Eight Ends is your source for news, notes, insight and analysis from around the curling world. This week features red-hot Tim Hortons Brier takeaways fresh from the oven.
FIRST END: The fourth time around in the Tim Hortons Brier final was the charm for Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher.
After three consecutive runner-up results at the Canadian men’s curling championship, Bottcher broke up the silver streak in Sunday's final. His persistent squad defeated Wild Card Two’s Kevin Koe 4-2 at Calgary’s Markin MacPhail Centre inside WinSport Arena.
“It’s just absolutely amazing,” Bottcher said. “Those three years were tough. Each one of them for different reasons but it just makes tonight much more special. We persevered, we worked so hard and we’ve just been so consistent over the last few years, it’s awesome.”
A fourth straight Brier final loss would have been devastating and may have cause doubt to creep in, but tinkering with this lineup would have been crazy. Bottcher, third Darren Moulding, second Brad Thiessen and lead Karrick Martin have proven they have the talent to be the best in the nation and the world with three consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title wins in 2019, including victories over Koe in two of those finals. Plus, I can think of at least 16 other teams that would have loved to be in that final rather than heading home.
Anything can happen in one-off championship games and the more times you put yourself in those situations, you bring something new to the table and increase your odds of winning. (Unless you’re the Buffalo Bills.) Look no further than Brad Gushue, who won his first Brier tankard in his 14th appearance and third trip to the finals. Koe lost six Grand Slam finals before winning his first major as a skip in 2012.
To emerge victorious this year was remarkable given how little teams have been able to practise or play due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing disruptions throughout the season. If you can even call it a season. Some teams were lucky to salvage at least part of a tour but this event was their first major test since last year’s Brier.
The expanded field with two additional wild card teams, plus altering the playoff format from a four-team Page system to a three-team semifinal and final, made it quite possibly the toughest and most unpredictable Brier ever. During pool play, Bottcher beat Koe, Koe beat bronze medallists Matt Dunstone and Team Saskatchewan, and Dunstone beat Bottcher. Picking a champion between the three playoff teams was rock, paper, scissors.
Bottcher came to play on Sunday, shooting a wicked angle raise tap to score two for the 6-5 win over Dunstone in the semifinal and then shot a practically perfect 97 per cent in the final against Koe. Alberta and Wild Card Two were evenly matched, tied for first overall among all teams shooting 88 per cent through the week. Alberta was just that much sharper in the final, shooting 91 per cent compared to Wild Card Two at 84 per cent.
“We played tough," Bottcher said. "The game this morning was a good game but it certainly wasn’t our best. We knew we were going to have to come out here tonight and play our absolute best and we did. I’m just so proud of the boys for bringing it their all. It’s just such a good feeling when you know you’ve worked so hard and then come out and play your best at the biggest game there is. That’s just really a cool and a special feeling.”
SECOND END: Koe came oh-so-close to winning his record-breaking fifth Brier title as a skip. He continues to share the lead with all-time greats Ernie Richardson, Randy Ferbey and Kevin Martin.
With Koe up 1-0 for most of the game, it was an unfortunate pick on his first skip stone in the seventh end that sent his shooter through the house untouched and opened the door for Bottcher. Koe missed a double attempt with his last and Bottcher capitalized by scoring three points and taking a 3-1 lead. You can call a freshly cracked egg a game-changer but there's no doubt this truly was.
There were still three ends to go and Koe had essentially two opportunities with the hammer to Bottcher's one remaining, but he was unable to convert, which was also a sign throughout the match. Bottcher poured on the pressure in the eighth end by sitting five stones and Koe was forced to make a double for just another single.
Even when Bottcher misfired his last in nine while looking to score a deuce, he still managed to avoid giving up a steal and scored a single to lead by two heading into the final frame. Koe needed a big miss from someone who wasn’t missing anything.
Having already burned through his two timeouts and his clock ticking down, it seemed like typical Koe fashion to pull off another buzzer-beater. But even with all the time in the world, it would have been nearly impossible to remove the triangle of counters without a clear path for the triple takeout. Second John Morris said he didn’t see anything, Koe told him to keep looking; however, they opted to shake hands instead.
