Gushue Gut Punch in Lethbridge

A disappointing end to a near-perfect day for Saskatchewan plus and a heartbreaking twist for Brad Gushue have set them on a path to meet in Saturday’s 3 versus 4 Page playoff game at the Canadian men’s championship.

Meanwhile, Kevin Koe’s Alberta and Brendan Bottcher’s Team Canada will face off in Saturday’s 1 versus 2 matchup.

After going through the round robin as the only undefeated team at the Brier, Team Gushue was handed its first loss of the tournament on Friday—even before they stepped onto the ice at the Enmax Centre in Lethbridge.

Less than two hours before their game against Team Canada, the Gushue squad released a statement announcing that third Mark Nichols had tested positive for COVID-19 and would need to isolate for the rest of the tournament.

The Gushue squad does not have an alternate with them in Lethbridge, meaning they must play their remaining games as a three-player unit. If another player tests positive, the team will not be able to carry on as a two-person squad and will forfeit their remaining games.

“It's a gut punch on top of a kick in the groin,” said Gushue in postgame interviews on Friday evening, after his tight 4-3 loss to Bottcher.

Gushue said that he last saw Nichols on Thursday night, and he did not look well at that point. In the morning he received a text from his long-time friend and teammate saying he was experiencing symptoms.

“We FaceTimed and I encouraged him to get a get a test done, and it came back positive,” said Gushue.

The other team members were tested as well, but their results were negative.

“It's unfortunate,” he said. “We’ve done everything we can in the last few months to avoid this, and you know, we’re one of the only teams here that were wearing the masks and doing all this stuff. And you know, we get caught in the playoffs when we’re playing great.”

The Gushue squad has had to switch to a three-player configuration on short notice before.

“I think the last time we did it was when I fell on my face, but that was only for a couple ends,” said Gushue, referring to a 2015 playoff match at a Grand Slam of Curling event, in which he slipped, hit his forehead on the ice and  needed to leave the game in an ambulance and be taken to hospital.

Gushue said that curling as a three-player unit for an entire game presents serious challenges.

“It’s tough to play a whole game with three guys, because Brett and Geoff had to switch sides and go to their weak side and judging becomes an issue,” said Gushue. “And obviously Geoff is throwing different shots than he’s normally going to throw, and so is Brett, so (it’s) a huge challenge.”

The Gushue squad was never able to score multiple points in the game, but they swapped singles with Bottcher before finally giving up a deuce in the eighth end and falling behind 3-2. Gushue was again forced to a single in the ninth, meaning Bottcher held the hammer in a 3-3 tie coming home.

“We were fortunate to stay close,” said Gushue. “I was really surprised at the game Brenden called. You know, we’re three players and he just allowed us to keep it close, and I was quite happy to give ourselves a chance. Playing with three players at the Brier against the defending champion, to go to last rock, I think we did pretty good. We gave ourselves a chance, and just didn’t pull it out.”

Bottcher said that when he learned Nichols would be out of the lineup he did not adjust his game plan, because he tries not to base such plans on his opposition.

“I go out of my way not to play the opponent much,” said Bottcher. “I think he, understandably so, wanted to play it a little defensive early. I just kept doing my thing, and we took our chances when we got them.”

In the other page seeding game, Kevin Koe’s Team Alberta put to an end an impressive string of wins by Colton Flasch’s Saskatchewan in a 7-2 victory. Despite the lopsided final score, the match remained close through most of the evening.

Starting with an impressive triple takeout thrown by Flasch on his first stone of the night, his team showed they belonged in the final four. Flasch cleared the rings of three Koe counters and turned a possible Alberta multiple end into a blank.

After the teams forced each other to singles in the second and third ends, ever-patient Koe bided his time, holding hammer through to the sixth, when he finally scored a deuce.

In the ninth end, with Koe lying three, Flasch attempted a last-ditch angle raise to stay in the game but missed, resulting in a big steal for Koe and a 7-2 scoreline.

Saskatchewan shook hands right away, with Koe giving an extra pat on the back to Flasch, his former teammate from the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Earlier Friday, two teams that had made the playoffs were sent home from the 2022 Brier.

Team Northern Ontario took a surprisingly quick loss to Saskatchewan, falling behind 7-1 after a four-count in the fourth end, and losing the game 10-3.

“When we picked our own out and we gave him a free open draw for four, that was game over,” said Brad Jacobs following the game. “I said (to my team), ‘Good game guys. That’s it. Pack ’er in.’ I mean, down six points, five ends to go against great hitting team like that, you got no chance.”

Jacobs said he was frustrated by the outcome.

“That was just a really poor performance, and not like us,” he said. “We got outplayed. Flasch’s team played great. You got to hand it to them. I didn’t think they had that type of game in them. Quite frankly, I was waiting for them to give us chances like the gave Dunstone a million times, but they didn’t. So hats off to them and best of luck.”

Jason Gunnlaugson’s Wild Card 3 also made a quick exit on Friday afternoon, losing 7-3 to Team Canada in eight ends, with a score of three by Bottcher in the fourth end being the big difference.

“It’s really weird because (Bottcher is) a little bit younger—a decent amount younger—than me, but that’s somebody who I always emulate my game after, especially (in) the last quadrennial,” said Gunnlaugson. “He’s been so solid, and the team’s been so solid, and we knew we had to play well.

“But on the other hand, we’ve had a lot of good battles, beat him a few times over the quad, so like, we did know we could do it. We just didn’t play well enough in the fourth end mainly.”

Saturday will see one more team go home following the Page 3-4 game that afternoon.