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Tim Hortons Brier: Seven teams remain in contention headed into final draw of round robin
Kamloops, B.C. — The playoff picture for the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier after the penultimate draw Thursday night is clear as mud. While Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba were guaranteed playoff berths headed into Draw 16, contenders Ontario and Saskatchewan lost. While Steve Laycock's Saskatoon rink is still in contention despite a crushing 6-3 loss to a dominant B.C. squad, Thursday was a bitter pill for Brier rookie Greg Balsdon to swallow. With an 8-6 loss to Team Manitoba, he was officially eliminated from contention.
The general rule is that three losses at the Brier in the 11-game field is acceptable and four is treading on very fragile eggshells. Not since 1996 has a five-loss team entered the playoff round (curiously, that tournament also took place in Kamloops) at the annual tournament, but the scenario is entirely plausible here in 2014. Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard, at 6-4, is curling against Alberta's Kevin Koe in the Friday morning draw. Koe is playing for hammer throughout the playoff round. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, is up against New Brunswick's James Grattan, who has somehow stuck around despite a 1-5 start.
Then there's Brad Gushue, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist and Newfoundland & Labrador who has curiously never won a Brier. He made quick work of Jamie Koe and the Northwest Territories Thursday night with a 9-2 win and presumably left the arena believing he didn't have a shot at a gold medal in Kamloops, but losses by Quebec and Saskatchewan mean that there will be a four-team tiebreak.
Neat.
Here's how it breaks down in the words of some of the skips who spoke to the media after the draw:
Jean-Michel Menard, Team Quebec:
"Well, when you play your 11th game in the Brier and it means something, it's always good. You don't want to play games that are meaningless, so tomorrow we've got one and we control our destiny. It won't be easy against Alberta and we've had some decent success against the top teams this week so hopefully we can get up and play one of our best games of the week."
"If both of the teams [Quebec and Saskatchewan] lose I think there will be four teams at 6-5, which looks like a messy tiebreaker. Hopefully we don't have to go through that."
Steve Laycock, Team Saskatchewan:
"Gotta get some help from Alberta now or we'll play a tiebreaker. If we lose though, we're probably hoping for Alberta to win and then we play three (?) tiebreakers. Obviously a big game tomorrow."
Jeff Stoughton, Team Manitoba:
"It's kind of interesting. [Kevin] Koe can pretty much pick who he gets to play. If he loses, he plays B.C., if he wins, he plays us. I think if he wins though he'll get hammer and colour of rocks so that's pretty important. I think if he loses he might not get hammer. I'm sure they'll give it they'll all in the morning but we're not overly concerned."
The curling itself late at night wasn't bad either. Despite a relatively empty arena earlier in the week, Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops was full and loud and supportive of the B.C. squad. Laycock went down early to John Morris, giving up two points in the 2nd and 5th ends and generating nothing with hammer throughout the contest. "[B.C.] had hammer to start and they got a deuce early and they were stifling after that," Laycock said. "We didn't have a lot of chances."
The Morris rink curled 94 per cent on the night, the highest of the evening draw, while Laycock struggled throwing 75 per cent individually and his team was just 80, it's second lowest score on the week.
On Sheet B, Ontario got out to an excellent start against Manitoba ("It's been the theme of the week for us," said Stoughton, who has now given up multiple-point first ends to Ontario, B.C. and Quebec so far in the tournament) with a double raise double takeout for three points with Balsdon's final stone. But Stoughton didn't allow a multiple point end after that, throwing 95 per cent on the night. The degree of difficulty on those shots was low as Manitoba was never in trouble, getting excellent performances from the front end. In the tenth, Balsdon could have stolen a point to force an extra, but lead Reid Carruthers executed two perfect tick shots to minimize any danger.
Québec scored three in the seventh end, which was the difference in their 7-4 win against Northern Ontario on Sheet D, while Gushue crushed the Northwest Territory on C, taking a 5-1 lead into the fifth end break and then forcing Jamie Koe to a single in the sixth end.
