Make it make sense—though it was exciting
[With files from Curling Canada]
Top three in each pool gets you in to the playoffs at the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna.
But John Epping’s 6-2 pool won/loss record wasn’t enough.
The Northern Ontario skip and his crew ended up in fourth spot in their pool, missing out, while Own Purcell’s Nova Scotia—at 5-3 in their pool—grabbed that province’s first Brier playoff spot in nearly two decades.
Make it make sense.
Actually, it was pretty exciting—with Team Epping watching at the Prospera Place arena and the Reid Carruthers foursome, who also knew they needed outside help, watching anxiously from their team hotel.
Such are the trials and tribulations of Curling Canada’s seemingly never-ending format adjustments for the Brier—the Canadian men’s fours championship—and Scotties, the national women’s shootout.
Eighteen teams arrived a week ago and just six are left standing. They are led by three-time defending champs Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, who finished 7-1 after a Friday afternoon loss to Matt Dunstone’s Manitoba entry.
That win pushed Carruthers’ Manitobans into the top six. Had Gushue been victorious, Epping would’ve made it in.
Gushue led Dunstone 4-1 but Dunstone scored two in the fifth, forced Gushue to one in the sixth and set up a brilliant double takeout in the seventh to score two and tie the game.
In the eighth, Dunstone made a hit-and-roll to sit shot stone in the back four-foot rings, and the St. John’s skip could not follow the draw path for a chance to score. It was the first time Team Gushue allowed a steal all week.
Tied 6-6 and coming home with hammer, the Manitobans scored one in the 10th for the victory and first place (7-1) in their pool.
Meanwhile, Purcell’s Halifax crew scored a 7-3 win over Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek (4-4) in a game that decided the third and final playoff spot in Pool B and a berth into Friday night’s 6:30 p.m. (all times PT) Page 3 vs. 4 qualifying game.
Some curling fans were miffed the NS vs ON tilt wasn’t the choice for television’s featured game of the draw, as broadcast partner TSN decided to showcase Alberta’s Brad Jacobs vs. Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen.
At age 24, Purcell, a former Canadian U18 champ, will be easily the youngest skip in the playoffs. Backed up by Luke Saunders, Scott Saccary and Ryan Abraham—with coach Colleen Jones—the Bluenoser skip will take on the loser of the Page 1 vs. 2 qualifier between Pool B winner Jacobs (8-0) and Pool A runner-up Team Canada.
The battle of Pool B’s unbeaten squads went to an extra end on Friday, as Jacobs prevailed 9-6 over McEwen.
The playoffs kick off Friday at 12:30 p.m. with the Page 1 vs. 2 qualifiers. Alongside the Jacobs/Gushue clash, Pool A winner Dunstone will challenge Pool B runner-up Mike McEwen of Saskatchewan (7-1).
The two winners of the afternoon games will advance to Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. Page 1 vs. 2 playoff, with a bye to Sunday’s gold-medal game on the line.
The losers, meanwhile, take advantage of their second life by dropping to the Page 3 vs. 4 qualifier. Carruthers (6-2) finished third in Pool A and will play the winner of Dunstone vs. McEwen.
The Nova Scotia-Ontario battle pitted two of Canada’s brightest young skipping talents, both former U SPORTS Canadian University champions, and the stakes were high.
“I imagine both of our teams knew that this game was coming and we were going to be in a pretty similar spot, so definitely pretty intense,” said Purcell. “Sam and those guys, they’re awesome—I mean, they’re showing that the next generation of curling in Canada is really, really strong and we always have really good games against them.
“Sam and I have played against each other a lot over the years so it’s kind of special, honestly, to play against him in a game of this calibre.”
The last time a Nova Scotia team made the playoffs was 2006 at Regina when Mark Dacey’s team claimed a bronze medal.
“That’s pretty cool,” said Purcell of ending the 19-year dry spell. “I mean, I’ve always looked up to Dacey and he was even our coach last year and he’s an amazing curler. He did a lot for curling in Nova Scotia so it’s an honour to be sharing that kind of glory in a sense with him.”
In the other games to close out the round robin, Quebec’s Team Felix Asselin finished 4-4 by defeating Saskatchewan’s Rylan Kleiter (3-5 in his Brier debut) by an 8-5 scoreline, and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin earned his best record at the Brier (4-4) with a 6-2 win over NWT’s Aaron Bartling (0-8).