THE CANADIAN PRESS
WINNIPEG — Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons upset Ontario’s Glenn Howard 7-5 Tuesday night at the Tim Hortons Brier, handing the defending champion his first loss of the tournament and leaving Alberta’s Kevin Martin alone on top of the standings.
Martin improved his record to 7-0 by stealing four points in the fifth and beating Manitoba’s Kerry Burtnyk 10-3 seven ends.
Saskatchewan and Ontario are tied for second at 6-1 while Manitoba is 5-2.
"That was our best game of the week so far," said Simmons, who is hoping to become the first Saskatchewan skip to win the Canadian men’s curling championship since Saskatoon’s Rick Folk in 1980.
"It was a big game for us. We wanted to use this game as a measuring stick to see if we are ready for the weekend. I think we are."
Howard, the defending world champion, said his team didn’t play their best but gave Simmons credit for the win.
"It wasn’t our best game," he said. "They played great. Pat didn’t miss anything.
"We kept coming at him. He played it well and deserved to win."
In the other games, Brad Gushue of Newfoundland & Labrador kept his playoff hopes alive by defeating B.C.’s Bob Ursel 7-6 in an extra end.
Peter Gallant of P.E.I defeated James Grattan of New Brunswick 10-7.
A partisan crowd of 7,925 at the MTS Centre were hoping Burtnyk could manage the upset in a game shown on national television. But the Winnipeg native’s chances were dashed early. After giving up two points in the fifth end, Burtnyk was light on a draw, leaving Martin with four points.
"That was the game right there," said Martin, a two-time Brier champion and Olympic silver medallist. "Kerry will make that shot nine out of 10 times. It was one of those breaks.
"We were really pumped for this one. We’re in Winnipeg and you know the crowd is going to be electric and they were."
Burtnyk also knew his chances were slim after falling behind so badly.
"We still wanted to play some more and play and try a couple of good ends," he said. "If you can make some good shots and get a couple of breaks, maybe claw your way back in. A six-point deficit against those guys, you’re odds aren’t very good."
Gushue needed to steal a point in the 10th to force the extra end and improve his record to 4-3.
"We played very defensively, just trying to keep ourselves in the game and give ourselves a chance in the last couple of ends," said Gushue, who lost last year’s final to Howard. "It’s not nearly where we want to be but a win is a win.
"I don’t think we can afford to lose any more."
With 11 draws completed Alberta is alone on top of the table at 7-0, followed by Ontario and Saskatchewan at 6-1. Manitoba is 5-2. Newfoundland & Labrador is 4-3. B.C. and P.E.I are 3-4, followed by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec at 2-5. Northern Ontario and the Yukon are 1-6.
When Brier started there was plenty of talk about the depth of the field. There are four past championships in Howard, Martin, Burtnyk and Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard. Gushue also is an Olympic gold medallist.
Both Menard and Gushue have struggled while Simmons has caught some people by surprise.
Gushue slipped to 3-3 after being upset 6-5 in 11 ends by Nova Scotia on Tuesday morning.
Menard suffered a heartbreaking 9-8 loss to Simmons in 11 ends.
.Howard said both Gushue and Menard have lost a couple of close games that would have improved their records.
"A lot of these games are just an inch here or there and it could have gone the other way," he said. "If it goes the other way, those four teams aren’t going to be on the top."
Another difference is all four of the leaders play regularly on the World Curling Tour, a series of highly competitive cash bonspiels.
"You get so much experience on the tour, you are playing these guys every day," said Howard. "You have to play well or you’re going to get eaten alive.
"I think it brings more of a comfort level when you come to these events."
Martin said the World Curling Tour teams are also used to playing on the better ice that is found at the Brier.
"Teams that play on ice that curls this much have an advantage," he said. "(Rafuse) doesn’t get to play on ice that curls this much.
"We get to play on this every week. We’re comfortable. Teams that play on straight ice all the time, it’s different."
.Martin leads the WCT money list with $111,000 in earnings. Howard is second at $95,795, Burtnyk fourth at $66,729 and Simmons eighth at $44,000.
Gushue is 11th at $28,336 but none of the other teams at the Brier are in the top 20.
The top four teams advance to the Brier playoffs, which begin Friday.
During the afternoon games Howard scored four points in the ninth to defeat Chad Cowan of the Yukon/N.W.T. 10-4 in nine ends. Martin had all he could handle in beating Brian Rafuse of Nova Scotia 8-6.