Grand Slam of Curling: Mike McEwen spoils Brad Jacobs' hometown party at The National

Before his championship final match up against hometown hero Brad Jacobs, Mike McEwen was asked  if he'd ever played a game where the crowd was most assuredly rooting for the other guy.

He cracked wise on it, responding that it was old hat for him, seeing as how everybody loves Jeff Stoughton and gave him all the love in the provincial matches the two have played over the years.

So, he had the mindset to not be the most popular guy in the rink, when he faced Jacobs' Olympic champion crew, at The National, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

In the end, McEwen's sizzling hot squad came out the winners, recovering from a slow start to take a 5 -2 victory.

It was a chippy affair. 'Chippy' in that, neither McEwen nor Jacobs could generate a multiple score and a series of singles meant it was tied at two, midway through. In the fifth, McEwen actually tried a rare kind of shot - the runback blank - and came within a hair of making it. Instead, he blasted a Jacobs stone off the button and his raised rock ran out of steam before it settled in the back twelve, giving him a single.

With a steal in the seventh, McEwen took a 4-2 lead into the final end and after he picked a buried Jacobs stone out with a runback on his first shot of the end and buried a draw on his second, Jacobs was left with a very difficult angle runback to force a tie. Just missed, though, and McEwen stole the final point to take the win.

McEwen's team, which very nearly dissolved in disappointment last season, has been one of the hottest foursomes in the world this season, running up a won-loss record of 43 and 7 ahead of the final.

There was plenty at stake in this game and a couple of teams that could rightfully claim to be the best in the world right now had to love getting the chance to prove they were on the throne. While Jacobs continues to bask in the afterglow of the win in Sochi, he, Ryan Fry, E.J. Harnden and Ryan Harnden have never won a Grand Slam championship. For their part, Team McEwen had been denied victory in their previous three Grand Slam final appearances, including a loss to Brad Gushue at The Masters, earlier this month. Being one-two in the Order of Merit standings, the game meant either Jacobs was extending his slim lead, or McEwen was taking over top spot.

"We wanted to climb to the top," McEwen told Sportsnet's Joan McCusker afterward. "I'm ecstatic how quick we did it. I'm really pleased with what we've done."

"We curled brutal." Jacobs told Sportsnet. He was perhaps a bit harsh. Yes, his team did miss some shots along the way, but they made some bell ringers as well. But, you don't get to be Olympic Champion without high standards.

"In my mind we're watching the two best teams in the world today," said commentator Kevin Martin at one point. His compatriot, Mike Harris, then pointed out that the building drama between McEwen and Jacobs is reminiscent to the feel of one of curling's great all-time rivalries, between Martin and Glenn Howard. Indeed, if these two continue to meet and play it this close, as you'd expect, curling fans are in for some great games this season and in the years ahead.

With the win, McEwen , vice B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld secured their fifth championship of the season.

STOCKS UP, STOCKS DOWN

A number of teams had notable, positive results at The National.
Brendan Bottcher and Heath McCormick, most notably.

Each of them wound their way through their pools and beyond, into semi-final positions. It was there that they ran into the buzzsaws known as Jacobs and McEwen. For Bottcher, the 2012 Canadian and World Junior champion, a top four showing at a grand slam event is another signal that the 22 year old (he'll be 23 next month) is on the rise. Although Bottcher made little noise at the last two Alberta Provincial Men's Championships, and finished just 1 and 4 at The National last season, he's been dubbed 'The Next One' by more than a few observers of the sport. His team has edged closer to the bigs with this showing.

For McCormick, it was important to gobble up as many CTRS points as possible, in his battle with John Shuster. One of them will quite likely represent the United States at th 2015 World Curling Championship, and those points will be the determining factor. The native of Lansing, Michigan (he grew up in Sarnia, Ontario) got a big boost by knocking off Glenn Howard in the quarter-finals.

For Team Howard, this event was a step back. They'd finished in the semi's in their first three events, then lost a tie-breaker at The Masters, three weeks ago. Howard and his reconfigured line-up - with Rich Hart and Jon Mead - seemed poised for a breakthrough, however, and they expected it. Exiting in the quarter finals must be a frustrating turn for them and they now look ahead to next month's Grand Slam event, The Canadian Open, December 9 - 14, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.