It is an incredibly beautiful day here in Halifax – bright sunshine, moderate temperature, and spring is in the air. And inside these lovely elliptical walls, the bright lights of the arena once again welcomed to warriers to the Coliseum to do battle.

And for one team at least, the lions were very hungry. Saskatchewan and British Columbia met in the battle of the bottom half – where there might be a very remote outside wacky chance that 5 losses might give you a sniff of a tiebreaker.  Well the boys in green and white were out for blood from the start taking 5 points over the first 3 ends. Trying to sneak back in, Jeff Richard took a lonely little 1 (well, it is the lonliest number, isn’t it?) in the 4th end. Darrell came back with an answer of 2 in the 5th but didn’t have to throw his last rock in the 7th end as BC extended hands in defeat. The final ribbing was 7-3 and BC sinks to 6 losses.

PEI and Nova Scotia met in their yearly Maritime Classic and from early on, Ian Fitzner-LeBlanc took command with a chunky 3 in the first end. The game was fairly evenly balanced throughout the mid section but in the 8th end, Roddy MacDonald cracks open yet another 3 ender. (This scoring of 3 in the 8th end is becoming an interesting phenomenon in this Brier – I was chalking it up to the salt water but this shouldn’t affect PEI and NS – we have it in our pores!!)

Ian shook off this hit and rebounded with a well played 9th end and took 2 points to tie. Coming home, Ian is plays an in house guard of his counter on the four foot and Roddy has to make a double on his last. He can even afford to double and fly due to a back stone counter. However, his throw is slightly wide, only hits one (which jams on the back PEI stone), and he rolls out. Steal of 2 for NS and another win to keep their other win company.  Final score? 10-8 for the BlueNosers.

Quebec and Alberta are squaring off against each other on Sheet D. Kevin Koe seemed to have the upper hand of this game even though the score was only 5-4 for the boys from the Saville Sports Centre in Edmonton. And the all important steal of 2 in the 8th end seemed to seal the fate of Quebec. Quebec to their credit played an excellent game curling at 82% (Alberta’s average was 89 with Nolan Theissen curling an almost perfect game at 96 to maintain his rank at the top of the Lead category).

And the game that the majority of the fans turned out to watch was the much anticipated Ontario/Newfoundland/Labrador match-up. And Brad and Glenn did not disappoint the crowd. The first of 2-3 enders happend in the 5th end and again in the 7th for Ontario (so very much “ON” in this game). Gushue struggled back with a count of 1 in the 8th but in the 9th, Brad’s last rock just ticks a rock on the 8ft and rolls to the side of the 4 ft. NL is still shot but is tucked back behind two yellow Ontario rocks. Glenn’s gentle tapback creates a score of 2 and it is game over.  The record shows it as 9-5 and yet another win for front leading Ontario – and  Gushue goes to 6-2.

Draw #13 – well, I have to admit I had to skip this draw to go do my real job for the afternoon!  So here are some highlights that jump off the pages of the stats reports. And to be honest there really wasn’t that much exciting in the games to write home about (whoops, I am home……..sorry).

The Nova Scotia/Northern Ontario game was over after only 7 ends with a score of 7-2. Fitzner-LeBlanc seemed overwhelmed with the hot firing boys from the Soo. After taking 1 point with hammer, Brad Jacobs managed steals of 2, then 1, then another 1 before permitting young Ian one point in the 5th end. Yet another 2 in the 6th just took all the stuffing out of our hometown team and scoring another 1 in the 7th was all for the pride of the team.  And Northern Ontario matches their standing with the final score!

Kevin Koe came out firing against James Grattan, not wanting a repeat of his last meeting of a Maritime team (NS). With the score 6-1 after 6 ends, James managed a 1 and a steal of 1 in the 8th before packing it in and shaking hands before another big end was concluded. Final here is 6-3 and  they go to 7-2 on the leaderboard.

Jeff Richard came out on the ice in Draw #13 to make a statement and unfortunately it was Jamie Koe that took the brunt of the charge.  A huge 5 ender was scored in the 4th end and then consequtive steals in ends 5 and 6 was just too much to handle. Again, they have to play a minimum of 7 ends and to Jamie’s credit he did score 1 in the 7th – but it was Keith’s time after this 10-4 routing.

And the last match was the most interesting between Gushue and Manitoba – the second of two big games on this second last day of the Brier round robin for Team Newfoundland/Labrador. Unike their morning outing, Brad, Mark, Ryan, and Jamie played a well paced game. The all important steal of 1 in the fifth seemed to give them the momentum to keep pushing. Team percentages for NL were impressive with an average of 86. Manitoba certainly wasn’t shabby at 81% but the difference was the face-to-face match-up between Brad and Jeff. And it definitely was not even – Brad shot 90% and Jeff was below the curve with 68%. With the final 5-3 and last rocks not thrown in the 10th, this was a hugely significant game on Moving Day for both teams.

