2009 Tim Hortons Brier - Tankard Times - Day 2

TANKARD TIMESOFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE 2009 TIM HORTONS BRIER

Issue #1, Saturday, March 7, 2009IIssue #2, Sunday, March 8, 2009

Ontarioʼs Craig Savill (right) and Martin Gavin of theYukon/Northwest Territories raised their brushes Saturday inthe Ford Hot Shots competition, but for entirely different rea-sons. Savill saluted his win while Gavin reacted in agony after

missing a key double that swung the competition around.

“Wow!” exclaimed Glenn Howard. “Thatwas entertaining, what? But where did thatcome from? I’m stunned.”

Both skips in Saturday night’s Day Onefeature felt the same way after Ontario’sHoward scored three in the last end to heist a9-8 victory from Brad Gushue and hisNewfoundlanders.

“When you miss six in an end it’s a lot oftrouble,” moaned Gushue, who had justwatched his team toss their Brier opener downthe tubes in unbelievable fashion.

“Six shots in a row is essentially it. That’show you lose games. To be honest I’m stillsort of in shock. We kept missing the wrongway. And to do that four or five times in oneend is just silly.”

The match was a gutsy affair with Howardchasing until the seventh end when he stole ago-ahead single. Gushue’s last rock hung outthere but he bounced right back to regain thelead with an eighth-end deuce, then stole a

point of his own on theninth when Howard wasinches heavy on his lastshot.

“You hope to heck youget a shot for your deuce andmaybe get a sniff of threeand then . . . I don’t knowhow to explain that. I’venever seen that in all theyears I’ve been curling,”said Howard, who was wad-ing around in his own gran-

ite while the Newfoundlanders kept flashingchip shots and failing to kill guards, as well.

In the end, Gushue was looking at four andrather than play a freeze and a prayer, heattempted a double with a necessary rollbehind another rock in the 12-foot. He got thedouble but rolled out and Howard had a freedraw for the triple and the verdict.

“I felt we outcurled them but that reallydoesn’t mean anything, “ said Howard, a co-favourite in this Brier.

“The only unfortunate thing for us is wehaven’t played in a month. We have notplayed as a team. We couldn’t find a ’spiel,couldn’t find anything, we just had to practiseon our own. We probably carried a little bit of

rust in here but I’m really please for a firstgame at the Brier.”

Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton quickly vaultedin front with two in Saturday — 8-3 overMark Dacey of Nova Scotia and 9-4 overJamie Koe’s Polars from Yellowknife.

“No doubt we had to win those two gamestoday just to get off on the right foot,” saidStoughton who plays only once today. “Butthe Territories boys played a good game there.He made couple of nice runbacks, a couple ofdoubles. It was nice to get that three in the

eighth to put it away. We weren’t as sharp aswe can be but we made the right shots at theright times.”

Howard pulls off stunnerBy LARRY WOODTankard Times Editor

Improbable three in the final end sinks Newfies

SEERESULTS,Page 12

PLEASE SEE BRIER P5

Newfoundland and Labrador second Ryan Fry gets a low-level look at his delivery Saturday at the Brier.

Sunday, March 8, 2009 2

Savill parks the old rust bucket

It all came down to a double takeout shotfor Craig Savill.

Make it and he wins a two-yearlease on a brand spanking new Ford Flex.Score less than four of a possible five pointson the shot and he settles for $2,000 in cash.

Savill made it, in front of possibly thelargest crowd ever to watch the windup of acurling skills competition at the PengrowthSaddledome.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” the 30-year-old Ontario lead player said followinghis victory in the 15th Ford Hot Shots, Brieredition.

“I drive an old Honda Civic and I justbought a Honda CRV,” said Savill. “I can getrid of the old Civic now. It’s long overdue.It’s rusted out.”

Savill went head to head with North West

Territories lead player Martin Gavin, a Brierrookie, in the final of the singles skill curl-ing competition.

Gavin led the showdown through to thefinal shot, the double. He was 22 of a possi-ble 25 points while Savill, with one shotremaining, had 19 of 25.

But the pendulum took a complete swingwhen Gavin missed the double completelythereby allowing the door to creak open forSavill.

He flawlessly connected on the doublewithout as much as a brush applied to the icein front of his shooter.

“We knew we had to make that shot,”Savill admitted.

FORD HOT SHOTS

By LARRY WOODTankard Times Editor

3 Sunday, March 8, 2009

PLEASE HOT SHOTS P4

Ontario lead Craig Savill accepts the keys from Fordʼs western regional man-ager Gerald Wood on Saturday. Of course, the win was impossible without thehelp of teammates (l-r) Brent Laing, Richard Hart and Glenn Howard.

Hot ShotsFrom Page 3

“I thought he’d made it when thesweepers were on and off but then Irealize I had the shot for the win. Igot lucky. I close my eyes and hopedfor the best.”

Yeah, right. So how does he divvyup his prize with teammates GlennHoward, Richard Hart and BrentLaing?

“I don’t know what we’re going todo with this because it’s a two-yearlease,” Savill said, grinning. “It’shard to split that. So I might letthem drive it every once in a while.They’ll have to come all the way toOttawa and they can drive it forabout an hour.”

