Rare loss by Gushue makes all the difference in Pool A playoff race
One win can have massive implications on other teams at the Brier, and shake the landscape right up. That’s exactly what we saw Thursday, when a rare loss from Brad Gushue made all the difference for Pool A.
KELOWNA — John Epping liked his Team Northern Ontario’s chances of advancing to the playoffs as they left the ice Thursday afternoon following his team’s sixth win at Canada’s national championship.
All they needed to accompany their 6-2 record was a win from the three-time defending Brier champions, Brad Gushue and his Team Canada, who’d done nothing but win up until Thursday, with a 7-0 start.
“If there’s somebody you’re gonna wanna rely on, it’s gonna be Brad Gushue,” Epping said.
Gushue was three-quarters of the way through a battle with Team Manitoba and Matt Dustone when Epping’s team left the ice and watched the end of the game unfold from a private box at Prospera Place, and even rung a little cowbell when Team Gushue came up with big shots, with their fate hanging in the balance.
Meanwhile, Reid Carruthers and his Team Manitoba, who also finished with a 6-2 record, were watching that very game in their coach’s hotel room, hoping for a rare Gushue loss against the other Team Manitoba, since a win from their rivals would punch Team Carruthers a ticket to the playoffs.
“We were anxiously watching,” Carruthers said of the Pool A finale. “It just felt like a coin flip.”
And this is curling for Canada’s national title, sports fans: One win can have enormous implications on other teams here at the Brier, and shake the landscape right up. If Gushue won, he’d be tops in Pool A at 8-0, Epping would be second at 6-2, Dunstone would be third at 6-2, and Carruthers would be out at 6-2, since he fared the worst of the three teams in last stone draw, which serves as the tiebreaker in a three-way tie.
And if Dunstone won, he’d be first at 7-1, Gushue would be second at 7-1 since Dunstone won the head-to-head, Carruthers would be third at 6-2, and Epping would be out at 6-2 since he lost the head-to-head against Carruthers.
In the game that decided all of that, Gushue gave up the first steal he’s relinquished all week in the eighth end, giving Dunstone a 6-5 lead. Gushue then tried to blank nine to carry the hammer into the final end, but missed on his last shot to sit one and tie things up, giving Dunstone the hammer coming home.
“We had an uncharacteristic miss from Gushue, I think kind of set the tone, ‘cause obviously it’s tough to steal against a really good team,” Carruthers said, and that’s when the mood shifted in his coach’s hotel room to “optimism,” as he put it. “I thought we had a chance.”
Epping, meanwhile, stepped out of the box he was watching from with friends and family. “It was stressful,” he said, and the skipper knew how tough it would be on all of them to see their team just miss out on playoffs, which he figured was the likely result.
When Gushue couldn’t manage to bury his last shot in ten to try to sit shot stone and earn a steal, giving Team Dunstone the 7-6 win, the remaining members of Team Northern Ontario put their heads down in the box they were watching from.
Back at the hotel, Carruthers third BJ Neufeld, second Catlin Schneider and lead Connor Njegovan fist-pumped, high-fived, jumped up and down and yelled in celebration. They were in.
“It was loud,” Carruthers said. “I was worried about a noise complaint.”
Out on the ice, Gushue was aware of the implications of his loss. “You try not to worry about that, because either way you’re pissing off somebody, or making them happy,” the skipper said. “I’ll apologize to John [Epping] who was eliminated. If we won that game, would’ve had to apologize to Reid [Carruthers].”
That one game can shift everything so dramatically makes for good drama, but it’s also something Gushue thinks Curling Canada could look at. “That’s the problem with this short round robin, and no tiebreakers,” Gushue said. “You end up watching a lot of games and hoping they work out in your favour. It’s unfortunate, John [Epping] was 6-2 and doesn’t make the playoffs here which maybe has to be looked at, especially when up until this morning it looked like 4-4 could get out of the other pool.”
“Honestly, I feel for John’s team,” Carruthers added. “I feel like for either of our teams to lose out on playoffs after going 6-2 is a bitter pill to swallow… But it’s kind of the way that the pools worked.”
Gushue said he “hated” relegation when it happened, where teams that finished last in their pools had to earn their way back into the top-level bonspiel, but he thinks it should be explored again. “I think right now there’s too many lop-sided games in this event,” he said, adding tiebreakers could make a comeback as well. “We’re in a position right now where John or Reid, they’re watching our game right now hoping we win or lose. I don’t love that. So I think it’d be worth a discussion. I’m not advocating for it, but that’s the best option that’s been shared with me that gets us back to that full round robin that I used to love playing, I think the fans used to love — it’s the best teams there.”
Well, with things as they are, the best team in Pool A through the round robin stage is Dunstone’s No. 1-ranked squad, after the win over Gushue on Thursday. “Brad was doing what Brad does, and you know, it’s a huge game for us. We lose that game, we’re playing for our lives tomorrow night,” Dunstone said. “There’s so many reasons why that was such a big win.”
Among those reasons is the fact that they’ll have hammer on Friday, and as Dunstone pointed out with a grin: “Nice to get our Manitoba counterparts in the playoffs there, too.”
Not long after the celebration wrapped up in coach Rob Meakin’s room, Carruthers was in the car heading to the grocery store “to top up,” as he put it. “‘Cause we’re staying longer now.”
Indeed they are, and thanks to a win from their rivals.
“Yeah, curling is a pretty exciting game,” Carruthers said, but the skipper was quick to point out it’s a lot closer than coming down to just one game: “It’s more like one shot.”
