Brad Gushue and his Newfoundland and Labrador teammates got a reminder of the importance of respecting your elders Wednesday at the Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston, Ont.
Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker came into Wednesday needing to win just one of its final two preliminary-round games in order to advance to the next phase of the Canadian men’s curling championship, and they took care of that business in the morning draw with an 11-8 win over Prince Edward Island.
But even though the game ended with P.E.I. conceding after nine ends, Gushue will concede the rink skipped by reigning world senior men’s champion Bryan Cochrane gave the St. John’s rink just about everything it could handle.
Almost more than they could bear.
Newfoundland owned a 5-1 lead through three ends, but the 62-year-old Cochrane and his rink scored two in the fourth, stole two more in the fifth, forced Gushue to a single point in the sixth and then scored two in the seventh for a 7-6 lead.
“Gave myself a scare,” Gushue replied when asked if had been shocked by the P.E.I. team.
“Here this week, if you let up against the world senior champion, they’re going to kick your butt. We took the pedal off in the middle of the game and they came right back.”
Newfoundland regained the lead with a big score of five in the eighth and that had Cochrane and his mates considering shaking hands withe Newfoundland team. But they went one more end, with P.E.I. tacking on another point before finally and definitely giving up.
On Wednesday afternoon, Gushue and Co. had an easier time against Quebec, winning 10-4 in a game that ended after eight ends.
The two-win day leaves Newfoundland and Labrador with a 6-1 preliminary record, which they will take with them to the eight-team championship round involving the top four finishers in each of the two preliminary pools.
Only Brendan Bottcher and Alberta (7-0) will begin the championship round with a better preliminary record than the Gushue rink.
“(The goal) is to get through with as few losses as you can and I think we did a decent job,” Nichols told Curling Canada. “We’re still building a little bit, which is good as it sets us up for the next few days.”
In the championship round, Newfoundland will play the four teams advancing from the other pool. Those four rinks will be Mike McEwen and his Wild Card entry, Saskatchewan Matt Dunstone) and two of Team Canada (Kevin Koe), New Brunswick (James Grattan), Northwest territories (Jamie Koe), British Columbia (Steve Laycock) and Ontario (John Epping).
The last two advancing teams — and the championship pool schedule — were to be determined by results from Wednesday’s late draw, the final one of the preliminary round. However, there was also the possibility of tiebreakers (which would be played this morning) being necessary.
The results from Wednesday’s night draw were unavailable at The Telegram’s press deadline.
Championship-pool games will be played today and Friday, and Gushue knows whoever he faces in this next round will provide a considerable challenge.
“The top level of the men’s game right now is so even and so deep and so strong, I haven’t seen anything like it,” he said. “You have to play 90 per cent level as a skip if you want to win here.”
Besides Alberta and Newfoundland, the teams advancing from their preliminary pool are Manitoba (Jason Gunlaugsson, 5-2) and Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs, 4-3).
The top four finishers in the championship round will move on to Page playoffs Saturday and Sunday.
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