Savill, a real estate appraiser,resides in the nation’s capital whilehis teammates are from the Toronto-Barrie-Midland area.

“Thank goodness I’m in Ottawaso I don’t have to drive those guysaround,” he quipped. “Maybe I’ll letthem jump in the back box.”

The Ontario team can’t use theFlex as transport to far-flung cash-spiels.

“We fly to almost every ’spiel, Ijust hop on a plane and meet themin Toronto and we carry on fromthere.”

Team practices?“We don’t practise together

much,” he said. “I think in fiveyears we’ve probably had two teampractices. We practise on our ownand hope we’re ready for the nextevent.”

The modus operandi has beenhugely successful for the Howardfour, even though some coacheswould arch their eyebrows at themention of it.

Savill barely qualified forSaturday’s eliminations, grabbingthe last quarter-final berth duringFriday’s action involving all 48competitors.

In the quarters, defending champi-on John Morris, the Alberta third,led with 23/30 while Alberta skipKevin Martin was 21/30, Savill was20/30 and Gavin survived with 19points.

Saskatchewan skip Joel Jordison

also shot 19 but had an inferior but-ton draw which was used fortiebreaker purposes.

New Brunswick’s Jason Vaughanchecked in with 18 points, NovaScotia second Andrew Gibson scored17 and Bruce Lohnes, the Bluenosethird, scored only 14.

Savill led the semis with a hot27/30, four points better thanGavin, seven better than Martin andnine better than Morris. Martin won$1,000 third prize.

“I’m just happy to be able to takesomething out of this,” said the 42-year-old Gavin, who moved toYellowknife last off-season fromNova Scotia and contacted his skipJamie Koe about joining the topTerritories team.

“It has worked out well,” admittedKoe. “We needed a front-end playerand Martin has been a great additionto the team.”

The pre-event shotmaking compe-tition requires curlers to execute sixshots: Hit-and-stay, draw-the-button,draw-the-port, raise, hit-and-roll anddouble takeout. Each shot is award-ed points on a scale from 0-5, ratingthe success of each.


Bear essentials

Brier Bear was on hand Saturday to warm up the crowdas two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Policecarried out the Brier Tankard during opening cere-monies at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

BrierFrom Page 2

Dacey, who rebounded to stop the PrinceEdward Islanders of Rod MacDonald 8-5 onthe late shift, yielded a crucial theft of twoin the fifth to enable Stoughton to getaway.

“It was a lack of execution and the teamwasn’t sharp,” croaked the Bluenose skip whoadmitted to suffering from the dry Alberta air.

“Man it’s dry out there. They’ve sucked outevery bit of humidity that might have been inthe building. Anybody who’s yelling has gotthis voice,” he rasped.

Dacey looks forward to some Navy blueimprovement soon.

“They (Manitoba) started with hammer andhad us in trouble almost every end of the firsthalf. We were better tonight but still notgreat. The good news is we’re on the righttrack in terms of improving.”

Joining Howard with a single victorySaturday was Alberta’s Kevin Martin, BritishColumbia rookie Sean Geall and 2006 cham-pion Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec.

Martin stopped veteran Russ Howard ofNew Brunswick 7-4 in the afternoon’s feature.Howard flashed in the first end and was chas-ing thereafter.

“The feeling in here is great,” said Martinof the icehouse in which he won his second ofthree Briers in 1997.

“It’s great to be back in here. I’ve neverseen this many people in a rink in a longtime.

“To get out on the ice, the first rock comesdown, and then you just relax, away you go.The week prior, it’s a lot of work doing theorganizing for everybody to come down toCalgary, and once that first rock’s thrown youcan relax and play.”

Howard explained his first-end miscue:“I just had to throw that one a little harder.

That was my fault. But the ice is fantastic.How they can keep ice that consistent whenit’s this warm is unbelievable. It’s amazingit’s ice and not water considering the temper-ature here.

“I played in the provincial senior final lastweekend and when I threw my last rock therewere four people watching. So this is prettyspecial,” he said of the more than 14,000 onhand Saturday afternoon.

“You know, in that first end I would havemade that shot if I was in New Brunswick.

“Triple-bogey right off the bat doesn’t help.Possibly, against another type of team, youmight have a chance. But when those guys(Alberta) decide to go to the defence there’sprobably nobody better. It was lucky it was-n’t a real fast game.”

B.C.’s Geall opened with a 9-4 conquest ofNorthern Ontario’s Mike Jakubo in the

evening.“That was lots of fun,” said the 34-year-old

from Surrey. “I wish I’d had this experience alittle earlier. Obviously it was a little nerve-wracking playing in front of all these people.We hit on the first one just to make sure andthen got a little more comfortable as we wentalong.”

B.C. cracked three in the seventh to saltaway the decision.

“That helped a lot, just to get a bit ofbreathing room there,” said Geall. “I was stilla little uncomfortable but it’s getting there.

“Our week gets real tough now for the nextfour or five games so it was nice to get off toa good start.”

Menard, who struggled to a 4-7 record ayear ago, opened with a 7-5 win overSaskatchewan rookie Joel Jordison of MooseJaw.

“We had a couple of ends where we had himchasing us and we know we can do that end inand end out,” said Jordison. “It’s a matter ofgetting our proverbial you-know-what togeth-er and doing it. It’s not rocket science, it’s justa matter of going out there and making yourshots.

