'Better than a lot of Brier finals': Gushue-Jacobs delivers playoff-like atmosphere

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. —  More than 6,000 fans rose from their seats and they cheered and rang cowbells and sang along to the classic Newfoundland tune, Heave Away — me jollies, heave away! — as Brad Gushue slid down the ice grinning with his broom in the air. 

The scene looked and felt and sounded like a Sunday night at the Brier with the Tankard on the line after Gushue and his Team Newfoundland and Labrador earned a 4-2 win over Team Canada’s Brad Jacobs.

But the final is three days away, still, and the game that got the Mary Brown’s Centre rocking was to decide the winner of Pool A, even if it felt much bigger.   

“I’ve played in a lot of Brier finals,” Gushue said, and he’s won a record six in all. “But this Thursday afternoon in St. John’s is better than a lot of Brier finals.” 

“The atmosphere was playoff-like,” added Team Newfoundland third, Mark Nichols, with a grin. “It was so much fun.” 

In this game between the two previously undefeated teams in Pool A, the crowd was raucous even before the first stones were thrown. The building hit an absolute boil after Gushue threw his last, taking out a pair of Team Canada’s to earn a win over Jacobs, Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, who won Olympic gold for this country less than two weeks ago. 

“They played awesome,” said Jacobs, whose four-game winning streak against Gushue ended Thursday on the Rock. “We’ve had their number a lot in the last couple of years here, and I think that that’s the best we’ve seen them play. That’s good for their fans, that’s good for them.” 

The skipper from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., added, of those fans: “You know, they’re very loud.”

It was the perfect setting for the incredible 68^th career meeting between the skips, and what could be the final Battle of the Brads, unless these teams meet again here in the playoffs (and they could very well meet again). What’s certain is that the 45-year-old Gushue is retiring after this season, following an incomparable career marked by the most Brier titles won by any skip, and an Olympic gold medal won 20 years ago.

In this latest victory, though Gushue pointed out “I don’t feel like young Brad,” he also added, “I played like young Brad.” 

“I mean, that was playoff Brad today,” said Nichols, who, like Gushue, is looking for an incredible seventh Brier title. “Like, he was so good, dropping ‘em in on a dime, doing what he does best.”

Gushue curled a game-high 95 per cent to earn a win that not only secures his team of Nichols, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker the top spot in Pool A, but also means they start with hammer in Friday’s playoff opener against the No. 2 team in Pool B, Matt Dunstone's Manitoba rink. Meanwhile, Jacobs's Team Canada will open their playoffs against Kevin Koe's undefeated Alberta foursome, who finished atop Pool B.  

“We wanted to show our best out there today,” Gushue said. “I thought we played a very good game and controlled it from start to finish. Never felt like we were in control. You know, it was a good game, I think textbook. We had the even ends, we never gave up the lead.” 

Gushue hadn’t scored a deuce against Team Jacobs since last October at the PointsBet Invitational. When the skipper from St. John’s put up that pair in nine — the first and only multiple-point end, which he set up after a beautiful double takeout with his first that teed up an easy hit for the pair with his last — fans stood and cheered and clapped and sang along with Heave Away, and not for the last time on Thursday afternoon.

During the break before the 10th end, up 4-2, another Newfoundland classic tune, Islander, blared over the arena’s speakers. 

“I was emotional,” Nichols said, when he heard the song play. “It was a good thing we got 90 seconds to recoup and I got to wait between — I had Jeff’s shots and Brendan’s shots, to really compose myself before my shots.” 

Gushue, too, got "a little emotional" when he heard Islander. “Certainly during the down times, I think it’s important to take those moments,” he said, especially while playing at home for the last time. 

The passion of Newfoundland’s curling fans isn’t just something you can hear, either — you can also feel it. There’s a seven to nine degree warming in the arena when Gushue is playing compared to draws that don’t feature his team, ice technician Greg Ewasko pointed out, because of the sold-out crowd and all that extra and often excited breathing fans are doing as they cheer on the hometown team. No matter how much Ewasko cranks the A/C and takes measures to cool the place down, it heats up. 

And there was clinical curling here to cheer for on Thursday between two heavyweight teams and world-class skippers, a game that featured hard-earned singles and blanks until Gushue blew open the tie game in the ninth end. 

Jacobs’ Team Canada is here low on energy, fresh off that Olympic gold-medal performance less than two weeks ago, but “feeling good enough to win,” the skip pointed out. 

“I’d say that we’re preserving a little bit for the weekend,” Jacobs added. “Here’s the reality for our team: We’re either going to win this week and we’re going to go home, and we’re gonna be excited to go home. Or we’re going to lose this week and we are going to go home, and we’re gonna be excited to be home.” 

Gushue will have a short trip home after this Brier, which could be his last bonspiel. The only way it isn’t is if they win the Tankard, which means they'd be representing Canada at world championships later this month, prolonging Gushue’s career in fairytale fashion. 

One thing is certain: Team Newfoundland and Labrador will be enjoying the hometown crowd until Gushue throws his final stone at his 23rd and final Brier, whether that’s on Saturday or Sunday. 

“How many more roars we got, I don’t know, but I’m going to enjoy every single one of them,” Nichols said of the fans.  

“It’s better than any energy we play (in front of) anywhere,” Gushue added, with a grin. “This crowd is amazing.”