Brier Takeaways: Quebec's loss sets up drama-filled final day of round robin 

If Quebec’s Team Jean-Michel Menard doesn’t end up making the playoffs at this year's Brier, Wednesday night’s 8-7 loss to Ontario’s Jayden King will be the reason why.

Menard, who won the 2006 Brier and is set to retire after the season, controlled his own path to make the playoffs heading into Wednesday's game against King. 

It was simple for Quebec: win and clinch. Lose, and well, they have to hope. 

Menard and his teammates, Felix Asselin, Martin Crete and Jean-Francois Trepanier, now need to resort to the latter.

Even though Quebec was being outplayed, the game was still tight in the eighth end as they trailed 7-5 with the hammer. Quebec had a chance to score a couple, but after Asselin, the fourth-stone thrower for Quebec, missed his final shot, Ontario widened the lead to 8-5 with a steal.

The ninth end was the dagger for Quebec. 

Before Asselin threw his final stone, Quebec was already sitting two, and instead of just drawing for three to tie the game, Asselin got greedy. 

He wanted to score four by attempting a shot that was probably never there to begin with, but he chucked it anyway, and clipped one of his own in the rings and only scored one. 

From there, Ontario just played a clean 10th end to secure what was a must-win for them to keep their playoff hopes alive. 

Shooting-wise, it wasn’t the best night for Quebec, especially for Asselin. He struggled the whole game on draws in particular, shooting just 45 per cent, 56 overall. The rest of the team shot between 74 and 88 per cent.

Both teams are now 4-3 overall, but King sits in the third and final playoff spot for Pool A because of the head-to-head.

Despite being 7-0, Brad Gushue isn’t happy 

The days are winding down on Brad Gushue’s final Brier in his hometown of St. John’s, and the pressure is ramping up.

So far, in terms of results, there is nothing to complain about for Gushue as he’s 7-0 heading into his round-robin finale versus Brad Jacobs, but with the team's performance in the last two days, there is reason to be concerned. 

It started on Tuesday when Newfoundland and Labrador faced Nova Scotia. Gushue and his teammates were pushed to the max and barely squeezed out a 9-8 victory in an extra end.

Gushue’s team did rebound with a commanding 12-3 victory Wednesday morning against Prince Edward Island, but in the evening draw, it was a different story. 

Saskatchewan’s Team Kelly Knapp had the six-time Brier champion on the ropes in what felt like every end, but thanks to Gushue making a couple of brilliant shots, the team was able to escape. 

Afterwards, Gushue let it be known he wasn’t happy. 

“Our performance wasn't very good to be quite honest," Gushue said. "We missed some shots out of the hand tonight, which we hadn't done all week. I thought we threw some really good shots or really good throws all week and our misses were either put the room in the wrong spot or miss sweeping it. And tonight there was just some throws out of the hand that were a little uncharacteristic.”

“Hopefully we'll clean that up for tomorrow. But it was a good win, good battle. We got a pretty big break again in the ninth end when he rolled out.”

These performances come after the rocks were textured on Monday night (something that is done once an event to make the stones sharper and produce more curl), a change that has bothered this version of Gushue’s team in the past.

Odds are, we see a different Gushue team on Thursday in what could be the final Battle of the Brads to determine first place in Pool A.

Mike McEwen also drops playoff-clinching game

Quebec wasn’t the only team to not clinch a playoff spot on Wednesday, as Saskatchewan’s Team Mike McEwen joined them. McEwen lost 9-4 to Manitoba’s Braden Calvert to drop his record to 5-2, while Calvert improved to 4-2.

McEwen’s struggles continued once again as he only shot 67 per cent and didn’t look like himself, and there might be a valid reason for that. The broadcast reported on Wednesday that McEwen hasn’t been feeling the best, but still feels OK enough to play.

Next, McEwen faces an even tougher opponent with Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (5-1) in the final game tomorrow. If McEwen wins, he will still be in the mix to clinch a playoff spot. If not, he will need Calvert to lose both of his games or else “Magic Mike” will still be searching for his first Brier championship next year. 

Arena ice isn’t easy to learn

Even though Cody Tanaka’s Brier debut hasn’t gone the way he probably envisioned, the British Columbia skip looks like a different player from the start of the tournament, and managed to pick up his first win on Wednesday against the Northwest Territories 8-3. 

Tanaka, believed to be the first Asian skip in Brier history, looked uncomfortable along with his teammates during their first five games — all of which the rink lost. They shot between 70-77 per cent, simply not good enough to win at this level. 

In Wednesday’s win, it was different, though. As a team, they shot 85 per cent and looked more confident in the shots they were calling and trusting what the ice was going to do, which led to the commanding win. 

For a team like Tanaka, which doesn’t usually play on arena ice, it can be extremely hard to adjust from club ice. The speed is different, the amount of curl is usually more, and the rocks, of course, aren’t normal club rocks. 

Seeing Tanaka, amongst others who don’t play on arena ice on a regular basis, struggle for most of the event isn’t uncommon. 

If the Brier started today, Tanaka's record would look different. But now, for his team, it’s all about soaking up as much knowledge for the next time they play on arena ice.

— With files from Kristina Rutherford