“We’re not intimidated by anybody here byany means. We’ve played most of these guysbefore in ’spiels. It’s unfortunate we had a bitof an off-game here but I expect to come backstrong and have a good week. It’s such a longweek and we just have to try to avoid anothergame like that again. They played well but webeat ourselves.”

The Spud Islanders erupted for six stolenpoints in the afternoon to douse theYellowknife gang 8-2 in one other afternoontilt.

Alberta appears to have the most interest-ing schedule today with Quebec in the morn-ing and Saskatchewan in the evening


B.C. skip Sean Geall delivers.

Singles highly watchableChip shots for openers . . .

Eyeballing a semi-packed noon-daygallery in the Saddledome when the

Brier shotsmiths were indulging themselvesin skills shooting onSaturday, you mighthave wondered if theWorld CurlingFederation missed theboat when it chose aninvention called mixeddoubles over singles(skills) as an event ithopes to take toOlympic lengths asearly as 2014.

Hey, mixed doublesis sort of OK. But, atthe moment, it involves two curlers and twocurlers only. They not only call traffic andthrow the rocks, they also sweep when nec-essary.

The sight of people throwing, running upthe ice to sweep their own stones while theparticipant at the other end is running downto sweep, too, is rather ludicrous.

The Ford Hot Shots competition has beenenhanced 100-fold with the addition ofsweepers the past couple of years. Suddenly,the scores have risen and a lot of great shotsare being made. Saturday’s climax, withCraig Savill literally rising from the ashes tohook the title away from Martin Gavin, washighly watchable stuff.

Frankly, singles with sweeping meritsanother look from the WCF. The Olympicpanjandrums say they want more variationson its anointed sports. Singles represents anevent that carries minimum cost while dis-playing all the shots . . .

� � �Gavin, the new Territories lead who is

being accustomed to the winter deep freeze ofthe Great White North after years on the east

coast in Bluenose country, comments on thedifference in the two climates:

“Out on the coast, the winter weather canbe horrible one minute and good the next.There are a lot of changes in the weather outthere. In Yellowknife, you know you’regoing to get up in the morning and throw onthe parka. And leave it on until you go tobed at night.”

Gavin moved north to work on a GiantMine remediation project for Indian andNorthern Affairs Canada . . .

� � �Russ Howard isn’t directing Canada’s first-

ever official five-man team in championshipcompetition.

“Nope,” he said Saturday. “We had a five-man team the first year I played out of NewBrunswick in the Brier.”

But that was a case of Howard being calledin to skip a team that already had beenformed.

Germany’s Andy Kapp and several Swissteams have been following the practice foryears. Maybe Howard got the idea in the landof the white cross where he was coachingRalph Stoeckli’s outfit last fall.

On the other hand, James Grattan didn’twant to break up his front end of JasonVaughan and Peter Case and Russ wanted toinclude his 24-year-old son Steven.

Based on Saturday’s opener, Vaughan is thesecond on the team, Case is the lead andHoward Jr., the alternate.

“The front three will rotate equally,”said skip Howard afterward. “Let’s see.Steven will play in the next two. Jasonsits out the second game, Steven playssecond and Peter lead. Then in the third,Jason will be back at second and Stevenwill play lead.”

PLEASE SEE WOOD P14

WCF should give skills a second look

LarryWOOD


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Walsh’s final shot a thing of beautyThe year 1956 saw Moncton host the

Canadian men’s curling champi-onship for the first time — and as

was the modus operandi in the early years,most of the teamsarrived by rail. Infact, a Brier special,nicknamed the“Friendship Train,”had set off fromMontreal with thewestern rinks onboard, picking up theeastern teams and therest of the Brier offi-cials as it headed east.

As the curlersassembled for thefirst Brier to be heldin New Brunswick since Saint John in1947, the fans and the media eagerly antici-pated an exciting championship featuringsome of the famous teams in Canadian

curling, including: Manitoba’s 1952 Brierwinner Billy Walsh (a Winnipeg druggist),Alberta’s flamboyant 1954 Brier championMatt Baldwin, Ontario powerhouse AlfPhillips (a Commonwealth Games, gold-medal diver), and perennial Nova Scotiachampion Gerry Glinz.

True to form, the competition proved tobe a tense, hard-fought struggle withnumerous last-rock wins, spirited come-backs and several notable upsets.

Indeed, Baldwin’s powerful Alberta teamnearly started off with two losses, goingdown to Ontario in the first round and thenblowing a 12-2 lead with three ends to goagainst P.E.I. in the second draw, only tohang on for a wild 12-11 win.

By the fifth round, Manitoba had movedinto sole position of first place, when itupended the Alf Phillips’ crew 12-10 afterscoring three in the last end.

It wasn’t until the ninth round thatManitoba would lose a game, when they

were shocked 14-5 by Glintz. Walsh’s lossended a record 17-game winning streak inBrier play, since he had won 10 straight inhis previous Brier appearance in 1952.