"It was a well-played game and when they missed, we just didn't take advantage," Koe said. "They had two misses in 10, so we should have been able to come out of that with at least a deuce; capitalizing on your opportunities where there isn't many out there."
THIRD END: Bottcher’s spoils for winning the Brier include $100,000 (that’ll buy a lot of pairs of lucky socks) and representing Canada in two-and-a-half weeks at the world men’s curling championship right back in the bubble. Not only will playing on that ice and being familiar with all the protocols be an advantage for Bottcher, just playing period and getting those on-ice reps in while everyone else remains idle is huge. There's also the confidence and momentum of winning the Brier.
A spot in the Olympic trials later this year was also guaranteed, however, Bottcher had his berth locked up previously based on points. Speaking of the Olympic trials, set to take place in November, man-oh-man is that going to be a battle. Nine teams will compete for the opportunity to play for Canada at the Winter Games in Beijing. Bottcher, Koe, Gushue, John Epping and Brad Jacobs all have their places secure with the final four to be determined. If you thought this Brier was a frenzy, the Olympic trials are going to be a madhouse.
Bottcher also avoids provincial playdowns next year as his team earned an auto-berth to return to the Brier in Lethbridge, Alta., next year as Team Canada. Of course, if they end up competing in the Olympics, they may have other plans.
FOURTH END: Blanked ends were a hot topic at the start of the week mainly because of the two broadcast games that featured numerous blanks right off the bat. Manitoba’s Jason Gunnlaugson blanked the first four ends in his opening game against Bottcher on the second day.
“We were all on minimal practice, minimal training, so I guess they were trying to keep it simple,” said Gunnlaugson, who won 5-4. “We were more than happy if we were to blank nine ends and played 10. I think in three they tried to throw a centre and it just didn’t work out, so the action kind of started in four. I think that’s not shocking in the first draw but by draw two or three you’re not going to see stuff like that happening, I don’t think.”
Freezing cold take there. It came roaring back, partly thanks to Gunnlaugson as there were six blanked ends during his 3-0 loss on Wednesday to Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs. That also tied the record for the lowest scoring Brier game.
The final had five blanked ends, which isn’t so much a problem when you know there’s so much on the line and one miss could easily turn a routine blank into a force or deuce-scoring situation. However, for casual viewers on a night that also featured the Grammys and a Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators game, a curling match where teams are just hitting lone rocks out of the house one after another doesn’t make for compelling entertainment.
Penalizing teams by losing the hammer for a blank would just have the opposite effect. The team without the hammer will then do everything in its power to ensure a blank so they’ll have the hammer in the following end. Only penalizing teams for intentionally blanking? Well, that’s a judgment call where the intent to blank begins — who makes that call? — and it’s not as cut-and-dry as say intentionally walking a batter in baseball.
Reducing the number of ends from 10 to eight to align with the tour can have a positive effect as with fewer ends, theoretically, teams will be more aggressive off the bat. It might also be better to just accept blank ends as part of the game than trying to find a solution that may end up making things more convoluted. Teams will always find a loophole to exploit.
FIFTH END: Following Bottcher’s breakthrough to the championship, who’s next? Look no further down the list than bronze medallist Dunstone.
Team Saskatchewan was looking to upgrade from the bronze medals earned last year and end the prairie province’s 41-year Brier drought. Dunstone's crew is based in Regina but with little to no ice time available at home, they were welcomed with open arms to the small town of Wadena, Sask., to practise and prepare for the Brier and were able to arrive in top form.
Team Dunstone gave it their all, shooting 88 per cent as a unit during the semifinal; however, Bottcher had the hammer for the decisive final frame. Bottcher was forced into having to make a tricky angle raise tap to score the winning two points and he pulled off the Hail Mary shot to advance to the final.
Third Braeden Moskowy earned first team all-star honours shooting 89 per cent, while new second Kirk Muyres tied for fifth among players at his position by firing 84 per cent through the week. Dunstone himself was among the top skips, tied for third place — with Bottcher of course — while shooting 85 per cent.
