CurlingZone: Gushue wins opener in Brier tuneup

Brad Gushue (St. John's) won 8-1 over Saskatoon's Rogan Snow at the Curling Stadium Martensville International. Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC

Gushue, with Mark Nichols, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker added the late season tour event to their schedule in preparation for the Montana's Brier at the end of the month.

"I took a little over three weeks off without throwing a rock during Christmas and after that, and slowly started to ramp up," Gushue told Gerald Bauman on the 650 CKOM Morning Show podcast.

"We felt the big gap between the Trials and the Brier, really, not playing in an event was probably too much."

"We thought it was a great opportunity, a couple of weeks before the Brier, to play against some good teams."

The 10-team event features Mike McEwen of Saskatoon, also playing in St. John's at the Brier, along with Manitoba runner-up Jordon McDonald (Winnipeg) and Saskatchewan runner-up Rylan Kleiter (Saskatoon).

"I know James (Gordon) at the curling club makes incredible ice, so it just seemed to fit really well, " continued Gushue.

"It gives us an opportunity to play a few games, and just get ready as we can be for the Brier in St. John's."

Gushue faces Kleiter at 7 pm Saskatchewan/Central Time on Friday evening, following up with two games on Saturday, the first at 2 pm CT against Saskatoon's Bradley Moser and finishing against Kevin Tuma of Chaska, Minnesota.

The top five teams move into Sunday's playoff round with three rounds of playoff draws. All games are available through CurlingZone's YouTube channel.

WATCH on YouTube: Brad Gushue vs Rogan Snow

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