Gushue beats McEwen to extend Saskatchewan’s Brier drought

Brad Gushue spoiled Saskatchewan’s party at the 2024 Montana’s Brier.

The two-time defending champion beat Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen 9-5 on Sunday at the Brandt Centre to win his sixth Canadian men’s curling championship.

“It hurts we didn’t have our best game,” McEwen said. “(There were) tough conditions and I think you could tell both teams were struggling with the ice. But Brad was stellar the first four ends. He nailed us the first four ends.

“We beat him (last) Saturday night but unfortunately he’s the defending champ and he’s hard to put away on Sunday night. We have everything to be proud of with what we did in six months. This is a great team and we’re not done yet.”

Gushue said it’s not the championships but the moment when the job is done that really drives him now.

“This is what it’s all about. This is why I play and this is why I love the game. I love this moment, to see it all come to fruition after the hard work this week,” Gushue said. “It isn’t about how many, it’s about this moment here.”

That moment Sunday extended Saskatchewan’s title drought at the Brier. A team from this province hasn’t won the championship since 1980, when Rick Folk turned the trick.

“I had a list of who I was playing for today and it was a pretty long list. Some people might call that long list pressure and pressure is a privilege but I don’t look at it that way,” McEwen said.

“It was an honour to play for all those people on that list — whether it was teammates or fans or whether it was people that had given up on me a little bit the last half-dozen years.

“It wasn’t pressure for me, it was an honour. That’s what this week was for us — it was an honour to play here.”

Gushue is the first skip to win three straight Brier titles since Randy Ferbey won three in a row between 2001 and ’03. Gushue, third Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker also tied Ferbey with six career titles.

Despite the loss, McEwen and his Saskatoon Nutana team of Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh and Daniel Marsh gave Saskatchewan its best finish at the event in 29 years. The province hadn’t had a team in the final since Brad Heidt’s foursome reached the championship game in 1995.

“It was great. The fans are awesome and we couldn’t ask for much more. We had a great week and a great event,” Flasch said. “It’s our first year together. I expect good things from this team to come in the future and I think we’re just going to get better from here.”

Kevin Marsh was also happy with how the week went despite the loss in the final.

“This was by far my best curling memory so far,” he said. “Unfortunately we couldn’t pull off the win at the end. It would have been a dream ending but either way, it was still a great week for us.”

McEwen won a medal for the second time in nine Brier appearances; he also won a bronze in 2017 while skipping Manitoba.

While McEwen has bounced around recently — he skipped out of Ontario last year — Flasch believes the veteran skip has found a home in Saskatchewan.

“He feels very comfortable with all of us and we feel comfortable with him,” Flasch said. “It’s a really good fit.”

During the 2024 event, McEwen went 7-1 in the round-robin and finished atop one of the nine-team pools.

Saskatchewan lost 9-7 to Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher in a 1-2 Page qualifying game Friday afternoon, but then went on an impressive playoff run.

McEwen and Co. beat Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories 7-0 in a 3-4 Page qualifier Friday evening, knocked off Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone 6-5 in the 3-4 Page playoff game Saturday afternoon and then took out Bottcher 7-3 in the semifinal Sunday afternoon.

Gushue went 6-2 in the round-robin before beating Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers in a 1-2 Page qualifying game. Gushue then defeated Bottcher in the 1-2 Page playoff game to reach the final.

On Sunday, the skip from St. John’s N.L., was able to celebrate for a second time in Regina. He also won the Brier title in the Queen City in 2018.

“I love Regina. It’s a great curling city — the fans were awesome (Sunday). Obviously they were on Saskatchewan’s side and rightfully so,” Gushue said. “I enjoyed playing in that. I thought they were very respectful to us and it was a really cool environment.

“Kudos to Mike and his team — particularly Mike. He was awesome. Fortunately, we left them some tougher shots today which was good for us. We played really well the first five ends.”

Gushue blanked the first end and then put up a deuce in the second. After McEwen was forced to take one in the third end, Gushue made a delicate split with his final rock in the fourth to score three and take a 5-1 lead.

McEwen got one in the fifth and stole two in the sixth to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Gushue replied with a deuce in the seventh to make it 7-4.

The home team scored one in the eighth, but Gushue replied with two in the ninth and Saskatchewan conceded.

The victory Sunday sends Gushue, Nichols, Walker and second E.J. Harnden to the world men’s curling championship, March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. They’re also eligible to compete in the 2025 Brier as Team Canada.

Fans still proud of Team Sask.

They may have watched a loss unfold for Team Sask. on Sunday night, but McEwen fans were still praising the team as they filed out of the Brandt Center.

“It was a great game, it was a nailbiter, it was good,” said one woman.

“I thought it was an excellent game, just came up on the wrong side of the coin. We curled well,” said a man in the crowd.

Some were certainly disappointed, for themselves and the team.

“It was still a good game, but I think everyone was pumped for Saskatchewan to win and I think that would have been the icing on the cake for the province,” said a woman as the medals were handed out.

And still others said the team represented the province well and they thought they’ll be hearing more from McEwen and this team in the province in the coming seasons.