Blurry Brier Eyes in Lethbridge

Eyesight can be a little blurry during a Sunday morning draw at the Brier.

After a late night at the Patch, some need a second cup of Tim Hortons to keep focus on the on-ice action. A Canadian championship with a mix of Olympic and world champions confronting barely ranked teams once again delivers entertainment on the opening weekend. The Enmax Centre in Lethbridge isn’t the Saddledome or Coliseum, but Albertans and out of town visitors managed to fill enough of the 5,500-seat complex to bring roars to the rings throughout the night—and again this morning, as Team Gushue’s Wild Card entry polishes off Nunavut 8-1.

The main event was a Saturday night matchup between local hero Darren Moulding and his skip in the last four Brier finals, Brendan Bottcher. As a defending champion, Moulding was originally expecting to wear a maple leaf to this event, but due to reasons that were completely non-personal whatsoever—i.e. he was cut from the squad—Darren reached this Brier wearing New Brunswick colours. James Grattan picked up the ex-Bottcher third and with memories of a Jones versus Overton reunion at the 2011 Scotties, Curling Canada smartly put the maritime team in the same pool as Team Canada and slotted in a Saturday Night duel on opening weekend.

Ian Campbell of The Curling News:

As teammates, Bottcher and Moulding had been an odd but seemingly complimentary couple, with Bottcher’s calm and logical demeanor contrasted by Moulding’s visible heart and emotion. As the players emerged on the ice for the game, Moulding looked typically expressive, laughing with his new teammates. Botcher appeared quiet and focused as he warmed-up.

In media interviews prior to the match, Bottcher’s Team Canada had focused on the occasion as just another game, while Moulding leaned more into the narrative. In the hours leading up the game, he fired off a tweet:

“I just want to let everyone who had had my back and supported me (know) that I appreciate every single one of you. I do my best to show that to you and I feel humbled and honoured. It’s important to me that you understand the gratitude I have. I will play hard for you tonight.”

The mood was generally cordial, with support for Team Canada throughout, but cheering for New Brunswick was clearly several decibels higher. Despite strong play by the underdog Grattan squad, the game seemed well in hand for Bottcher at the break.

Up 4-3 with hammer in the ninth end, Brendan had a double for three points to seal the victory. Then the unthinkable happened, and he missed. There wasn’t exactly cheering following his gaffe, more of a collective gasp and growing murmur from fans who moments earlier were ready to sprint to the Patch.

In the 10th end, a missed tick shot brought more suspense and as Brendan threw his first stone, you could hear drawn-out jeers of “Baauuuttcher” from a few in the stands. Grattan’s freeze attempt with his final stone ran a little too straight and Brendan was left with a hit on his last to win the game. As he slid out, again some in the crowd taunted him by hollering out his last name, including the man in front of my seat who received an elbow in his ribs from the lady beside him.

Darren versus Brendan delivered entertainment, but it could have been epic if his final shot had been a cold draw to the four foot.

There were other moments for fans to savour during the third draw of the 93rd Brier. Leading 11-3 in the seventh end against Newfoundland & Labrador, Alberta’s Kevin Koe brought in his fifth, three-time Brier winner and Olympic silver medalist Carter Rycroft. Their opponent, the aptly named “Young” team from NL, countered with their alternate and history was made.

Eighteen days shy of his 16th birthday, Nicholas Codner became the youngest player to throw a stone at the Brier. John Van Hellemond was the previous record holder at 16 years and under three months. John—better known as “Jack”—brother to Hockey Hall of Fame referee Andy, played lead for the miracle Terry Braunstein junior rink that lost in a playoff to Alberta’s Matt Baldwin at the 1958 Brier. It was John’s Manitoba team that led to a rule restricting young’uns from qualifying for what was considered a man’s game.

Junior curlers were not able to compete again for a spot in the Brier until recently, with Matt Dunstone nearly qualifying his junior team in 2016 (though he announced before their provincial championship matchup with Mike McEwen they would forego the entry to play in the world juniors).

Nicholas started curling five years ago after his mom and dad brought him to see Brad Gushue at the 2017 Brier. He did not know who John Van Hellemond was and described it as “Awesome, I can’t explain the feelings to play in front of this crowd ... it was a surreal moment.”

Young Codner was born in 2006, the year Gushue won the Olympic gold medal and has only seen clips of the video. Then again, his favourite curler is not the three-time Brier champion—it’s Mike McEwen. Coach Toby McDonald had advice for the boys after being throttled by Koe: “You’re still 15-1 in your last 16 games.” There’s more to see from Nathan Young and his squad this week and in the years ahead.

On the sheet next to Nicholas and skipping his don’t-remember-how-many-because-I’ve-lost-track game at the Brier was Glenn Howard. Four months shy of his 60th birthday, Glenn is the oldest competitor in this year’s field.

After coming short on a draw that picked in his sixth-end game against Matt Dunstone, Howard and his son Scott shared a rare broom slam. The noise generated from pounding a fabric head onto the ice is enough to raise some eyebrows but it falls short of the electricity Orest Meleschuk provided fans in Saskatoon in 1989, hammering his corn broom with each miss.

Friends watching on television tell me Glenn also dropped a glorious F-bomb, perfectly placed for the TSN cameras and microphones. A fine is no doubt on the way.

Team Ontario fought back valiantly with a deuce in the seventh, followed by a steal in the eighth, but like Grattan’s shot on the sheet beside them, Glenn’s final freeze attempt was off just enough for Dunstone to blast it out and score his single for the win.

Glenn Howard played his first Brier in 1986. The fifth that year for Nova Scotia was the late Don Flemming, father of this year’s Nova Scotia skip Paul Flemming. Don was born in 1941 and with nearly forty-five years between Codner and Howard, we are reminded that this event crosses generations and connects us to the past unlike any other sport.