THE CANADIAN PRESS
CALGARY — The sign in the crowd sporting a much younger photo of Jeff Stoughton read "Let’s party like it’s 1999."
That was the last time the Winnipeg skip won the Canadian men’s curling championship. A decade later, Stoughton will get another chance after beating Ontario’s Glenn Howard 8-6 in a mistake-plagued semifinal at the Tim Hortons Brier.
Howard struggled from the second end on. After picking up a deuce in the first end he attempted a thin double takeout in the second end which jammed and allowed Stoughton an open draw for four.
Time and time again Howard struggled to get back into the game but each time a rub or a near-miss kept him two points back. Stoughton wasn’t having much luck either, having to settle for one point instead of two on three separate occasions because his draw weight was off.
Stoughton finally did make a draw, pasting his last shot of the 10th end to the button to clinch the victory.
"I figured one of us had to make that in-turn draw sometime today," said Stoughton.
"I’m glad we made it on our last one and we need to get ready for tomorrow."
Howard had reached the Brier final the past three years, winning in 2007. After curling at 88 per cent efficiency during the round-robin, he ended Saturday at 68.
"That wasn’t a very good game. I was disappointed the way that one ended up. It was tough and I let the boys down a bit there. I didn’t play very well," said Howard.
"The ice was a little different tonight. I don’t know how many times you see Jeff Stoughton and Glenn Howard miss that many draws."
Howard finished the round-robin in second place but lost the 1-versus-2 game to Kevin Martin of Alberta on Friday night.
Martin remains the final challenge for Stoughton, who will be looking for his third Brier title.
"We got one in 1999. I guess we’re due for one in ’09," he said with a chuckle.
Stoughton has now won five games in a row and could be the first team to win the Brier after playing in a tiebreaker to grab the last playoff spot. Fellow Manitoban Jennifer Jones has done it in back-to-back years at the Canadian women’s championship.
He realizes how difficult it will be to beat Martin, a three-time Brier winner and defending champion who is on a record 25-game winning streak dating back to last year.
"They’ve been on a little bit of a rampage. That’s for sure. Hopefully their winning streak can end with us tomorrow night," Stoughton said. "We’re not going to be able to miss any open draws like that. That’s for sure.
"You know when we have a chance we’ve got to capitalize. They make all their shots and we’re going to have to make it with them."
It was Stoughton’s second game of the day. He was forced to make a difficult double-raised takeout with his last shot of the game to score two points and beat Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador 8-7 in the 3-versus-4 playoff game.
After his loss Gushue, warned that Manitoba was on a serious roll.
"Give him all the credit in the world. He’s been making those the last couple of days and if they keep going the way they’re going they’ll be tough to beat," said Gushue.