All of the pre-Brier favourites stayed inthe thick of things until the last few draws,with Walsh leading the standings goinginto the final round. However, Walsh losthis last game 12-10 to Saskatchewan, andwhen Alf Phillips pounded Nova Scotia 15-7 in the last draw — scoring eight pointsin the last two ends — Manitoba andOntario finished the round robin deadlockedwith 8-2 records.

Since Brier champions prior to 1980were based solely on the results of theround-robin competition, a sudden-deathplayoff for the championship was needed inorder to crown a champion.

The March 9 playoff joust attracted astanding room only crowd of nearly 3,000to the Moncton Arena, and the atmospherewas electric with the anticipation of an

exciting winner-take-all shootoutfor the reveredBrier Tankard.The fans werenot to be disap-pointed.

The early endswere cat-and-mouse featuringsome great shot-making, the oddmiss, but withneither team able to gain control. A deuceby Ontario in the second was followedimmediately by a two-ender from Manitobain the third. From then until the 12th, (12-enders in those days) the teams traded rockfor rock, although steals in the eighth and11th ends saw Manitoba ahead 7-5 withoutthe hammer coming home.

AAlexROBERTS

ClassicBriers


Albertaʼs Matt Baldwin

PLEASE SEE CLASSIC BRIERS P13

HOME OF THE TIM HORTONS BRIER

SEATING CHART

DIRECTIONSDriving: The Pengrowth Saddledome

main entrance is located on the north sideof the Saddledome off 14th Avenue and 5thStreet S.E. For detailed driving directionsfrom your point of departure, we suggestyou visit Yahoo Maps at www.yahoo.com.

TICKETSFull Event Passes can be purchased in

several different ways. They can be pur-chased by visiting www.ticketmaster.ca.They can also be purchased by phone or inperson at the Pengrowth Saddledome BoxOffice.

PUBLIC TELEPHONESPublic telephones are located on the

main public concourse or the north AvisonYoung Club entrance.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONThe Pengrowth Saddledome is conve-

niently located on major bus routes, aswell as at the Stampede Station of theLRT. Routes can be checked at www.cal-garytransit.com.

ELEVATORSThere are two elevators in the Pengrowth

Saddledome to take patrons to the twoTerrace Levels.

PARKING INFORMATIONParking is available on a limited event-by-event basis in the Pengrowth Saddledomelots on the north side of the Saddledomelocated off 14th Avenue and 5th Street S.E.Cost per vehicle is $11, with no in-out privi-leges. There is also additional vehicle park-ing on Stampede Park, immediately adja-cent to the Pengrowth Saddledome or at anumber of private lots in the area (not affili-ated with the Pengrowth Saddledome).

ATMsATMs are available at the following loca-

tions:

North Avison Young Club LobbyDutton's Canadian Lounge

Flames Fan Attic Store at Section 212 onthe main concourse

Section 201 / 202Section 215 / 216

BANNERS AND FLAGS:Banners and flags are prohibited from

being hung or fastened to any railings or

wall in the PengrowthSaddledome. Small hand-held signs are permittedbut must meet the follow-ing criteria:

� Signs cannot be dis-tasteful in nature or content� Signs cannot obstructthe view of other patrons� Signs cannot be attachedto sticks or poles� Signs may not be corpo-rate or advertisement innature� The PengrowthSaddledome reserves theright to remove any banner orsign without exception.BOTTLES AND CONTAINERS:

Outside food and beveragesare not permitted in thePengrowth Saddledome at any time.

CONCESSIONS:The Pengrowth Saddledome offers a widerange of traditional and specialty foodofferings in convenient locations.

FIRST AIDPengrowth Saddledome personnel areavailable to assist any guest in need. In thearena, the First Aid Room is located atSection 221/222 on the main concourse.There are medical personnel on staff at allPengrowth Saddledome events.

LOST AND FOUNDItems found before, during or after an eventshould be turned into the Guest Serviceskiosk. Items will be logged in by the Lostand Found Department and kept for 90 days.Items may be donated to charity or dis-posed of at the discretion of the buildingmanagement after 90 days. To check for alost item, please call Customer Service at(403) 777-4646 (Option #1) or e-mail [email protected].

SMOKING POLICYThe Pengrowth Saddledome is a smokefree facility. Violators will be ejected fromthe building immediately. Guests wishing tosmoke may do so in one of the designatedsmoking areas outside the Saddledome.Smoking areas may vary by event.

Pengrowth Saddledome555 Saddledome Rise SE

General Information Contact: (403) 777-4636


SKIPNICKNAME: MikeyAGE: 26RESIDENCE: GarsonPARTNER: Wife JodyEMPLOYMENT:Chartered account-ant.HE IS: Relaxed,patient, pumpedfor the Brier!LOVES CURLINGBECAUSE: Everygame presentsnew challenges;the game andstrategy evolveover time.

Mike Jakubo

Matt Seabrook

THIRDNICKNAME: MattyAGE: 25RESIDENCE: SudburyPARTNER: Engaged toJennEMPLOYMENT:Independent Energy Services, controller HE IS: Fun, outgoing, party man. LOVES CURLING BECAUSE: It’s thegreatest social sport on the planet, but itcan also be one of the most competitive.