With happy clients (from real job…), I head back to the arena for Draw #14. And walking in to see the 1st ends up on the scoreboards, I do a double take.  There were three 4’s scored – looked like someone was stuttering numbers. Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were out of the gate early and looking to shut their opposition down early.

In Ontario’s case, it definitely worked. Although Jeff came back with steals of 1 in ends #3 and #4, it wasn’t enough to stop the Ontario machine. In the 7th and final end, Jeff’s last rock was to be an angle tap to be shot and it was unsuccessful. With another 2 lumped onto the pile, Jeff offered up the white flag to the conquerer and the title of 9-0 was handed to Ontario.

Saskatchewan was throwing in fine style and managed to dump a 5 ender on the beleagured and battle weary Jamie Koe team in the 8th end.  In fact in the 6th end, Jamie Koe took himself out of the game and fifth player Jon Solberg took his place at skip. Jon did manage to add a take of 1 and another steal of 1 but the stuffing was spilling out and they just couldn’t take it anymore. The final on this was 13-4

James Grattan and Quebec was a great game – Serge Reid at 3 losses going into this match was expected to win over the NB boys who had been struggling. However they got shown the door by the black and gold as the 4 in the 1st end was a slap in the face. Quebec could just not recover from this and the game ended in the 7th before James could throw his last rock – 7-2 was defeating and deflating at the same time.

And the best game out there was NONT and PEI – came down to the 10th end last rock with Brad scoring 2 to win for a final of 7-6. Rod MacDonald played so well – the entire team did with an average of 80%. But it just wasn’t any stopping the SOO train – especially with proud Papa sitting in the stands (Al Harnden).  Now NONT  is at 7-2 in the pack at the top – great dark horse!

Well, I am not the last one in the arena tonight – some of the ice maintenance team are out throwing rocks – nice to have company!  But the texts from the Patch are coming in fast and furious - “ Where are you??!!” so gotta go.

Meg Wallace
CurlingZone.com

A full slate of morning games today and all ended early – gave the worker bees some actual time for lunch (which has been a rarity here).

Sheet A had winless Jamie Koe up against “determined to stay in the Top 4” Jeff Stoughton. And the guys from the far north were once again struggling – except for our own Nova Scotia representative on the team Martin Gavin who scored an impressive 83%. But when your skip is playing consistent low numbers (55% in this game), great lead rocks can only count for so much.

Jamie did manage only 3 points after 7 and a crushing take of 4 in the 8th end by Jeff pretty much brought this game to an early end with a final score of 10-3.  Chalk up another win to Manitoba and Yukon/NWT stay at the bottom of the pack.

Sheet B was another blowout – Quebec’s Serge Reid was on fire against the fighting Saskatchewanites. With only 2 -1 enders to his credit, it got really messy in the 7th end and when everyone finally got out the way so we could see from the scorer’s bench, there was a smack-down take of a steal of 5 for Quebec. So now Quebec stands tied for 5th position as they head into Draw #9 against struggling PEI and Saskatchewan drops to 2 and 4.

Off to the televised game which was all Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs. With the score 5-2 after the halfway mark, there was still a game to be played by New Brunswick. James Grattan’s numbers were gradually rising as the game progressed but 2 more singles (one a steal) forced early handshakes after 8 ends with a final of 7-2. The percentages were fairly even for the two teams but Brad shot a 92%! Hard  to beat that….

And our last game on the sideboards was Ontario – once again firing on all 6 cylinders – and they simply dominated PEI at every shot. There seemed to be so many red Ontario rocks in play and even if PEI had opportunities for locking a freeze, the attempt was never perfect so the blasting caps came out and bye-bye yellow rocks. With Glenn Howard playing at 93% (and the team at 91%), PEI’s Rod MacDonald  with 48% (team total of 57%) had no hope of even mounting a comeback. So the final score of 8-2 was put on the board after 7…….and PEI stays in 10th place.

Now on to Draw #10 – hard to believe we are in the double digit draws already! Ontario took on newly defeated Saskatchewan and to be honest it looks like a close game on the scoreboard with Howard only up by 1 after the 6th end.  But you could tell by body language just who was in control of the game – Howard and the boys playing comfortably while Darrell McKee and his squad had to be performing at the top of their game to keep up. And with the cracking of a 3 in the 8th end it was game over with the end result 9-5.

Quebec and PEI went to an extra end in a very well played game by both teams. Although playing slow (in relation to the other games on ice), they managed to just have enough in the 10th. And Rod MacDonald made a dramatic crowd pleasing draw for 2 to tie and on we go to the extra. A huge missed opportunity for Roddy to suck his last shot around a Quebec rock on the top of the four foot – it JUST ticked every so  slightly on the way by with perfect weight. An open takeout and fly to win worked – that pesky back twelve Quebec rock counted for an 8-7 win.  A fun game to watch.
Sheet D saw action between Jeff Richard and Brad Gushue. Again, another close game with a 3-3 tie after 7 (2 blanked ends), until Newfoundland/Labrador cracked a nerve rattling 4 in the 8th end. There seems to be a consistent condition of meltdown by teams giving up a huge end in the latter ends after holding it tight all game. BC came back with a 2 in the 9th end but in the 10th end coming home Jeff had his opportunities to steal and just couldn’t capitalize. So Gushue goes to 5 and 1 while BC drops to 2 and 4.

