The Players’ Championship has been like the one that got away for Mike McEwen.
Three times McEwen has reached the final of the crown jewel Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre and all three went down to the wire where he came up just short.
McEwen is hoping his Winnipeg club can finally reel in the elusive title this time before heading their separate ways after 11 years together.
“It’s a great event, lots of pride and that is the pinnacle of our tour,” McEwen said during the Princess Auto Elite 10 last month. “There’s a lot of cash on the line too. That certainly is a tremendous building to play in and I would love to win in Toronto.”
The first of three woeful endings came in 2013, coincidentally the first time the prestigious tournament was held at the historic venue formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens. McEwen led by one point after seven ends but faced all-time great Glenn Howard, who held the hammer coming home. The Wizard of Winter was magical as usual pulling off a double takeout to score two points and win 4-3.
McEwen made the final again in 2015 and met then-reigning Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs. With the back-and-forth game tied 3-3, McEwen blanked in six and seven to retain the hammer for the final frame, but his last rock was overswept and slid too far as Jacobs stole to capture his first career Grand Slam.
The third time wasn’t the charm last year, rather it was a bit of deja vu knotted up 3-3 once more only this time against Niklas Edin. McEwen conceded single steals in the seventh and eighth to lose 5-3.
“It’s just three heartbreaking losses and that has been a thorn in our side,” McEwen said. “I want to win that not just because of the thorn in the side but, wow, it would just continue this farewell tour and amp it up.”
McEwen, third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld were the first team to really make their mark strictly within the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling capturing six titles in the series before they even earned their first provincial championship in 2016 to represent Manitoba at the Brier.
There have been some bumps in the road during their 11 years together. McEwen wrote in a blog for thegrandslamofcurling.com at the end of the previous Olympic cycle there was “heavy reflection” before they decided to give it another go. They also had a heated discussion last season during the Christmas break and pondered their future together before opting to stick it out.
This season has encapsulated their tenure together filled with a roller coaster of highs and lows. The No. 3 ranked team in the world has captured two titles on tour and collected $90,960 but missed out on their ultimate goal of representing Canada at the Winter Olympics falling to Kevin Koe’s crew in the Roar of the Rings final.
They also persevered through provincial playdowns as a trio with McEwen hospitalized due to chickenpox. McEwen came back in time for the final, however, they lost by a point to Reid Carruthers. The team returned to the Brier regardless defeating Jason Gunnlaugson’s squad to earn the first-ever wild-card entry, but their 7-4 round-robin record wasn’t enough to qualify for the playoffs.
With the Olympic cycle winding down and rosters being retooled, Team McEwen announced on the eve of last month’s Princess Auto Elite 10 they were indeed splitting up. B.J. Neufeld is joining Koe at third next season while his brother Denni has aligned with Gunnlaugson at second. Wozniak remains a free agent while McEwen is joining former “frenemy” Carruthers at fourth stones.
“He brings a lot of knowledge, experience and obviously, passion,” said Carruthers, who will move down to third and still call the game. “He’s very passionate about curling. I know he eats, sleeps and breathes curling 24/7. Adding a guy with veteran experience, he’s been doing things exceptionally well in the game of curling for a long time. It’s going to be really interesting to see what’s going to come out of the collaboration.”
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The first stop on the Team McEwen farewell tour just happened to be in their backyard at Winnipeg’s St. James Civic Centre for the Princess Auto Elite 10. Perhaps having nothing to lose or the unique match-play style or the hometown crowd and surrounded by family and friends or even St. Patrick’s Day (or all of the above) spirited Team McEwen to victory. The foursome was on fire rolling through the tournament undefeated to capture a seventh Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championship.
“The perfect weekend to do it: at home and a little luck of the Irish,” McEwen said with a laugh. “We played so well from start to finish and just fell in love with this format. I played it a couple times before but wow, maybe this might serve notice of another evolution of the game, potentially. A lot of really good ideas were implemented in this Grand Slam. It’s exciting to be part of that.”
Now comes the Players’ Championship with McEwen’s first round-robin match Wednesday morning against Scotland’s Bruce Mouat.