an 89 per cent performance on Friday, McEwen curled 90 per cent on Saturday, while Gushue — who also won on Friday against Nova Scotia in a game that saw Gushue request the ejection of a fan for excessive heckling — curled just 70 per cent. 

“Ultimately it came down to Mike outplayed me,” Gushue said after the game. “Mike played really well (and) I didn’t play anywhere near as good as I usually do so take it on the chin and come out ready tomorrow.” 

After earning hammer to start the game, McEwen capitalized by scoring a deuce in the first end to go up 2-0 after Gushue missed a double takeout with his last rock. 

In the second, McEwen made a tight double takeout with his first to sit four, forcing Gushue to attempt to draw around the Saskatchewan rocks, which was unsuccessful. 

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McEwen then took Gushue’s stone out to sit five, forcing Gushue to draw to the four foot to score a single. This time, he was successful, as the lead was cut to 2-1. 

In the third, it was Gushue putting the pressure on as he sat three with his final stone, forcing McEwen to make a tough double takeout to limit the damage, allowing a single-point steal which tied the game 2-2. 

McEwen grabbed the lead right back as he drew for a deuce in the fourth to make it 4-2. 

In the fifth end, with 13 of the first 14 rocks in play, McEwen made a remarkable raise of his own — tapping five stones in the process — to ensure his stone was shot rock. 

That forced Gushue to attempt to throw an in-off takeout, but it was unsuccessful and Saskatchewan stole one point to take the 5-2 lead at the break. 

In the sixth, Saskatchewan earned another single-point steal as Gushue attempted an in-off which was missed as McEwen and company took a 6-2 lead. 

In the seventh, McEwen and company played a defensive end as they continually took out any of Canada’s rocks that entered the house, forcing Gushue to draw for one, which he made to make it 6-3. 

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McEwen responded with a single point in the eighth to take a commanding 7-3 lead before Gushue scored a deuce in the ninth to make it 7-5. 

And in the final end — facing three Gushue stones — McEwen had an open takeout to eliminate one of them, giving up a steal of one, which meant a 7-6 victory for Team Saskatchewan. 

“Beating Brad Gushue on home soil, that’s got to be right up there in top curling memories for me already in my curling career,” said Regina-born Kevin Marsh, who is in his third Brier. “(The crowd) was the best I’ve ever played in front of in my whole career.” 

“Definitely one of the biggest — the biggest — win of my Brier career,” said Daniel Marsh, Kevin’s twin brother who is also in his third Brier. “Doing it in front of the hometown crowd, beating Brad, couldn’t ask for anything better than that.” 

Saskatchewan will now get set for another tough test on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they take on four-time Brier champion Kevin Koe and Team Alberta. The round robin will continue through the week with the top three teams from each pool making the playoffs. 

And with Saskatchewan putting themselves in a good position to make the playoff round after picking up back-to-back wins to open the Brier, McEwen knows it’s likely not the last time he will see Gushue this year. 

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“I fully expect to have to go through him if we’re playing on playoff weekend,” said McEwen, who lost to Gushue in the playoffs last year. “That’s when it really counts.” 

In the meantime, Saskatchewan will try and ride the high they got from the victory on Saturday night as the look to win the province’s first Brier since 1980. 

“We know it’s going to take everything to win it,” said McEwen. “And I think we’re in a position where we have everything to give.” 

Other Draw 3 scores 

Alberta (Koe) 8, Northwest Territories (Koe) 4 

In a sibling battle featuring the Koe brothers, Kevin and Team Alberta got the best of his brother Jamie and Team Northwest Territories. For Kevin and company, it was a bounce-back performance after losing to Alberta’s Aaron Sluchinski in the opening draw. 

Quebec (Tremblay), 11 Nunavut (Latimer) 4 

Playing in their first game of the Brier after having Friday night off, Shane Latimer and Team Nunavut found themselves down 5-0 early before scoring a deuce in the fourth to make it 5-2. 