The most exciting game to watch was on Sheet B between Alberta and Nova Scotia. After just 2 ends, the score was 5-0 – for……drumroll here ……. Nova Scotia!  Yes, the boys from the hometown were playing very well but what was noticeably missing from Alberta was basic shotmaking. With 6 rocks thrown by Kevin Koe, he had a mere 7 points for those attempts.  Blake and Carter were also struggling. Alberta came back with a 2 in the 4th end but drama ensued when Ian Fitzner LeBlanc made his last shot for an almost record breaking take of SIX.  The crowd went wild and Ian smilingly acknowledged the shot with broom held high. (PS. This take of 6 makes up a bit for NS former worst record – a steal of 7 by PEI against NS Shawn Adams at the 2000 Nokia Brier in Saskatoon.)

And this is where is gets interesting. The score was now 11-2 but a minimum of 7 ends have to be played at the Tim Hortons Brier. Alberta comes back with another 2 in the 6th end and a draw attempt by Ian looked perfect until it suddenly started to run straight and drifted by even the backing – providing a steal of 3 for Koe. The 8th end saw a very tricky shot for 1 by NS become another magical steal of 1.  The crowd was growing quieter by the second and our head statistician started digging up the records for what the biggest comeback mounted by a losing team ever was (down 5 by the way).

With score now 11 – 8 and 3 ends to go – well lets just say NS was getting nervous and Alberta was getting excited. But it came to a final end with Ian’s draw to the 4ft to take 2 – final 13-8. So there were several stories coming from this game – Nova Scotia’s stellar play and first win of this Brier; Koe’s meltdown on ice; huge take of 6; and the only 100% played by a lead so far for Nolan Theissen.

Draw #11 – well the crowd is good, lots of great games being played and let’s get this summary done so I can get to the Patch as The Chevelles from Lethbridge are playing tonight – time to boogie!

Off to Tuesday’s battle of the Atlantic with James Grattan taking on Olympic Gold Medallist Brad Gushue. The game was tight until the 5th end when a miscue from Grattan resulted in an unsettling steal of 5 by the on fire NL team. Although regrouping to blank the 6th and take a lonely 1 in the 7th end, Brad sealed the deal with a delicate and oh-so accurate draw to the edge of the four foot for his one and final point of the game.  The final rub-in-your-face score from Brad to James was 8-3 and Newfoundland and Labrador fans and flags alike were waving (though I think some of the wobbling fans were due to the day spent in the Patch!).  Now 2nd in the standings Brad, Mark, Ryan, and Jamie are just where they want to be as we head into the latter half of the draw.

With the Northern Ontario/British Columbia game – well, what can I say. It is difficult to see BC struggling game after game now – they have had so many missed opportunities and tough shots that the air is definitively coming out of the tires. Going into the 8th end with the score 6-3 it wasn’t game over. But Tom Shypitka’s second rock gently sailed through the house on his come around attempt. Then Jeff’s first shot is too light on a hit and roll, overcurls his target and gently wicks sideways leaving NONT still shot. Brad comes down and dumps one on the 12 foot covering shot. Jeff’s only recourse is a double and stay to count – he hits the top rock, rolls out and hands Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs yet another win. And Northern Ontario is now in the log jam at 5-2 and BC drops to the reverse at 2-5.

Manitoba and Alberta are the televised game tonight and Kevin Koe is out to make a statement and tell everyone (including his team and himself) that the significant loss to Nova Scotia was definitely out of character.  And the statement was “Don’t underestimate me” and he made it loud and clear by defeating his Capital One Grand Slam rival Jeff Stoughton ending any doubt in anyone’s mind with a final score after 8 ends of 7-2.  There was just no stopping KK in this game.

And then we go to a match-up that always brings trepidation to any Nova Scotia team at a Brier – playing the Yukon/Northwest Territories. Nova Scotia has a terrible record against the boys from the North – not sure why, but there just seems to be a jinx somewhere through the years. (Will find out the stats later – don’t want to quote without being accurate.)

And tonight’s game was special and different in a few ways. One was the jubilant team from Mayflower in Halifax after defeating front runner Alberta so resoundingly in the afternoon draw. The other being the absence of Jamie Koe from the line-up – he escaped to Saint Mary’s University where he is writing his CGA exam! No pressure there – coming to play in the Tim Hortons Brier, having to concentrate on tough shots and games and then go back to the hotel and study.  We wish him the best in the exam – may he score high – just like his team did in his absence.

So the new line-up was Martin Gavin still at lead, fifth Jon Solberg stepping in at second, Brad Chorostkowski goes to third and Kevin Whitehead heads to the skip position. And it worked. Consecutive steals of 1 in the 4th, 5th, and 6th ends (that’s called getting one’d to death) leaves the NS boys shaking their heads and they attempt a weak comeback with 1 in the 7th. The seal on the game was  determined by the defining taking of 2 in the 8th by newly crowned “Skip of the Day” Kevin Whitehead – just too much to handle! Another 7-2 final score capped off Draw #11 – a shortened one due to the blow-out nature of all the games.

