2005 Slam was the start of it all

ST. JOHN’S—People talk about Brad Gushue’s Brier victory in this arena, the Mary Brown’s Centre, back in 2017.

Throbbing crowds all week. Passion. Craziness. 

A frantically swept stone for the Newfoundland & Labrador victory, followed by an eruption of joy and a party that forced the Patch to reopen for unplanned merriment.

But Gushue was already an established star; what was it that really turned heads, making opponents take note and his hometown fans really appreciate his potential?

Let’s go a bit further back.

This is the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event to be held at this venue—formerly Mile One stadium—with the other three being season-ending Players’ Championships.

One of those was instrumental in making Brad Gushue a star, and it set the table for his golden Olympic triumph.

In 2004, the first-ever TPC on The Rock saw a young Gushue squad finish 3-2 in their pool, where they lost a tiebreaker to Quebec folk hero Guy Hemmings.

Four years later, the Olympic champions finished 2-2 in a triple-knockout format and fell in the quarterfinals.

In the middle—late March in 2005—Team Gushue won their Players’ Championship pool at 4-1, defeated Switzerland’s Ralph Stoeckli 9-8 in the quarterfinals and stole their semifinal from Ontario’s  Glenn Howard by a 7-6 scoreline.

That brought one heck of a crowd out for the 2005 Players’ Championship final against Alberta legend Kevin Martin.

And the Gushue legend was set for prime time.

“That was the first time we went on a big run on tour,” recalled Jamie Korab, who anchored Gushue’s front end with Mike Adam in advance of Mark Nichols and the skipper.

“We hadn’t really beaten the big guys much before then, not at the Slam level.”

Korab recalls a live band—Siochana—pumping out traditional music at ice level, which only whipped up the crowd even more.

“I remember that crowd,” said Martin, who went on to win 2010 Olympic gold and is now back at this barn with Sportsnet.

“That crowd was incredible,” he said. “The 2017 Brier was a madhouse but so was that 2005 final, it was so loud in here. It was just crazy.”

Martin defeated the young Gushue 6-2, and one of the Alberta victors was also full of emotions.

“Martin had Don Bartlett at lead, from Gander,” said Korab. “He almost had tears in his eyes. What a special moment.”

Team Gushue beat four out of their five pool opponents early that week, in a group made up that included USA’s Pete Fenson, Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons and Swedish legend Peter-soon-to-be-Peja Lindholm. 

The pool also featured two other guys you might have heard of—Alberta’s John Morris (with Kevin Koe at third) and Winnipeg kingpin Jeff Stoughton.

Just seven months later it was Stoughton who went on to lose the Olympic Trials final to Gushue, who was now bolstered by Russ Howard in the lineup.

The 24-year-old Gushue played sick through the final day, which ended with a $30,000 runner-up payday for his 13th-ranked squad.

“It was the coolest experience,” Gushue said after the final. “We just wanted to play well after a poor showing at the Canada Cup and the Brier.

“Win or lose this game, we knew we’d done that.”

Team discussions, with coach Toby McDonald, about who could join the squad to boost their chances of Trials success commenced shortly after the bedlam of that final on New Gower Street.

Korab believes the tournament was the real start of things for Team Gushue.

“That’s where we took a big step beyond the belief we all had in ourselves,” said Korab, who is now a provincial member of parliament.

“That was definitely the point when all four of us put everything together.

“The belief we had, we proved it.”

Fans can watch that 2005 final between Martin and Gushue—in its entirety—in the embedded video below, courtesy of the Curling Legends Presents YouTube channel.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWMt49BXd5E[/embed]