Brier Day 7: Team Saskatchewan eyes playoff run as round robin concludes

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Team Saskatchewan is ready to make some noise.

Having clinched the top seed in Pool B at the 2024 Montana’s Brier, skip Mike McEwen, third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Daniel Marsh are hoping to carry their strong play into the playoffs at the Canadian men’s curling championship, which begin Friday.

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On Wednesday night, Mike McEwen and his squad secured the No. 1 seed in their pool at the championship in Regina with a 10-2 win over Nunavut to improve to 6-1.

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Saskatchewan then concluded the round robin with their fourth straight win, a 7-5 victory against Quebec on Thursday afternoon in a game that didn’t matter when it came to the standings.

But it meant something for Saskatchewan’s momentum heading into the playoffs.

“I wanted them to play us hard and they did,” McEwen said after the win. “We played some really precise shots especially late in the game and that was perfect.

“I want to be pushed. Today is a day I didn’t want to take off.”

Saskatchewan will now face the No. 2 seed in Pool A on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Page 1-2 qualifier game. If they win, McEwen and company will advance to Saturday night’s Page 1-2 playoff game. A loss on Friday afternoon in the Page 1-2 qualifier means a short turnaround as they would face the No. 3 seed in Pool B (Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe) in the Page 3-4 qualifier at 7 p.m. on Friday, with the loser eliminated and the winner moving on to Saturday’s Page 3-4 playoff game at 1 p.m.

“I am excited for Friday,” said McEwen. “We put ourselves in a great position (with) two shots at — what else can you ask for to get into the final four.”

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McEwen — who is the top skip in the field this week curling at 89 per cent after eight games — is looking for his first Brier win in nine appearances. The Winnipeg product’s best finish came in 2017 when he finished third as the skip of Team Manitoba.

“I can’t imagine being any hungrier than I am,” said McEwen. “I’ve got a lot to play for.

“I’ve got two little girls that I love to inspire, great family support, great sponsors of our team that allow us to actually go out and do this.

“And then by extension my own teammates and their support networks. We just have a ton to play for and it’s not just ourselves. We’re playing for a lot of people behind the scenes too.”

Saskatchewan’s last Brier title came in 1980 with Rick Folk winning. As a province, Saskatchewan has won seven Briers, with Ernie Richardson (four: 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963), Garnet Campbell (one: 1955) and Harvey Mazinke (one: 1973) having won the others.

Alberta leads all-time with 29 titles, followed by Manitoba with 27 and Ontario with 10.

This year’s championship game is set for Sunday at 6 p.m.

The winner will represent Canada at the 2024 World Men’s Curling Championship, set to get underway March 30 in Switzerland.

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Other Draw 17 scores

Canada (Gushue) 10, Alberta (Sluchinski) 4

In a head-to-head battle for a playoff spot on Thursday afternoon, Brad Gushue and Team Canada clinched a playoff berth with a 10-4 win over Aaron Sluchinski.

With a 6-2 record, Gushue will now be the No. 2 seed in Pool B heading into Friday’s Page 1-2 playoff qualifier, where he will take on the No. 1 seed from Pool A.

Northwest Territories (Koe) 9, P.E.I. (Smith) 8

In another head-to-head battle to determine the final playoff spot, Jamie Koe and Northwest Territories stole a single point in the extra end to beat P.E.I. after skip Tyler Smith missed a draw with his final shot.

Koe will now be the No. 3 seed in Pool B and awaits the loser of the Page 1-2 qualifier.

Alberta (Koe) 6, Nunavut (Latimer) 4

With both teams out of the playoff race, four-time champion Kevin Koe and Alberta picked up just their second win of the event, beating Nunavut 6-4.

Draw 16 scores (Thursday morning)

Alberta (Bottcher) 9, B.C. (Schneider) 4

Brendan Bottcher and Team Alberta continued thieir strong week on Thursday morning as they beat Regina product Catlin Schneider and Team B.C. 9-4, officially knocking B.C. out of playoff contention as they finished the event with a 4-4 record.

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Bottcher now has a chance to clinch first place in Pool A on Thursday night with a win over Reid Carruthers.

Manitoba (Carruthers) 6, Yukon (Scoffin) 4

After scoring five points in the second end, Carruthers and Manitoba improved to 6-1 with a 6-4 win over Yukon on Thursday morning.

Carruthers will now battle with Bottcher for the top spot in Pool A on Thursday night.

Manitoba (Dunstone) 8, Northern Ontario (Bonot) 3

In another game with playoff implications on Thursday morning, Matt Dunstone and his Manitoba rink needed just eight ends to beat Trevor Bonot and Northern Ontario 8-3.

Both teams moved to 5-2 but the victory gave Dunstone the head-to-head tiebreaker. Dunstone can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday night. Bonot needs a win against Yukon on Thursday night and a Dunstone loss to have a playoff shot.

Newfoundland/Labrador (Symonds) 8, New Brunswick (Grattan) 3

In a game featuring two teams out of playoff contention, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Symonds picked up his second win of the event by beating New Brunswick’s James Grattan, who dropped to 0-7.

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Draw 18 scores (Thursday 7 p.m.)

• Alberta (Bottcher) vs. Manitoba (Carruthers)
• Manitoba (Dunstone) vs. Newfoundland/Labrador (Symonds)
• Northern Ontario (Bonot) vs. Yukon (Scoffin)
• Ontario (Howard) vs. New Brunswick (Grattan)

Friday schedule

1 p.m. – Page 1-2 qualifier

No. 1 seed in Pool A vs. No. 2 seed in Pool B

No. 1 seed in Pool B vs. No. 2 seed in Pool A

*Winners advance to Page 1-2 playoff game, loses move to Page 3-4 qualifier

7 p.m. – Page 3-4 qualifier

Loser of Page 1-2 qualifier vs No. 3 seed in Pool A

Loser of Page 1-2 qualifier vs No. 3 seed in Pool B

*Winners advance to Page 3-4 playoff game, losers are eliminated

Saturday schedule

1 p.m. – Page 3-4 playoff game

Winners of Friday night’s Page 3-4 qualifier

*Winner advances to semifinal, loser is eliminated

7 p.m. – Page 1-2 playoff game

Winners of Friday afternoon’s Page 1-2 qualifier

*Winner advances to final, lose to semifinal

Sunday schedule

12 p.m. – Semifinal

Winner of Page 3-4 playoff game vs. Loser of Page 1-2 playoff game

*Winner to final, loser is eliminated

6 p.m. – Final

Winner of Page 1-2 playoff game vs. Winner of semifinal

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Pool A standings

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

Pool B standings

1. Saskatchewan (McEwen) 7-1
2. Canada (Gushue) 6-2
3. Northwest Territories (Koe) 5-3*finishes third via head-to-head record vs. P.E.I.
4. P.E.I (Smith) 5-3
5. Alberta (Sluchinski) 4-4
6. Nova Scotia (Manuel) 4-4
7. Quebec (Tremblay) 2-6
8. Alberta (Koe) 2-6
9. Nunavut (Latimer) 1-7

*the top three teams from each pool make the playoffs

tshire@postmedia.com

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