Little side note – Brad Gushue was interviewed after his afternoon game by “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” - tune in next week to see how they slant Brad and curling in general.

Phew – I am finally not the last one left on the media bench and it is early – only 11pm!! Something wrong with this picture…….guess where I am going now??  Check in tomorrow on “ Moving Day”.

Meg Wallace
CurlingZone.com

Yep, it’s Monday and Day 3 at the Tim Hortons Brier in the lovely seaside city of Halifax. And I think it is lovely outside but really have no idea as I haven’t seen the light of day since 9am this morning. But that’s what you get for being a worker-bee at the Brier plus moonlighting for the CurlingZone and now the Tankard Times. The latter is all my fault – took an idea to Larry Wood this afternoon and he threw it back at me and told me to run with it. So forgive me if I didn’t pay a huge amount of attention to the afternoon draw as I was trying to juggle the creative side with the analytical side!

Spent the morning draw (Draw #6) scoring the television game between Brad Gushue and Ian Fitzner LeBlanc. Gushue was “on” in this game – not totally perfect but definitely in charge. NS struggled in the third and skip position. They need to get their confidence back to come out with heads held high in their next game in Draw #8 – but they are going to have to do some serious work as the game is against  “oh so hot” Howard.

After five ends, the game was still manageable for NS with NL leading 6-3. However a steal of 1 in the 6th end and another stunning steal of 3 in the 7th end pretty much dashed any hopes of NS being able to come back against Gushue and the boys. So it was another deflating defeat for Fitzner LeBlanc with a final score of 10-3

In the other Monday morning game, two powerhouse teams squared off in BC and Alberta. Both Jeff Richard and Kevin Koe were in fine game form with equal exchanges of 2 points through 5 ends (with a blank thrown in for good measure), then ones for a total of 5-5 after 8.  But the point on 8 came from a dramatic steeply angled distance raise/tick/takeout removing a well guarded BC stone locked on the four foot. I think we need a new code for scoring for the HM shot (Hail Mary)!

End 9 had the closest measure for the second shot I have ever seen – it had to be done 3 times by the officials and the dial only moved about 1.5 marks (not sure what the little thingey markings on the micrometer are called – its a chick thing!).  Jeff Richard had made a great in-off shot and held his breath during the measurement.  And Jeff continued with his great shot making in the 10th – ending with a great skinny double to end Kevin’s chances to tie. So it goes in the record books for a final of 7-5 and Alberta had its first loss.

With a quick trip to the Patch to do an interview and of course chat with Patch buddies, it was suddenly time for Draw #7……..did I mention the blur it is around here?

It was a lazy afternoon at the Brier, the crowd was quiet and somewhat subdued. There were the occasional cries of “Saskatchewaaaaaannn” to break the murmuring silence. Where were all the people?  Could be at the hotel resting, out shopping, having a leisurely lunch and oh yeah, some of them have jobs and just couldn’t justify sneaking away from work this early in the week – betcha they’ll save that for Thursday and any tiebreaker draws on Friday.

The match-ups for this draw saw McKee against Brad Jacobs, Jamie Koe playing Rod MacDonald, and    Jeff Stoughton matching against Serge Reid.

Whoops, almost forgot the most interesting game on the draw – not only for those wishing to predict outcomes but for the fact that Glenn Howard was playing against his nephew. Not only that but up in the broadcasting booth was Brother/Dad calling the game!  Definitely a unique moment for the Brier history books.
Let’s start with that match-up – tight the entire game until Glenn cracks a big 3 in the 8th end. James Grattan replies with a 1 in the 9th end but it just wasn’t enough to mount a recovery and Glenn happily ran NB out of rocks in the 10th for a final of 7-4.  And the groove continues……. Glenn Howard and the boys extend their winning streak to 5-0.

Jamie Koe’s game against  Rod MacDonald was a chance for both teams to gain a win – an important win it would be because it would mean someone would be out of the basement party at the Halifax Brier. And PEI turned out to be the dominant one with a commanding lead of 6-1 after the halfway point. Jamie tries to rebound with a score of 2 in the 6th but Roddy just wasn’t to be swayed and popped back with a 3 in the 7th.  Just way too much for Jamie to handle and he packed it in, yet again, when it became 9-3.

Meanwhile on Sheet D, Jeff Stoughton and Serge Reid battled it out. Reid and his rookie Brier team were playing well and holding their own until Jeff stole an all important 2 in the 6th end to lead 6-2. Taking a 1 in the7th couldn’t stop the steam roller effect of Stoughton and yet another game end early with a final of 6-3. That puts Manitoba to a 4-1 record and sitting exactly where they would like to be close to the top of the leaderboard.