Profiles: Northern OntarioHOME CLUB: COPPER CLIFF CC (SUDBURY)

Luc Ouimet

SECONDNICKNAME: JimAGE: 35RESIDENCE: Azilda, Ont.PARTNER: Married toAnn, sons Anthony (10),Loïc, (16 mos), daughterValérie (3).EMPLOYMENT: District sales manager,Polaris Industries CanadaHE IS: Athletic, busy, caringLOVES CURLING BECAUSE: It’s a totalteam sport that has a social side.

Lee Toner

LEADAGE: 36RESIDENCE: SudburyPARTNER: Married toLouise Logan, daughtersMia (3), Justine (2)EMPLOYMENT:Emergency physician, Sudbury RegionalHospitalHE IS: Curler who doctors!LOVES CURLING BECAUSE: The ongoingchallenge to get better as a team!

THE PROVINCEPopulation:11,874,400Area: 1,076,395 sq kmMotto: “Loyal it began, loyal inremains”Capital City: TorontoProvincial Flower: White TrilliumProvincial Bird: Common LoonLanguages Spoken: 76% English, 5%French, 19% otherPrincipal Products: Transportationequipment, food products nickel,gold, beef cattle, tobacco

N. ONTARIO AT THE BRIER2008 — Eric Harnden, Sault Ste.Marie (3-8)2007 — Al Harnden, Sault Ste. Marie(5-6)2006 — Robbie Gordon, Haileybury (0-11)2005 — Mike Jakubo, Copper Cliff (3-8)2004 — Robbie Gordon, Haileybury (5-6)

Last championship — Al Hackner,Thunder Bay, 1985Canadian titles — 4World titles — 2 (Al Hackner in 1982,1985)

DID YOU KNOW. . .� The Sudbury Basin, also known asSudbury Structure or the SudburyNickel Irruptive, is the second largestknown impact crater or astroblemeon Earth, and a major geologic struc-ture in Ontario. The basin is locatedon the Canadian Shield in Sudbury.The former municipalities of Rayside-Balfour and Valley East lie within theSudbury Basin.

FACTS



SKIPNICKNAME: DaceAGE: 42RESIDENCE: HalifaxPARTNER: WifeHeather, sons Tye(5), Carter (2).EMPLOYMENT:Owner of two TimHortons franchises.HE IS: Focused,intense, prepared.LOVES CURLINGBECAUSE:Competition.CAREER HIGH-LIGHT: 2004Brier victory.

Mark Dacey

Profiles: Nova ScotiaHOME CLUB: MAYFLOWER CURLING CLUB (HALIFAX)

THE PROVINCEPopulation: 942,700Area: 55,284 sq kmJoined Confederation: 1867 Motto: “One defends and the otherconquers”Capital City: Halifax Laguages Spoken: 93.2% English, 3.5%French, 1.8% other, 1.5% bilingualPrincipal Products: Milk, hogs, lob-ster, paper products, coal, gypsum

NOVA SCOTIAAT THE BRIER

Last five years:2008 — Brian Rafuse, Bridgewater (3-8)2007 — Mark Kehoe, Windsor (2-9)2006 — Mark Dacey, Halifax (8-5)2005 — Shawn Adams, Halifax (9-4)2004 — Mark Dacey, Halifax (12-2)Last championship — Mark Dacey,Halifax 2004)

Canadian titles — 3World titles — None

DID YOU KNOW. . .� Nova Scotia has 59 automatedlighthouses.� Some famous Nova Scotia expres-sions include: The early bird catchesthe worm; live and let live; rainingcats and dogs.

FACTS

Bruce Lohnes

THIRDNICKNAME: Juicy BrucieAGE: 50RESIDENCE: Fall River,N.S.PARTNER: SingleEMPLOYMENT: N.S. Deptof Natural ResourcesHE IS: Committed, organized, simple life.LOVES CURLING BECAUSE: Of the peo-ple met on the journeyCAREER HIGHLIGHT: Winning 2004 Brier

Andrew Gibson

SECONDNICKNAME: AndyAGE: 29RESIDENCE: Halifax.PARTNER: Single.EMPLOYMENT: Mortgagespecialist, Bank OfMontrealHE IS: Outgoing, competitive, generous.LOVES CURLING BECAUSE: I love to win.CAREER HIGHLIGHT: 2004 Brier win.

Kris Granchelli

LEADAGE: 36RESIDENCE: HalifaxPARTNER: Married toJennifer Auger, daughterOlivia (20 mos)EMPLOYMENT: AllstateInsurance Company of Canada, agentHE IS: None suffice. YOU LOVE CURLING BECAUSE:Competition and friendshipCAREER HIGHLIGHT: 2009 Brier

W LManitoba (Stoughton) 2 0Alberta (Martin) 1 0B.C. (Geall) 1 0Ontario (G. Howard) 1 0Quebec (Menard) 1 0Nova Scotia (Dacey) 1 1P.E.I. (MacDonald) 1 1N.B. (R. Howard) 0 1NL (Gushue) 0 1N. Ontario (Jakubo) 0 1Sask. (Jordison) 0 1NWT/Y (Koe) 0 2

SATURDAYDRAW 1

1 p.m.