From there, Quebec continued to play well as they cruised to the 11-4 victory, their first of the event after losing to Northwest Territories on Friday. 

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P.E.I. (Smith), 11 Nova Scotia (Manuel) 7 

In an Atlantic battle, Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith and Nova Scotia’s Matthew Manuel went the distance in their matchup. With the game tied 7-7 heading into the final end, Smith scored four in the 10th to win 11-7 to pick up their first win. 

Draw 2 scores 

Alberta (Bottcher) 11, Newfoundland (Symonds) 3 

Earlier on Saturday in front of 4,861 spectators, the Pool A teams played their first game of the Brier with the top ranked team in Canada getting off to a good start as Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and his team beat Newfoundland/Labrador’s Andrew Symonds 11-3. 

In the win, the Bottcher rink — also featuring third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert — curled at 96 per cent, which is one percentage point off the Brier single-game record of 97 per cent. 

Manitoba (Carruthers) 7, Manitoba (Dunstone) 5 

In an all-Manitoba battle, Reid Carruthers and his squad topped Matt Dunstone and his team 7-5. 

Dunstone missed shots in the second and eighth ends which gave up two separate steals of two for Carruthers. In last year’s Brier, Dunstone — who lost to Gushue in the final — only gave up three stolen points the entire tournament. 

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Ontario (Howard) 7, B.C. (Schneider) 5 

Scott Howard and his Ontario team picked up a dramatic 7-5 victory over Regina product and Team B.C. skip Catlin Schneider. 

Down 5-4 with hammer in the final end, Howard made a brilliant triple takeout to score three, giving his squad the 7-5 win.  

Northern Ontario (Bonot) 9, New Brunswick (Grattan) 4 

Brier rookie Trevor Bonot and Northern Ontario started out strongly with a 9-4 win over James Grattan and his New Brunswick rink.  

After blanks in the first three ends, Bonot scored four in the fourth and then stole three in the fifth to take the commanding 7-0 lead. From there, the Thunder Bay rink cruised to their first victory. 

Sunday schedule 

Draw 4 – 9 a.m. 

• Manitoba (Carruthers) vs. Ontario (Howard) 
• Manitoba (Dunstone) vs. B.C. (Schneider) 
• Alberta (Bottcher) vs. Yukon (Scoffin) 
• Northern Ontario (Bonot) vs. Newfoundland (Symonds) 

Draw 5 – 2 p.m. 

• Saskatchewan (McEwen) vs. Alberta (Koe) 
• Canada (Gushue) vs. Quebec (Tremblay) 
• Nova Scotia (Manuel) vs. Northwest Territories (Koe) 
• Alberta (Sluchinski) vs. Nunavut (Latimer) 

Draw 6 – 7 p.m. 

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• Manitoba (Carruthers) vs. Northern Ontario (Bonot) 
• Ontario (Howard) vs. Alberta (Bottcher) 
• B.C. (Schneider) vs. Newfoundland (Symonds) 
• New Brunswick (Grattan) vs. Yukon (Scoffin) 

Pool A standings after Day 2 

1. Alberta (Bottcher) 1-0 
2. Manitoba (Carruthers) 1-0 
3. Ontario (Howard) 1-0 
4. Northern Ontario (Bonot) 1-0 
5. Yukon (Scoffin) 0-0 
6. Manitoba (Dunstone) 0-1 
7. B.C. (Schneider) 0-1 
8. New Brunswick (Grattan) 0-1
9. Newfoundland (Symonds) 0-1 

Pool B standings after Day 2 

1. Saskatchewan (McEwen) 2-0 
2. Alberta (Sluchinski) 1-0 
3. Canada (Gushue) 1-1 
4. Alberta (Koe) 1-1 
5. Quebec (Tremblay) 1-1 
6. Northwest Territories (Koe) 1-1 
7. P.E.I (Smith) 1-1 
8. Nunavut (Latimer) 0-1 
9. Nova Scotia (Manuel) 0-2 

*the top three teams from each pool make the playoffs 

tshire@postmedia.com

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