 St. John's Team Gushue (Photo: Curling Canada) are riding high at the 2021 Tim Hortons Trials, having started the event at 2-0. By: Dylan Chenier Gushue's rink, with third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant, and lead Geoff Walker, picked up their second-consecutive victory Sunday afternoon against Alberta's Kevin Koe. After the three-time Brier champs stole two-straight ends to start the game, Koe picked up a deuce in the third, tying things up at 2 apiece. From there, Gushue took control, scoring one in the fourth, and then two more stolen ends in the fifth and sixth. After forcing Koe to a single in the seventh, Gushue led 5-3 with three ends to go. In the eighth end, Gushue picked up his first deuce of the game, giving his team a 7-3 victory after Koe decided to shake hands. While the scoreboard reflects a rather one-sided affair, for Gushue things were much closer, with the team trying to prevent Koe from scoring any big ends. "I felt like I played pretty good, we were chasing for most of the game, unfortunately, but I was able to save us in a couple of ends," said Gushue. The win puts Gushue in a two-way tie for first place, alongside Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs. Picking up a victory against the defending trials champions is certainly to provide a major boost for the rink from St-John's. "Good win. We're in a good position now, obviously couldn't be in a better position at 2-0, so [we're] quite happy," Gushue said. Despite the result, Gushue is focused on what the team needs to do better heading into the rest of the week. "We've just got to tighten things up... It was a few loose shots again today, but we got a couple [of] misses against Kevin, which you don't normally get." Up next for Team Gushue is a Monday afternoon matchup against Ontario's Team Epping, who are currently at 1-1. Gushue has won the last four-consecutive contests between the two teams, with the most recent victory coming at the 2021 Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, where they won 6-1. Brad Gushue is looking to become the second male curler in history to win two Tim Hortons Curling Trials. In 2005, a then 25-year-old Gushue skipped his rink to victory at the Trials in Halifax, before picking up Olympic gold at the 2006 Games in Turin. If his team wins this week, Gushue would set the record for the longest gap between Trials titles, with Kevin Martin having gone eight years between his victories. The men's draw at the 2021 Tim Hortons Trials continues Monday afternoon at 2:00 PM CT. SCORES AND STANDINGS at www.curlingzone.com |
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Brendan Bottcher (photo: Stan Fong) is moving on from now former teammates Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, announced Tuesday.
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