Sask. (Jordison) 100 201 001 x — 5Quebec (Menard) 031 010 020 x — 7

S P % S P %SASK. 80 238 74 QUE. 78 263 84

Nova Scotia (Dacey) 010 001 010 x — 3Manitoba (Stoughton) 100 220 102 x — 8

S P % S P %N.S. 72 216 75 MAN. 72 268 93

NWT/Y (Koe) 000 010 01x x — 2PEI (MacDonald) 111 301 10x x — 8

S P % S P %NWT/Y 64 165 64 PEI 62 206 83

Alberta (Martin) 302 010 001 x — 7N.B. (R. Howard) 010 201 000 x — 4

S P % S P %ALTA. 77 275 89 N.B. 78 254 81

SATURDAYDRAW 2

6 p.m.

PEI (MacDonald) 012 000 110 x — 5Nova Scotia (Dacey) 100 212 002 x — 8

S P % S P %PEI 78 234 75 N.S. 77 247 80

Ontario (G. Howard) 020 102 100 3 — 9NL (Gushue) 201 020 021 0 — 8

S P % S P %ONT. 80 275 86 NL 80 252 79

B.C. (Geall) 202 010 301 x — 9N. Ontario (Jakubo) 010 101 010 x — 4

S P % S P %B.C. 71 224 79 N. ONT. 72 191 66

NWT/Y (Koe) 010 020 100 x — 4Man. (Stoughton) 000 302 031 x — 9

S P % S P %NWT/Y 72 223 77 MAN. 69 238 86

STANDINGS

LINESCORES

TODAYDraw 38:30 a.m.B — N.B. vs. Sask.C — Alta. vs. Que.Draw 41 p.m.A — NL vs. B.C.B — Man. Vs. PEIC — N.S. vs. Y/NWTD — Ont. Vs. N. Ont.Draw 56 p.m.A — Que. vs. N.B.B — B.C. vs. Ont.C — N. Ont. Vs. NLD — Sask. vs. Alta.

MONDAYDraw 68:30 a.m.A — Alta. vs. Y/NWTB — N.B. vs. N.S.C — Sask. vs. PEID —Que. vs. Man.Draw 71 p.m.A — N.S. vs. N. Ont.B — Y/NWT vs. NLC — Man. vs. B.C.D — PEI vs. Ont.Draw 86 p.m.A — Ont. vs. SaskB — B.C. vs. Que.C — NL vs. Alta.D — N. Ont. vs. N.B.

SHOOTING PERCENTAGES (CUMULATIVE)N. Ont. B.C. Alta. Sask. Man. Ont. Que. N.B. PEI N.S. NL NWT/Y

Skip 61 76 86 75 91 86 89 86 74 72 80 80Third 58 83 85 74 91 88 80 83 81 80 79 69Second 69 67 91 66 88 88 82 73 81 79 76 74Lead 76 90 96 83 90 83 86 85 78 80 80 78TEAM 66 79 89 74 90 86 84 81 79 78 79 71

DRAWSCHEDULE

Manitobaʼs Jeff Stoughton has taken the early lead with a 2-0 record.



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Classic BriersFrom Page 8

Ontario skip Phillips pulled out all the stops inthe 12th, jumping all over two Walsh misses to drawthe four-foot with his last to score two and tie thematch. And the Brier was set for its first sudden-deathextra-end playoff game in history.

It was now after 11 p.m. and, by then, both teamswere physically exhausted and emotionally drained.Furthermore, the playing conditions had badly deteri-orated as the rising humidity meant that frost hadbeen settling in since the fifth or sixth end of theplayoff.

But despite not having the advantage of the ham-mer, the Ontarians took control of the extra-end. Andwhen the Ontario skip put up a second guard withhis last rock to protect the only rock in the rings, itlooked like an eastern victory.

Walsh’s only shot was a surgically-precise out-turncome-around tap back on to the inch or so of theOntario shot rock that was visible. But to compoundWalsh’s dilemma, his stone would have to be playedinto a lethal patch of “green ice”, which made judgingthe right weight and line a Lotto 6-49 proposition.

As Walsh set up for his attempt at glory, the crowdgave him a tremendous standing ovation, but giventhe ice conditions and the placement of the rocks,Walsh had at best a one in a thousand chance of mak-ing the shot. In fact, Phillips himself was to sayyears later in an interview with curling writer BobWeeks: “I thought we had won the Brier. I didn’tthink they had a shot there.”

Walsh, known as one of the best shotmakers in thegame — especially if a delicate draw was required —asked third Al Langlois to take nearly six feet of ice!The crowd fell silent as he delivered his rock outonto the frosty morass.

Throwing the shot a little heavier because of thesticky conditions, his rock somehow negotiated thetreacherous frost line, shimmied past the guard, andincredibly caught a piece of Ontario shot stone,which spilled out of the rings. The teams and thecrowd then held their collective breaths for whatseemed to be an eternity as Walsh’s shooter spuntowards the 12-foot.

Fortunately for Walsh, it stopped with about twoinches to spare. Manitoba had pulled off a dramaticvictory in one of the most exciting and thrilling fin-ishes in the history of the Brier.

Alex Roberts is a freelance writer based in Halifax

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WoodFrom Page 6

In 1999, the first year Howard played as a Herringchoker, hewas called in to skip Grant Odishaw’s outfit. At the Brier inEdmonton, Wayne Tallon played all but two games at third,but Odishaw and Rick Perron split duties at second andOdishaw and Jeff Lacey split up duties at lead.

