Jean-Michel Ménard cruises to Québec Tankard. Does change in strategy have his team primed for Brier success?

Jean-Michel Ménard is in a buoyant mood as he chats over the phone from his home in Gatineau, Québec.

The 39 year old skip is usually upbeat. Nothing unusual about that. However, there may be a bit more bounce in that voice and why not? It is the day after Ménard and his teammates completed a perfect run through the Québec Tankard (11 wins, no losses) to win a third straight provincial title, capping the week with a 7-2, eight end win over Michael Fournier in the championship game.

“Quality wise, I would have to say that in my career this is one of the best years we’ve had as a team," says Ménard. "Now, maybe we’ll go 3 and 8 in Calgary (at the Brier), I don’t know. But, heading to Calgary, as a team, it’s the best we’ve played in years.”

As the first team to qualify for the Brier (Québec holds its men's championship during the same week as its Scotties playdowns), Team Ménard is cruising along, having lost just four games since they ran the table at a Thanksgiving weekend event, in Ottawa. A change in strategic philosophy, coupled with a schedule that keeps them fresh and hungry are keys in the team's hot streak.

At the Tankard, they outscored their opponents by a total of 85-34 and by Ménard's recollection, gave up only two steals all week. "That was a key. We were able to properly manage when we had the hammer," Ménard says. “Things were rolling our way and we took advantage of it.”

Taking advantage of those situations now means something a little different for Team Ménard. The skipper, along with lead (and brother) Philippe, second Éric Sylvain and vice Martin Crête, aren't quite the riverboat gamblers they've been in past years. You can expect that the foursome's aggressive style will be tempered when they hit the ice for the Brier. Ménard and his mates decided that they needed to tone things down, if they were to take another step at nationals, and improve on their 2014 showing (a 7 and 4 round robin record, a semi-final loss to Alberta's Kevin Koe and a loss to Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton in the bronze medal game).

"I was a very aggressive skip," explains Ménard. "If I was starting on an aggressive path (in any given end) I would go all in. Sometimes it would work, sometimes it would go bad for us."

“I would say I’m now a little better on knowing fast, in the end, if things will shape up to go well or bad with the set up we have. I’m able to backtrack and move to defensive play early on if I see we are looking at possible trouble."

If it sounds like Ménard is looking to play a game that might more closely mimic those of recent Brier champs - Koe, Brad Jacobs, Glenn Howard - that's about right. All of them had the ability to bail out when necessary and a keen sense of when to do it. Ménard feels his team has the ingredients to compete that way, so why not play that up?

"We’re a very good hitting team and I’m trying to take a little more advantage of our hitting strength without putting away the offensive component that we still need to be able to be successful.”

So far, so good, he says of the game plan. “It’s been working very well for us."

“We’ve been playing some really solid curling. I think we’ve found our momentum,” he adds.

Now, the trick is to make sure that they stay sharp, what with six weeks to go before their first game at the Brier, on February 28th. Ménard personally likes the long layoff, as it gives his far-flung team a chance to meet, in Montreal, to throw some stones together. Philippe lives in Brossard. Crête and Sylvain live in Lévis, near Québec City.

“I personally like it," says Ménard. "We can focus more on practicing from now until the Brier. On the other side, if it doesn’t work, I can stop practicing for the rest of the year,” he adds, laughing.

There are no big events for the team to play in over the next month and a half. That's why, Ménard hopes, they will play some serious games against former champs Pierre Charette and Louis Biron, in the interim. “The old Québec curling legends against the current champions," he laughs. "That should be fun.”

Keeping things fun and somewhat relaxed, schedule-wise, seems another key for the 2015 Québec champs. Like Kelly Scott's team, in B.C., Team Ménard continues to focus on matching the highest quality events they can get, within certain parameters. There are some important reasons for that.

“We’re not willing to fly for a weekend," says Ménard of the airport curler lifestyle. "We (he and Crête) have young families. We want to be able to just get back in the car and go back home (if they’re eliminated from an event early) instead of waiting a couple of days because our flights were booked on a Monday. We’ve tried that in the past and as a team we didn’t like it at all."

They carefully spread out their events, too. While some rinks may play three or four consecutive spiels, it's no more than every second weekend for Team Ménard. The skip claims that keeps plenty of fuel in the psychological tank.

“When we go to play we’re looking forward to seeing each other and we want to perform well. As a team, we’ve found this is the best balance for us and so far it’s been working pretty well.”

Lest anyone think the schedule is too light a touch, Team Ménard has played in enough events and against enough quality opponents to rank them 17th in the World Curling Tour's Order of Merit standings. Included in their 2014-15 resume is a finals loss to Mike McEwen (who hasn't lost to McEwen, other than Brad Gushue?) at a star-studded competition in Gatineau.

It is not the overwhelming, grinding schedule of the top, top teams, that's true. That doesn't seem to matter too much to Ménard, however. When it comes to long-range goal setting, a berth in the 2018 Olympic Games is something he and his mates would welcome, but only if it comes on their terms, with their balanced schedule. It was enough to get them into the Pre-Trials event in 2013, and that's good enough for Ménard, looking ahead.

“I hope we'll do enough to qualify for the pre-trials but we’ll not be going all in and playing all kinds of events to get enough points. If we do well in the schedule we have and we do qualify for the pre-trials, that’s good enough for me. If it doesn’t happen? Well, too bad, that’s not our main focus. My main focus is to get to the Brier every year and for this year it’s mission accomplished."

Well, almost.

Ménard is hopeful of a podium finish, this time around. While he and Sylvain know the glory of winning it all - as they did in 2006 - Crête, who joined the team in 2007 and Philippe Ménard, who joined in 2011 - have yet to earn a Brier medal.

“They’re keeping us young," Ménard says of his vice and his brother, before adding that he's at least partly driven by the desire to make them champions. “They really do deserve it,” he says.

The team from Québec is rolling. If the layoff's not too long and their new found strategy adjustments find the range in Calgary, they'll be a solid bet to hit that podium. Ménard sums it up:

"Go to the Brier and do well, hopefully make the playoffs and you never know what can happen."

"2006 to happen again?" He pauses, then chuckles again. "I hope."