That’s the Team Sasky mojo
[With files from Curling Canada]
On day three of the Kelowna Brier, The Curling News columnist Mike Fournier noted that Mike McEwen’s Team Saskatchewan entry were the only top-ranked Brier squad that has “not had any turmoil this season.”
McEwen noted this himself on Tuesday night, after moving to 6-0 in Pool B after a 14-2 thrashing over the Northwest Territories’ Aaron Bartling.
“I like to think we have the best team dynamics of any Canadian team,” McEwen told Curling Canada.
“So, yeah I would say that’s our mojo,” he continued. “We do feel we’re bigger than the sum of our parts. I think if we’re being honest, when we were ranked 25th or 30th in the world—or whatever we were when we started this team—and we’ve shot up to you know top six in the world, I would say we probably exceeded our expectations of that trajectory.”
McEwen’s foursome—with Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh and Daniel Marsh—is also ranked third on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS).
“We’re very happy with our growth, how quick it came,” added McEwen. “I think we exceeded expectations, but then the expectations get bigger.”
The McEwen foursome, runners up a year ago in Regina, started their season off with a bang—and a $50,000 paycheque—by winning the PointsBet Invitational in Calgary.
The team faces a one-game-a-day schedule to wrap up pool play. They take on provincial rival Rylan Kleiter on Wednesday afternoon and then conclude the preliminaries with a marquee matchup against Alberta’s Brad Jacobs on Thursday evening.
The six-team playoffs start on Friday at the 6,800-seat Prospera Place.
In other Tuesday night games, Jacobs remained perfect at 5-0 by beating Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell (2-3) by a 7-3 count; Kleiter won a battle of up-and-coming teams with a 9-4 win over Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek (both 3-2); and the Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin (2-4) scored back-to-back deuces in the ninth and 10th ends for an 8-5 victory over Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith (0-6).
Quebec’s Felix Asselin is right there with Kleiter and Mooibroek, also 3-2.
Defending Brier champions Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, lead Pool A with a 5-0 won/loss record with Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers (5-1) Matt Dunstone (4-1) in hot pursuit.
Northern Ontario’s John Epping is at 4-2, while Alberta’s Kevin Koe and BC’s Cameron de Jong lag behind at 2-3.