FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen slid past Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., and into the semifinals of the Syncrude Elite 10 Saturday afternoon.
Gushue struggled with his draw weight throughout the match and McEwen capitalized to win 4 & 3 in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling match play event.
Team McEwen now face Team Kevin Koe of Calgary, who held a bye as the top seed.
Syncrude Elite 10: Scores | Standings
McEwen, the reigning National champion, stayed on point to steal the first three ends to gain an early three-point lead. Gushue wrecked on a guard with his final shot in four, counting just one, and McEwen picked up the hammer for the fifth end with the push.
Gushue needed to steal in order to stay in the tournament but he couldn’t get shot stone with his final rock and McEwen didn’t need to throw his last stone.
Elsewhere, Sweden’s Niklas Edin scored a 2 & 1 victory over Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the other quarterfinal game.
With the game all square, Edin connected with the double takeout to count two in the fifth and stole the sixth end to pull 2-up. Edin made another double with his final shot in seven to eliminate Carruthers from contention.
“That’s our bread and butter, so to speak,” Edin said. “We need to make those shots because we’re not yet at the same level as the other teams here on the draw shots. We still need to work on a lot of those things but once it comes to the defensive game, playing hard takeouts and doubles and stuff, I think there’s no one out there that can beat us. We need to find situations where we can use that.”
Team Edin opened the tournament with an 0-2 record but have now claimed four consecutive games including a victory over Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., in the morning tiebreaker.
Edin said being in that must-win situation was exactly what they needed.
“We started off really slow, we played bad and couldn’t figure out the ice and we were not communicating well,” Edin said. “Once we got that must-win feeling we started to play a lot better, we started to communicate more and it seems like everything has just fallen in place so it feels really good.
Edin plays Sochi Olympics gold medallist Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who earned a bye straight to the semifinals.
“Jacobs has been playing outstanding all week so we expect it to be a tough game against them,” Edin said.
Watch the Syncrude Elite 10 semifinals live on Sportsnet at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.