The Saskatchewan / Northern Ontario game was honestly the closest one on the ice. With well played shots being exchanged, Brad Jacobs was up 1 coming home with last rock and didn’t have to throw his last brick – the stage was set with a final of 7-6 for NONT. Sorry, just don’t like the shortening of the original abbreviation to NO – just doesn’t seem right to go around with NO on your back unless you are advertising a drug awareness program! Just my opinion……. course the argument could be made for Ontario and their abbreviation of “ON” - word of wisdom because they are definitely “on”.

I digress……….. and it is on to Draw #8 ( I think this is where I asked someone what day it is…..)

The Monday night crowd is good, great group in the Patch to keep the beer flowing, and I missed the first almost hour of the game because I was talking to some curling people I hadn’t seen in literally years. Its been that kind of day around here – having heart to hearts with people that I realize I have missed so very much….

Glenn Howard is back on the ice – this time against Nova Scotia. Leading 4-1 after 3, Howard forces Ian to a clutch draw against 2 in the 4th. Making it boosts Ian Fitzner LeBlanc but the air is once again let out of their tires as Glenn comes back with a 2 in the 5th and a steal of 1 in the 6th. In the 7th end, there is switch of players to allow both teams to ice their fifth – Mark Robar goes in while Kent Smith sits it out and Steve Bice kicks Craig Savill aside to get his feet wet (so to speak) on Halifax ice. But the magic continues for the “ON” rink and they emerge with a 9-3 score maintaining their perfect record.

The battle of the Atlantic saw Gushue up against PEI’s Rod MacDonald (just fresh off his first win). The game was a tight one but the 5th end saw some great shots. Roddy ticked on a double sttempt on his first shot of the end/Brad sucks another one into the four foot, then Roddy replies with an incredible triple to score his 1 – happy PEI team and a responding happy crowd to a great shot.  But the Gushue team was steady and unstoppable taking 2 in the 8th and stealing 1 in the 9th to force the handshakes for a final of 7-3. And they join the favoured teams at the top of the leaderboard to be 4 and 1.

Sheet C was QC against BC and after the halfway mark and a lead of 1 by Serge Reid, the 6th end got a little messy. There were missed opportunities galore by Quebec as they were laying a pile of red rocks but just couldn’t get their 3 final stones in the right places to protect the button. Jeff made a perfect freeze on his last and Serge only had a very tricky tap for his 1. Made it but it could have been a bundle. The 9th end sees Jeff make another perfect tap back of a fully buried Quebec stone to take his 1. Tied coming home, Serge makes his draw for 2 on a great shot – and Team Quebec is celebrating with the 3 and 2 standing.

The last game was Kevin Koe  up against Darrel McKee from Saskatchewan. There were some significant shots – Koe flashing a draw for 2 in the 4th – delicate doubles on the 4 ft. by McKee – and arguably the Shot of the Day from Kevin. He actually cracked a smile when he made a far outside in/off to pick a Saskatchewan rock off the button to lie 3!!  Personally I think the smile was more outstanding than the shot but TSN and the crowd might disagree with me…….

The 8th end saw Kevin take a crucial 3 (this seems to be a recurring theme in this week’s Brier so far – scoring 3 in the 8th – must be something in the salt air) and McKee just couldn’t recover and actually didn’t even throw his last rock to possibly score 1 in the 9th end……. not sure about that move.

Well, let’s see – it is midnight here and I am the last one left in the arena again – becoming a habit!  I think I’ll head to the Patch to take the chill off…………see you tomorrow!

Meg Wallace
CurlingZone.com

I love going to Briers – I have been fortunate enough to attend now 14 Briers in many different capacities – a player’s spouse, an organizer, a part of the National Curling Conference, and as a simple worker bee.  And Briers are like a homecoming to the curling community – even if you haven’t seen a fellow curler or Patch Buddy in many years, they still welcome you with open arms (hugs are great, kisses are better!) as if you have never been apart. We Brier folk are a special fraternity….

Oh, and there’s curling going on here?  Don’t worry, not forgetting – its been a long day with scoring back-to-back games. So here’s the scoop on the day from the media bench.

The morning started with Draw #3 and a full slate of games. In the North/South game, Ontario’s Glenn Howard’s team started off a little bit shaky but rebounded to emerge with a resounding score of 9-4 after 9 ends. And the neighbouring Sheet B simply copied the score – final favourite Jeff Stoughton over Rod MacDonald of PEI. Jamie Koe came out tired and weary after two defeats from Day #1 to get trounced by Quebec 7-3. And handing James Grattan his first loss was hot Saskatchewan Darrell McKee with a final of 7-4……. well deserved as McKee made a great raise takeout for 3 in the last end.

Onto Draw #4 on this beautiful day in Halifax – but hey, who keeps track of the weather when you are inside the hub of curling and partying!  A couple of touted match-ups were on this draw – much anticipation from Gushue playing McKee and of course Howard and Richard from BC.

