REGINA — Team Canada has Friday night off at the Brier, and Brad Gushue has big plans to hit the hot tub, get some treatment, and then have dinner with his teammates at his favourite local restaurant.
“Montana’s,” Gushue said, of where they’d be dining. “Haven’t you seen my rib commercial yet?”
Well played, skipper.
The five-time Brier champ is now just two wins away from a third-straight and record-tying sixth championship win here at the newly title-sponsored Montana’s Brier. A win here would also mark three in a row and six in all for his long-time third, Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker, and a third Brier title for second E.J. Harnden.
“If you’d have told me at the start of the week that we’d be in the one-two game, I’d take that in a heartbeat,” Walker said, grinning.
On Friday afternoon, Team Canada earned a 9-7 win over Team Manitoba, skipped by Brad Jacobs, in yet another Battle of the Brads that ended when Gushue floated in a draw for a single.
Gushue and Canada have found their stride here after a rocky start that saw them lose two games early, but then rebound to secure the No. 2 playoff spot in their pool. Team Canada will now face Team Alberta and skip Brendan Bottcher on Saturday afternoon, with the winner advancing straight to Sunday’s final, and the loser staying alive to play in the semi-final Sunday afternoon.
“The last five games, I thought we played really well since that loss to Northwest Territories,” Gushue said. “I think we've been a different team and we've been the team I kind of expected us to be coming in here at the start of the year.”
“We have a good feel for what's going on with the ice and a good feeling with what to do with the rocks,” added Team Canada coach, Caleb Flaxey. “So I think the boys are just getting comfortable. And you can see it in the performance out there.”
The win Friday buys the team some extra time to rest.
“I don't want to play tonight,” Gushue said. “I think getting into the one-two game is, you know, you get two cracks at the final. I think that was the key.”
Despite the fact the team has been curling above 90 per cent the last few games, Gushue is looking for more.
“Not playing as well as we can,” he said, after curling 93 per cent Friday, with his team curling a cumulative 94 per cent. “But I've got high standards. Overall I think we're playing pretty well. And, you know, I think we're in a good place. If we could find another notch. I'd love to see us do that.”
Team Canada comes into this event the two-time defending champions, but the top ranking in Canada belongs to Bottcher, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert. They beat the hometown favourite Team Saskatchewan 9-7 Friday to book that ticket to the 1-2 game, which will appropriately feature the top two-ranked teams in the country.
“That’s gonna be a heck of a game tomorrow night,” Flaxey said. “Everyone better get their popcorn ready.”