The team lost in the Page Three-Four playoff and finishedwith an 8-5 record.

� � �Organizers were popping vest buttons Saturday when

14,000-and-change showed up for Draw One of the Brier.“We didn’t have a walkup like today when we set the record

in 1997,” allowed one organizing committee poobah.In order for this Calgary Brier to break Edmonton’s atten-

dance record of 281,985 established in 2005, an average of13,428 for 21 draws (no tiebreakers) would be required.

� � �Player reaction to Saturday’s crowds:John Morris — Alberta — “It’s outstanding here. I said

to the guys, ‘have you ever seen a crowd like this for the HotShots? The crowd definitely adds to the excitement. It gives ita fabulous feel. I think it’s good for the sport.

We didn’t generate as many cheers last time I was here,that’s for sure. (Maybe that’s because he was skippingOntario). But the crowds back then were pretty good, too.There’s more of a comfort level now that I live here. Calgary

always puts on a good show. Calgarians rally around and sup-port things like the Stampede and the Brier. It’s just a greatplace for events like this. They continue to support the Brier.This is a great venue and I can’t see why they wouldn’t keepputting it back in here.

It’s nice to be part of the home squad. We’re excited. It’sgoing to be a good week.”

Russ Howard — New Brunswick — “This is phenom-enal. It’s curling heaven, it really is. It’s a knowledgeablecrowd, polite, even when we got down 3-0 some of them werestill cheering for us. They cheered good shots.

Joel Jordison — Saskatchewan — “I’ve never playedin front of a crowd like this and I was looking forward to iteventually and it didn’t disappoint at all. That was probably asmuch fun as you could have losing a curling game. That’s forme personally. It was great seeing as many people I know inthe crowd. Everybody loves the Rider pride and that’s kind ofwhat we are. Just a few good old boys trying to put a fewgood games together. We’ll see how that goes.

Sean Geall — British Columbia — “I love it (thecrowd). As a curler I don’t think you can ask for much betterthan this. It’s a lot of fun.”

� � �Nova Scotia skip Mark Dacey was jolted Saturday afternoon

when his second rock of the game began blinking red and greenas though he’d violated the hogline rule. Trouble was, Daceywasn’t anywhere near the hogline. Officials determined the bat-tery for the sensor in the rock was on the fritz. Dacey’s shotwas allowed to stand and Jeff Stoughton was forced to takeone. Had Dacey fouled, Manitoba would have had the chance toblank the end.Russ Howard loves the Calgary crowds.

Stoughton beats back an old adversaryROAD TO THE TIM HORTONS BRIER

Jeff Stoughton, who won his Canadian titlesin 1996 and 1999 and a world bauble in ’96, isback after a one-year absence after squeezing pasthis old adversary Kerry Burtnyk 7-6 in theprovincial championship final.

What’s that? A Stoughton-Burtnyk final?What else in new? Well, it really was rathernew. Believe or not, the two had met only oncepreviously in the provincial final and Stoughtonwon that one, too, in ’99.

Back with the same front end of Rob Fowler andSteve Gould, Stoughton won seven straight in the32-team championship. Burtnyk finished 7-and-2.

“It’s what we've been driving for all year, toget to that Brier,” said the veteran Air Canadaemployee.

Edmonton import Kevin Park replaces Ryan Fry,who defected to Newfoundland after last season.

“He’s a great shotmaker and he can make anyshot we want him to make and that’s why he’shere,” Stoughton said. “I think he’s enjoying it.He’s a little nervous so that’s good. That makesyou concentrate on becoming a better player.”

“We built a foundation to work on over the

year and the communication’s been great,” saidPark. “We’ve probably played about 75-80games now so, it’s working well.”

Once the team qualified from the preliminar-ies with three straight wins, Stoughton defeatedMike McEwen of Winnipeg 9-7, Brendan Taylorof Winnipeg 7-3, Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg5-3 and Burtnyk, who knocked off Carruthers11-4 to reach the final after splitting a pair ofdecisions with McEwen.

Alberta importKevin Park hasbeen a valuableaddition at thirdfor Stoughtonthis season.

MANITOBA(Combined 13

previous appearances)


Jakubo looking for a little ‘Greatness’ROAD TO THE TIM HORTONS BRIER

He was dubbed The Great Jakubo at the2005 Brier in Edmonton but a magician itturned out he wasn’t.

So Mike Jakubo and his Copper Cliff crew— Matt Seabrook is the new third with front-enders Luc Ouimet and Lee Toner returning —will be looking for some big-time improve-ment this week in order to erase the memoryof a 3-8 Edmonton log.

It was obvious early on in the 16-teamNorthern Ontario triple-knockout at FortFrances that Jakubo meant business. He wonfour straight to qualify for playoffs from the A group, then twice defeated Brad Jacobs of Sault

Ste. Marie, 8-5 in the A-B playoff and 9-4 in

the championship final.Jacobs qualified from the B grouping, then

knocked off Mike Assad of Thunder Bay 8-6 inan extra end semi-final after Assad had stoppedThunder Bay’s Mike Pozihun 7-5 in the Cqualifiers’ elimination match.