Let’s start with the Gushue game – the boys from the Rock took a commanding in-your-face 3 points in the first end and yet another in the third end. The prairie boys came back with their own 3 in the 4th end but that was just enough incentive for Brad to say “take this!” and a 4 ender in the 5th! Saskatchewan was determined to keep plugging along and after taking 1 in the 6th, they decided a shake-up was in order.

So in came Saskatchewan’s fifth player Jason Jacobson to get his first taste of Brier ice. Not to be outdone, Brad replies with the plea from fifth Glenn Goss to “put me in, coach!” and in comes the Silver Fox. Both guys did well but Glenn gave in to his teammates when it came to keeping up with the rocket launches fired to peel Saskatchewan’s guards.  The slaughter finally ended with surrender from McKee and a final score of 11-5.

In the other mega-match-up, both teams were “worthy” and the Howard/Richard game was extremely close. Tied coming home, the 10th end was well played with Howard successfully keeping the 8 ft. area open so he could easily draw for the win.

The Nova Scotia/Quebec game was  real crowd pleaser – it was tight all the way and the stands loving the shots made by both teams. Tied at 6-6 after 8 ends, there was a missed opportunity by Fitzner-LeBlanc to draw for the all important 2nd point. The 10th end was ended with Quebec not having the throw their last rock as yet another rock just wasn’t in the right position at the right time.

And PEI/ Alberta was all Alberta early on (6-1 after 4) . Although valiant shots were made by Rod MacDonald, it was to no avail and they finally waved the white flag and admitted to the 9-4 defeat.

It was a quick break to run for a cookie and pizza slice (nutrionists would love to get their hands on the diet of the Brier folk like us!!) and then on to Draw #5 – it is only Sunday night and it is already starting to become a blur……

So let’s check out these match-ups. Jeff Stoughton and James Grattan were in the game I called the “Flight of the Bumblebees” - with almost identical provincial uniforms, it was a good thing I know and recognize all these guys as it was difficult to tell them apart on the ice. And it was easy to tell early on who was winning the race – Manitoba was playing totally en pointe while the struggling member of the New Brunswick squad was unfortunately skip James. NB was definitely not believing the amount of curl in this ice and just kept missing in the early ends. Finally rebounding with a 2 in the 5th end, Grattan and the guys started playing more consistently – but it just wasn’t enough to recover. 8-4 was the final count in this one.

BC versus NS was all BC – unfortunately for the home town team. Suffering their third loss in a row, Nova Scotia needs to have a good chat and come out fighting tomorrow as if it is a restart. And they have a tough road ahead of them Monday and Tuesday – playing some of the top contenders in this round robin.

Northern Ontario and Yukon/NWT was a great game – tight back and forth until the huge steal of 3 by NONT in the 9th end to make it 9-5. And that was it……… Jamie Koe is another team who need to have a serious chat. They are talented curlers and can definitely hold their own in competition.

Then we go to the other highly watched game of the night – with a huge crowd of Newfoundlers in the crowd, the Gushue/Koe battle was something to see. Two of the top 4 favourite teams were anxious to get this game out of the way early in the week. And both teams came out firing all guns – Gushue managing to steal 3 valuable points. Two of these points were the result of a dramatic open miss by Kevin Koe in the 4th end. The eighth end was deadly for Gushue though as Kevin takes an in-your-face 3. The ninth saw one point for NL and onto the messy 10th. On his last rock, Brad comes up 2 feet short on the difficult come around a rock in the 12 foot to be buried…….. and it was hand shake time all around. A disappointed Brad – but a beaming Kevin Koe going to 3-0.

Well, time to head to the Patch to see what fun tidbits I can find to pass on for tomorrow. Must say – the crowds are great, entertainment awesome, and the people just can’t be beat anywhere in the world.

Meg Wallace
CurlingZone.com

We have a lot of Brier rookies in this field and several are on the ice right now……. BC’s Jeff Richard vs the experienced Jeff Stoughton team. The first Jeff is here to play to their very best (and to make team, family, province, and, of course, Dad!). The second Jeff is here to wreak havoc on the opposition and get revenge for the “hard-to-forget” loss in the 2005 Olympic Trials on the Halifax Metro Centre ice.

Representing Nova Scotia, Ian Fitzner LeBlanc (at 25) is probably nervous on his first draw at the Tim Hortons Brier – finally at the “Big Show” that he has been dreaming about since he first threw a curling stone. And his team are rookies, with the exception of his third Stuart MacLean – who finally made it back to a Brier as a player after a looooonnnng period – since 1988 to be exact! Almost twice Ian’s age, Stuart brings a wealth of experience to the team, a calming steady influence and he and his wife (Carole Anne) definitely can give tutorials on all that goes on at a Brier outside the field of play.

Meanwhile James Grattan of New Brunswick is back at it again and ready to “give-er” - and as I type this they are definitely doing that to Fitzner-LeBlanc with the score of 6-1 after 5 ends. With Steve Howard playing third (and sounding just like Dad out on the ice ) New Brunswick could be a dark horse in this showdown.

