Four more years for Team Gushue.
The back-to-back Brier champions from St. John’s, N.L., announced Tuesday during a Facebook Live chat they’ll be staying together for another quadrennial.
“There’s a lot that goes into it when it comes to making sure you’re ready to go for a four-year cycle but our families are on board and we have a few sponsors that are coming back and obviously working on the rest,” skip Brad Gushue said in the video. “So, we’re in good position to say that we’re going to play for four more years.”
Third Mark Nichols, who earned Olympic gold with Gushue in 2006, returned to the team four years ago at the start of the Olympic cycle following a stint in Winnipeg playing for Jeff Stoughton. That ignited a spark for the crew of Gushue, Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker, who have been at the top of the class since then capturing eight Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championships.
Team Gushue fell short of its ultimate goal for the quadrennial though losing to Mike McEwen’s team in the Canadian Olympic curling trials semifinal in December. Gushue regrouped and his club claimed their second consecutive Brier title this past Sunday defeating Brendan Bottcher’s Alberta squad in the championship game.
The news followed a wild Tuesday in Winnipeg where the McEwen crew said they’ll be parting ways after the season while Reid Carruthers announced third Braeden Moskowy was leaving his team.
Before Team Gushue gets set to defend the world championship next month, they will compete in the Princess Auto Elite 10 starting Thursday at Winnipeg’s St. James Civic Centre.