Gushue precision a sight to behold
REGINA—When one goes to any sporting event in Canada, Saskatchewan teams and their fans wear green. But curling fans know this. Opening night at the Brier was no exception.
John Deere green, as in hats and jackets. Lots of Roughrider kelly green, as in all items of clothing. Saskatchewan’s green provincial flags. Saskatchewan green curling hoodies, jackets, hats, scarfs, toques and more.
If you watch from afar via TV or streaming, you just know the Brier is back in the rectangle. The easiest province or territory for young artists to perfect.
So, let’s stick with the opening night theme.
The Green Rivalry
There are only two Brier teams in history that traditionally wear that colour. Our maritime friends from PEI and the host province. Their opening matchup was a classic, right down to a last rock hit and stick by Mike McEwan to defeat four-time Brier rep Tyler Smith and his Island squad by a 7-6 scoreline.
I’m not big on percentages but I believe both skips were in the top three on opening night, as well as their teammates. It was a well-played, entertaining game. The loudest cheers of the night were the precision-like Sasky shots. The second loudest cheers came when Team Canada, on the neighboring sheet, made a big shot or two.
Green Ice?
Let me define what I mean. Game one, new ice. There didn’t seem to be many tricks to figure out. But as curling afficionados know, for the first games in a bonspiel, playdown or any event—Brier included—the bulk of upsets happen on the first and second draws. A team or player(s) may struggle to find their rhythm or to get comfortable with the fresh ice.
The Koe brothers played on adjacent sheets. One Koe won, and one Koe lost. One was at 86%, the other brother at 61% (yes, I looked that one up). Most curling fans would automatically think Kevin won and Jamie and his NWT team lost. Jamie was in the 80s and Kevin was … not.
As such, the territorial Koe knocked off the Brier rookies from Quebec in another close contest.
The four-time Brier (and two-time world) champion Koe faced opposition stones in consecutive early ends and was forced to draw to grab a point … and slid through the house both times.
Please re-read that last sentence, because Kevin has played entire 10-day Briers never throwing a draw through the house.
But when he faced five after those two ends he, of course, made the forced draw shot to stay in the game and mount a comeback. The two missed draws may have cost his team the game, being two down coming home versus the current Alberta champs, Team Sluchinski.
The next anomaly: Kevin also flashed a cross-house game-tying double attempt on his last rock in the 10th, which often looks routine. In between all of this he was making some pretty darn good clutch shots in the comeback attempt. Green ice, or game one rhythm, either way he’s not quite there yet. I don’t know who team Koe from Calgary plays next but history would tell us – watch out!
The next game for each brother is on Saturday night. Against each other.
Green with envy
Nova Scotia battled Team Canada. The Gushue team was three up coming home with hammer, but N.S. forced them to throw their last stone. I know I stated earlier that I’m not big on percentages as the only metric to evaluate a team. But the precision of Team Canada just … wears teams down.
When is the last time a team stole two ends in a row on Gushue? Was it even in this not-so-new millennium? What team in this country majors in damage control like them? What team usually gets at least one crooked end a game, and seldom loses?
The precision of this Team Canada never grows old in my view.
Second envious thought. Eastern teams hold the edge in Regina Brier wins.
Newfoundland-based teams have won two titles. Jean-Michel Menard’s entertaining Quebeckers won another. Vic Peters did win one for Manitoba. And over half a century ago, at the first Regina Brier in 1955, the Campbell brothers from Avonlea—population currently at 398—won it all. Eastern teams do well in this city.
Greenish potpourri
• Saskatchewan is under extreme weather warnings for the next couple of days. El Nino has taken a short break but is back with a vengeance. We may get more snow than we’ve had all year. For the first time since 1997 Regina had a green Christmas (brownish with a green tinge, to be precise).
Colleen Jones has a soft spot for Regina after winning her first Scotties here in 1982. Her son Luke Saunders is here with Nova Scotia and making his first Brier appearance as a vice in the same city.
(I typed “vice” instead of “third” since he’s from the far east. But perhaps I should say “mate?”)
• Speaking of Rider green. The late Gerry James was born in Regina but played most of his CFL career in the city he grew up in—Winnipeg. He was a two-time winner as the top Canadian football player in the league. Gerry ended his career with the Riders then made a living owning and coaching teams in the SJHL in Saskatchewan while living in Yorkton and Estevan.
He’s known as Canada’s last two-sport athlete as he also carved out a career playing pro hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs (he’s also a Memorial Cup champion). He once played in the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup finals in the same season. The Bombers won, while the Leafs—hold on—lost.
My dad educated me, years ago, that Gerry was actually a three-sport athlete who curled competitively out of Yorkton—and he even came within a shot of going to the Brier.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMBvnKozSvs[/embed]
If you Google Gerry, there’s lots of football and hockey but nary a word about his curling. I wonder if CurlSask, Curling Canada or anyone in Canadian sports journalism knows about this.
According to dad, Gerry was one of the best sweepers and front-end players he can recall. He passed away on February 13 of this year.
• Draw one was a good start to the 2024 Montana’s Brier. A healthy crowd was there to watch as much as socialize. It may have been sold right out as a lot of fans stood around the concourse or wandered over to the Brier Patch to watch on the big screen. The age gap appears to be closing. There was a lot of younger school age kids and Millennials in attendance. You get the feeling something special is going on in Regina.
Dark Green
Sentimental picks or dark horses? It’s a good field. Upsets will most likely occur.
Remember this ramble started out as Saskatchewan GREEN. Two dark horses, not to be overlooked, both have a Saskatchewan connection. Obviously Team McEwen is one, and another crowd favourite will probably be Team B.C. skipped by Regina import Catlin Schneider.
I did say dark horses but don’t forget, Regina Briers produced Jack McDuff and Jean-Michel Menard.
Please don’t misunderstand and put money down on this, as I thought the 2023 Roughriders would be in the Grey Cup. But remember: in this province, hope springs eternal.