Another sheet sees another Brier rookie in Kevin Koe – finally here after so very many valiant tries to get out of his home province. Alberta is an extremely tough province to win…… however, this year’s Olympic Gold Medallists created an opening that a few teams were eager to take advantage of. I believe Kevin Koe’s experience in the World Curling Tour Grand Slam events have given him an extra shot of confidence and honed his shot making skills as well. And the team in front of him is not too shabby either!!

And Northern Ontario brings some fresh faces to the Halifax Metro Centre ice – but two of the names are from a long standing Sault Ste. Marie curling family – the Harndens. (Only someone doing the lettering on one of the Harnden teeshirts turned it into “Hamden”!)

Then we have the 2006 Olympic Gold Medallist team of Brad Gushue back to prove his time on Halifax ice was not a one shot deal. With Jamie sporting a sexy new mohawk (did I just say “sexy”?!!), they’re here to clear away the murkiness of the field and get to the final four. But giving them a great game on this opening draw is Jamie Koe. Don’t count out this Yukon/NWT from Yellowknife – if they curl consistently they could just be another on my Dark Horse list.

Will be sending reports as frequently as possible but must go do my other volunteer job for Draw #2 – doing stats. It is difficult to write and score at the same time – some officials might frown on this just a wee bit.

Off the the Patch soon – so great to see the regulars and old friends from past Briers!

Meg Wallace

for CurlingZone.com

It can be said that many of the best shot-makers are from this country. The inability to use shot making to win consistently, relying on opposition to miss, has become a crutch that is preventing the Canadian teams from realizing their true potential. Teams play to not lose, rather than play to win. The result is a lot of tight losses, against teams that are as good or better.

Without a doubt, Kelly Scott is one of the best shooters in the game.  Against PEI on Thursday, she casually called a runback in a key situation, went down the ice, and made it. She could see part of the stone and could have picked it out, but to score two, needed to make the runback. Being able to throw like this, why don’t these teams use these weapons more often? Knowing your opposition can make runbacks on you can intimidate teams, and will get you one step closer to becoming dominant.

Having travelled to many nationals and international events over the last few years, it’s obvious that the World is now able to handle Canada’s teams. The rest of the World is training full time, creating super-teams and developing programs where they get the best out of their athletes. They’re using aggressive strategy and playing to win, thus able to back up their tactics with execution.

In Scotland, they’ve developed one of the great talents in the game in Eve Muirhead, with tutelage from her father Gordon and the assistance of the Junior Academy, Eve has won three World Junior titles, and now as a 19 year old is skipping the British Olympic Team. A side note on Eve, she’s also an elite junior golfer in Scotland, and when asked by British Golf Media which American University she would attend, she replied by telling them that she only golfed for fun, and that she would be staying at home as curling was her sport.

The program in Scotland is developing several strong teams and players, with Claire Hamilton among them. Many around the World have not heard
of Claire, especially with Eve in the spotlight, but as a Junior, Hamilton and her junior team finished third in the Scottish Women’s championship, beating out many more experienced rinks. The young squad impressed many with fearless play, aggression and an attitude of playing to win.

The Olympic squad in Scotland is a hand-picked group of athletes, with a large investment in coaching, training, and all the extra support staff added in to help create a strong team by their governing sport body. They chose the best players in the country, and then they travelled together, with cuts made to get the team down to 5 players. This is much different then the Canadian Trials system, where teams get to playdown for the opportunity to be the Olympic representative.

Having worked at the European Championships this season, as well as witnessing curling teams from around the world, I’m predicting Canada will fail to medal at this year’s Olympics in Vancouver. Sending an inexperienced team to the games, as well the improvement shown by the rest of the World is very good will make the Olympic competition very difficult on Canada’s Cheryl Bernard. Bernard is one of the teams that has made the sacrifices and commitment to the program to become Olympians, and it has certainly paid off.

While China has struggled this season after their World Championship title last year, I still believe they’re the best team in the World. They’ll be ready in Vancouver. Sweden is statistically as good as ever, and will be a contender to win the Gold again. After that, you’ve got Canada’s Bernard ranked along with teams like Mirjam Ott of Switzerland, Muirhead, and Deb McCormick of the United States. One thing to be concerned about though is there will be no easy games in the field. Anyone could win a medal in what I would consider the toughest women’s field in curling ever.

Many players in Canada are calling for a less dedicated system for the Olympic qualifying, this in my opinion would be a mistake. With the World putting more into their teams, (Scotland’s squad system, Chinese full timers, Russian squads travelling the world) there is a need for the Canadian women to focus on their Olympic shot. If you want to be an Olympian, you must put in the sacrifices other athletes in other sports do. If you choose to have children during the qualifying process, are you really fully dedicated to being the best in the World? What other sports do you see athletes only partially committing to be an Olympian?

Again, I talk about the Scott team here, who won the 2007 Worlds in Japan, dominating the event from start to finish. This team had the “no babies” media buzz, but had several children during the lead up to the 2009 Trials. Whether it was the realization of what’s truly important in their lives, or the demands of raising young children, this team had lost the edge that made them the best in the World, resulting in a poor showing at the Trials, and a disappointing 4th place finish at the 2010 Scotties.

