Gushue wins emotional opening game in hometown Kioti National

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The fans were already roaring as soon as hometown heroes Team Brad Gushue stepped onto the ice for warmups ahead of Draw 3 Tuesday in the Kioti National.

The close-to-capacity crowd at the Mary Brown’s Centre grew louder during the player introductions and all through the game as an emotional Gushue earned a 6-2 victory over Germany’s Team Marc Muskatewitz on the opening day of the Grand Slam of Curling event.

It was the first time Gushue had played in the building since winning his first Brier championship in 2017 and although he’s had cheers during warmups before, he said it was still awesome and pretty cool.

“Before the game in anticipation of announcing our team they were standing up and cheering, I had to bite my lip,” Gushue said. “I was getting a little bit emotional and I could feel my eyes starting to fill up. I was like, OK, announce it so we can get to the game because the last thing I wanted to do was get super emotional right before the game but it was hard not to.

“I’m certainly appreciative of the support we’ve had over my whole career and it’s going to be a special week no matter what the result is. I’m pretty happy with our team’s performance and to go out with the nerves that we had and the feelings that we had and to perform the way we did.”

Tickets for the event sold faster than a Taylor Swift concert (something Gushue attended this past weekend) and when comparing the two crowds, he said with a laugh: “There wasn’t as much shrieking as we got at Taylor Swift.”

“They were loud, they were appreciative and we felt the energy out there, which they made it special for us here today,” Gushue said. “I’m sure they’re going to make it special over the next three, four, five days or however long we’re in the event.”

Even though it’s a home event for Gushue, he’s sticking to his team’s routine on the road by staying in hotels and eating at restaurants.

“There are enough distractions this week that we didn’t need to add any more by staying at home because when you stay at home you want to do work around the house and you’ve got other responsibilities,” Gushue said. “Just trying to stay away from that and focus on the event here itself.”

Although Team Muskatewitz was making its major debut in the series, the 15-time Grand Slam champion Gushue couldn’t underestimate the young squad. Muskatewitz was fresh off winning gold Saturday at the European Curling Championships in Finland with a 9-7 upset win over Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat in the final.

“They beat an incredibly good field at the Euros. You’ve got Joël (Retornaz), Bruce, Nik (Edin) and Yannick (Schwaller), a lot of really good teams over there, and they won, so they can clearly play. We played them in Oakville earlier this year and they proved to us at that point that they’re a really good team.

“They struggled a little bit today, but they’re coming off a pretty big high winning the Europeans. It’s a tough environment for them playing in front of 5,000 or 6,000 people that are all cheering against them. They had an uphill battle and certainly, when our team was firing on all cylinders like we were today, we made it tough on them. They’re going to win lots of games in these events over the years and I’m sure they’ll actually win one of these in the years to come.”

Gushue got out to a good start drawing for two points and stole a pair in the second end to build an early 4-0 lead.

After Muskatewitz settled for a single in three, Gushue drew for another deuce in four to make it 6-1. Muskatewitz hit for a single in the fifth and shook hands.

Elsewhere, Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs scored a 7-1 win over Team Edin of Sweden.

Team Jacobs second Brett Gallant previously played with Gushue and also felt the emotions on the ice.

“It’s fun and to play in front of a packed house was cool,” Gallant said. “I know most of them were focused on (Gushue's) game but just to hear those cheers again in this building brings back some good memories. It’s fun for us to focus on our game, get the win and get off to a good start.”

Jacobs broke a 1-1 tie with a count of three points in the fourth and stole three in the fifth for early handshakes.

“It’s a tough first game. They’re such a talented team,” Gallant said. “They’re one of the best ever. We got a couple good breaks and picked up a comfortable win there, so that’s a nice way to get our week rolling.”

Italy’s Team Retornaz defeated Team John Shuster of the United States 5-1 and Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone beat Team Magnus Ramsfjell of Norway 4-1.

UP NEXT

Round-robin play continues with Draw 4 at 6:30 p.m. NT / 5 p.m. ET.

Broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins Thursday at noon NT / 10:30 a.m. ET.

NOTES

The Kioti National is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, one tiebreaker draw will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff teams. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.