Roar Of The Rings: Jacobs and Martin remain perfect and on an epic collision course

As the pressure ratchets up and the collars get ever so much tighter, perfect records will be on the line at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials (Roar Of The Rings), Thursday night, in Winnipeg.

Kevin Martin, back in what used to be a very familiar position at the top of the table, meets reigning Canadian champion Brad Jacobs. Both of them perfect, so far, at 5 and oh. Both of them with teams that are sizzling hot right now.

It's a big game. A very big game. Winner gets first place and a bye into Sunday afternoon's final. Loser gets to duke it out in the semi-final.

Both these teams are rolling right now. Take their overall percentages from their Wednesday wins as evidence of that. Team Martin fired a collective 94% in their 9-5 victory over John Epping. Martin, himself, was an astronomical 97%.

Jacobs, who was alternately brilliant and - on one shot - a touch sloppy in his 8-6 victory over Team John Morris, shot 95%, while collectively his rink posted a 90% game.

There's not much to choose between these two sides right now. Martin and Jacobs have each posted the exact same 91% shooting efficiency mark for the week. Overall, Team Martin stands first at 90% as a group, Team Jacobs at 88%.

If there is a reason to lean one way or the other in this impending duel for first place, it might be this:

Martin has been a winner in two games that you may well say he should not have won. Comeback victories over Jeff Stoughton and then Glenn Howard could be chalked up to his opponents spitting the bit, as opposed to being collared by spectacular play by the Edmonton rink.

That's not to take too much away from Martin's team. While breathtaking mistakes by opponents can help, you still need to make your shots to make them pay. Martin did that against Howard when he made a hit and stick for four in the ninth end. More importantly, he placed his last rock in the tenth exactly where it needed to be in order to squelch any chance Howard had of a double for the win. Made a shot for a single and extra ends near impossible, too.

That's money and a clear sign the Ol' Bear has been rejuvenated since his disastrous Brier, last March. His subsequent split from longtime teammate, John Morris - replaced by Dave Nedohin - seems to have turned the trick for Martin and teammates Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert.

Jacobs has not been the beneficiary of charitable opponents as much as he and his teammates - Ryan Fry, E.J Harnden and Ryan Harnden - have created their own wealth. Especially the skip, who has been making just about everything he's needed to, plus many more he would not have, had he not remained red-hot.

In his game against Morris on Wednesday, Jacobs blasted a double to score four in the fourth, after Morris' fourth-stone shooter Jim Cotter bounced his freeze attempt - ever so slightly - off a guard before it rolled in towards the button. A swiftly moving centre-line takeout meant the mistake was paid for as Jacobs blasted two opposing rocks out, while sticking the shooter.

Jacobs and his mates more closely resemble the squad that put together such a great Brier run on the way to a Canadian Championship, last March, than they do the crew that was nip and tuck to get through the pre-trials last month in Kitchener.

However, the reasonably smooth sailing the Northern Ontarians have been enjoying this week did not continue without interruption in the win over Morris. Martin and whoever else winds up as Jacobs' opponents can take solace in that. As good as he's been, Jacobs coughed it up in the eighth end, overcooking a tap shot that saw his shooter roll outside instead of in. Steal of two for Morris and a 6-6 tie.

Team Jacobs rebounded with two in the ninth and then the skipper returned to his sensational shooting, firing a jaw-dropping double takeout in the tenth to ice it. Blasting an imperfectly frozen Morris stone out of the back of the house, the shooter then rolled over to the other side of the rings to take care of the other counter. It was a missile. And another indicator that this team's confidence couldn't be higher.

Meantime, the scramble below Martin and Jacobs will be just as intriguing. Morris, with a record of 3 and 2, controls his own fate, with games against Epping and Martin remaining. Win them both and it won't matter what the others - hanging on by their fingernails - do.

Howard's 6-5 win over Mike McEwen and Stoughton's 10-6 victory over the winless Kevin Koe means Howard, McEwen and Stoughton remain alive. Barely.

The intrigue plays out during the only men's draw of the day, Thursday night at 6:30 CST.