While I’m not downplaying the need for balance in your life, and the choice of having a family is a noble one, it just goes to show how now that curling is an Olympic event, the demands on the athletes have changed. If we loosen the system, teams will not be forced to train as hard, put in the commitment and work harder to continue to improve.

While the men continue to be the best in the World and push the standard higher and higher, the women have been slowly falling behind. Kevin Martin has arguably formed a super-team already, and the men know they must do this to beat the best they play against here in Canada. Maybe it’s time the women consider this a more viable option before the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Curling Association must mandate it from the top? No medal in Vancouver might be the wakeup call needed…..

Enter the Earle Morris ‘Junior Academy’. What he’s done with Rachel Homan and her Ottawa team is very similar to the Scottish system. He’s taught Rachel the fearless strategy, and how to play to win. And how to learn from her own ‘misses and makes’. Earle was chastized last year for allowing Rachel to make an aggressive shot for two against Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes, though the approach taken allows Rachel to learn how to consider the risk and reward. Earle has been working with this Ottawa team since they were 15 years old, when I saw Rachel and Emma beating up Ontario’s best, winning an OCT Championship title.

This young team developed, playing a mix of junior and adult events, even winning a Men’s OCT event in Ottawa, beating some strong Men’s teams. This experience has lead to Rachel learning to win, and she carries that through when she plays at all levels. It took this team some time before they finally won an Ontario Junior title, but the experience learned has made Rachel all the better for it, with her game being at the elite level, qualifying for the Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials before she even had an opportunity to playdown for the National Women’s title.

Look what a little experience in the house can do with some young great shot-makers, with Kathy O’Rourke, and her surprising Prince Edward Island foursome. Fearless all week, they displayed the kind of go for it attitude that is exciting to watch. Had it not been for some nerves, they would have defeated the seasoned Jennifer Jones in the Scotties final, who plays the classic style of forcing the miss. And while Erin Carmody and Geri-Lynn Ramsay were solid juniors, the best record they ever posted was 7-5 at the Nationals. Look what can be done with a little guidance. Maybe this is a template for future successes?

The have been comments from players that the process is too much, but I believe that if you want to be the Olympic team and that if these Canadian Teams want to remain at the Top of the World, they’ll need to put in this work to compete. The World is not waiting, creating super teams and developing high level programs to build teams that will work fulltime at the sport.

The changes made to the process were made to ensure the best possible representative for the Red and White, while creating the best possible field in Edmonton as the Trials.

This week in Prince George there will be upsets. Names you think should be in Edmonton will fall, while others will unexpectedly prevail. There a few locks in this event, with my choices being Kelly Scott on the Women’s side and Brad Gushue on the Men’s side, both of which are playing brilliantly leading into the event, and will also have the experience to contend in Edmonton.

After those two teams, it’s as good a guess as any. In a triple knockout upsets can happen, especially when a team gets hot and runs off a few wins. Jason Gunnlaugson, written off at the end of last season as having very little chance has played very well this season, and following his run at the Cactus Pheasant Classic is certainly in contention. This team has big guns and is my surprise pick to qualify along with Gushue.

Consistency has been Mike McEwen’s forte over the last couple seasons and this event requires just that to be successful. This young Manitoba rink quietly reached two Grand Slam semifinals and regularly qualify on the Tour circuit. McEwen has quickly matured over the last couple seasons and has quickly become one of the best young teams in the game.

Next, my choice comes down to the remaining team who was at their best over the last couple years, a team formed with the Olympics in mind. Wayne Middaugh recruited Jon Mead to join his Ontario three, along with John Epping and Scott Bailey, and came one win short of going straight to Edmonton after Randy Ferbey passed him with his Players’ Championship title last April on the last game of the season.

In the Women’s field there is a lot more parity in the field, and thus makes these picks much more difficult. Scott has been playing brilliantly this season, and should be a lock, while joining her team in Edmonton should also be Marie-France Larouche of Quebec City.

Larouche was on a tear last season and while she’s been very quiet thus far this season, I fully expect her team to be ready for this week and at the top of her game. Amber Holland, one of the first teams to qualify for the Pre-Trials has been playing very well this season and has previous trials experience. 

The fourth and final spot is the toughest one of all. Rachel Homan is probably the obvious choice, but it comes down to whether they can handle the pressure that the event will put on her team. Her handlers plan to minimize her exposure this fall, focusing on a few local events, along with Juniors competitions should keep the pressure off. They have the game to win, but the pressure of the situation may be their downfall, opening the door for others.

Eve Belisle’s Montreal/Quebec City rink has been playing consistently well this season, and is my upset pick to squeeze by Rachel. Their performance in Calgary proved they’re ready, beating three teams who stand in their way en route to qualifying for the Trials.

An exciting week of curling will wrap up in Prince George and you can catch the qualifier game action this week on TSN, starting at 3:30pm ET on Thursday!