Dunstone didn’t mince words — "it sucks" — but acknowledged his team is just going to come back stronger, and you hear the same theme of persistence that powered Bottcher to his victory.
“You keep putting yourselves in these situations and you’re going to succeed eventually and that’s all we can really do,” he said. “Just keep throwing ourselves into these sort of positions and it’s meant to be at some point.”
SIXTH END: In rod we trust. If there was a comeback player of the year award, Wayne Middaugh would be the unanimous selection. It looked like Middaugh's curling career, at least at the competitive level, was over after breaking his leg in a skiing accident a few years ago. You can never count out Middaugh though and there he was, with a titanium rod in his leg, skipping Glenn Howard’s Wild Card Three squad to within one win of qualifying for the playoffs.
Middaugh was originally just the alternate, but had to come off the bench as Howard was hurt in a snowmobile accident recently and was still on the mend. However, it was the same Middaugh fans and curlers had come to expect making highlight-reel game-winners during back-to-back matches on Tuesday to knock off Wild Card One’s Mike McEwen in the morning and Jim Cotter of British Columbia in the evening. It wasn't just the eye-test either as statistically Middaugh was fifth among skips by shooting 83 per cent.
Middaugh explained in his first post-game interview on the second day of the tournament he didn’t miss playing at first post-injury, or at least didn’t realize he had missed playing, until he started coaching Anna Hasselborg’s Swedish squad and that reminded him of who he was.
“They really rejuvenated my excitement for the game back again,” Middaugh said. “I got to come to some Slams with them, a European championship, a world championship and I’m like this is what I do. This is who I am: I’m a curler. And you know what? It was great. I was excited to play again and Glenn unfortunately or fortunately dropped that opportunity into my lap. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ecstatic to get the opportunity to play again.”
SEVENTH END: Considering how deep the field was, it almost seemed inevitable there would be a collision course towards tiebreakers. Yet, there were none heading into the championship pool nor the playoffs. Even then, if Middaugh had managed to beat Koe in their final championship pool game to stay in the mix, it wouldn’t have led to a tiebreaker but rather created a unique four-way tie for first place at 9-3 records. That would have altered the playoffs into two semifinal games instead of a tiebreaker scenario.
You can try running the mental gymnastics of what it would have looked like if this was a normal year with a four-team Page playoff system, however, then you also have to throw out the two extra wild card teams — Middaugh for sure and possibly even Koe if his team was unable to beat Manitoba’s Mike McEwen in a wild-card game. Then again, in a normal year maybe Koe beats Bottcher in provincial playdowns and is representing Alberta instead or Middaugh defeats Epping in Ontario. Ouch, my head hurts.
The Brier title defence of Team Gushue ended during the final championship pool draw when they missed the playoffs and it’s a shame they didn’t get to represent Canada on the world stage again with last year’s championship cancelled. Gushue, who won first team all-star honours, shot 90 per cent on average heading into that last game against Bottcher but had his worst game of the week at the worst possible time, shooting 67 per cent in the 8-2 losing effort.
Jacobs was another one of the favourites but carried too many losses into the second stage and split his four games in the championship pool. This event is still part of the building process towards the Olympic trials, third Marc Kennedy explained.
“As our old coach used to say, you either win or you learn so we’ll learn a few things from this and get ready for the Olympic trials,” Kennedy said. “We still have a couple Slams to play in a few weeks, so tough week but we’ll learn and get better.”
EIGHTH END: Kudos to Curling Canada for another successful bubble event with zero COVID-19 cases reported. The health and safety of everyone inside takes top priority and it’s good to know the measures and protocols in place are keeping everyone secure.
EXTRA END: We're now just under a month away from the return of the Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling inside the bubble. The Humpty's Champions Cup runs April 14-18 followed by the Princess Auto Players' Championship taking place April 20-25. Eight teams from the Brier are part of the 12-team men's field including Bottcher, who also happens to be the defending champion for both events.