The key end in the final was the 26-year-oldJakubo’s theft of two in the fifth for a 5-2advantage.

With Jakubo unbeaten in six games, run-nerup Jacobs won seven but lost three.

Thunder Bay worthies Pozihun and Assadeach finished with 5-3 logs while veterans ArtLappaleinen of the Lakehead and Al Belec of the

Soo checked in at 4-and-3.Former champ Tim Phillips of Sudbury

was 3-3. So was Robert Thomas of Salt Ste.Marie. Bryan Burgess of Thunder Bay man-aged a 2-3 record as did former championRobbie Gordon of Haileybury and MattDumontelle of Sudbury.

Chris Johnson of Blind River, ClaudeLapointe of Timmins and Bryan Adams ofThunder Bay were confined to 1-3 recordswhile Murray Affleck of Keewatin and CoryNephin of Geraldton were blanked in threestarts apiece.

N. ONTARIO(Combined 3



NOW AVAILABLE in the Brier Patch.Hours of Operation: 10 a.m. — 8 p.m.

Enjoy the Perfect Take-outNet proceeds donated to theSandra Schmirler Foundation

TODAY’S QUIZ

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Only two skips in the history of the Canadianmen's curling championship have won 13games in a single championship. Name theskips and the years they won that supposedunlucky number.1. No skip in Brier history has defeated theeventual Brier winner three times. But eightskips have beaten the winner on two occa-sions and one of those eight turned the trick inthe same year. Name him.2. How about the year he twice beat the winner.3. Who was that winner and where was hefrom?4. Of the other seven two-time giant-killers,who was the first skip to beat the champtwice, in what years, and where was he from?

5. Who was the second skip to beat the champtwice, in what years, and where was he from?6. How about the third skip to beat the champtwice, in what years, and his home town?7. Name the other four skips to beat the champtwice, from where and in what years in eachcase?8. Name the skip and the hometown of theAlberta team that recorded the province’sworst-ever record at the Brier.9. How about the record, the year of that Brierand the city in which it was held? 10. In Brier history, Alberta has sent only twoother champion teams that failed to win morethan three games. Can you name the skips ofthose teams?11. Their hometowns? Their records? And theyears?12. Three two-time Brier winners achievedtheir doubles while playing out of differenthome towns. Name the three skips, the hometowns and successful years.

(Answers)QofD: Randy Ferbey in 2003, Kevin Martin in2008.1. Glenn Howard.2. 2006.3. Jean-Michel Menard out off Ste-Foy,Quebec.4. John Clark of Fredericton in 1974 and1975.5. Rick Folk of Saskatoon in 1978 and 1979. 6. Rick Lang of Thunder Bay in 1976 and1993.7. Vic Peters, Winnipeg in 1993 and 1997;Russ Howard, Moncton in 2000 and 2002;

Kevin Martin, Edmonton in 1995 and 2007;Brad Gushue of St. John’s in 2004 and 2007.8. Stu Beagle of Blackie.9. Beagle was 1-8 in the 1949 Brier atHamilton.10. Arnold Johnson and Orwell Stewart.11. Johnson of Edmonton was 2-7 in 1929;Stewart of Fort Macleod was 3-4 in 1934.12. Ab Gowanlock won in 1938 out ofGlenboro, Man., and in 1953 out of Dauphin,Man.; Ed Lukowich won in 1978 out ofMedicine Hat and in 1986 out of Calgary;Rick Folk won in 1980 out of Saskatoon and1994 out of Kelowna.

Brier Trivia


Albertaʼs front end ofMarc Kennedy (left) andBen Hebert work thebrushes Saturday in theirteamʼs opening win.

Gushue Rock-solid in earning Brier tripROAD TO THE TIM HORTONS BRIER

Olympian Brad Gushue, with two alter-ations on his team, won 10 straight and clob-bered former teammate Keith Ryan ofLabrador City 9-2 in the provincial final atStephenville.

This will be Gushue’s third straight Brierappearance and his sixth in the past sevenyears.

That streak, of course, was interrupted whenhe was busy with other curling matters inTorino, Italy, where he won the gold medal forCanada.

Gushue contracted Winnipeg’s Ryan Fry to

replace Alberta transplant Chris Schille at sec-ond this season and then re-instituted old mate

Jamie Korab at lead after Korab and Gushueapparently buried the hatchet and called off anearlier well-publicized disagreement.

The general feeling seems to be this currentalignment is Gushue’s strongest-ever but itwill take some improvement at the Brier tooffer conclusive proof. In previous suchslugfests the Newfs has gone 6-5, 8-4, 6-5, 9-4 and 7-5. These days, it takes double figureson the winning side to be close to sips fromthe ultimate prize.

Ten teams contested the chase on The Rockand Gushue’s sweep of the round robin jetted

him right to the champi-onship match. Ryan, whowas 5-4 in the prelims,knocked off Alex Smith ofSt. John’s 8-4 and GaryOke of Corner Brook 7-3to qualify for the final.

In the end, no teamother than Gushue’s lostless than four games.

Brad Gushue is bringing a stronglineup into the Brier.

NFLD/LABRADOR (Combined 15



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2009 Tim Hortons Brier - Tankard Times - Day 2

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