Brad Gushue was just one win away from making more curling history at the Canadian men’s championship.
The defending Brier champion defeated the top seed Brendan Bottcher of Alberta 7-3 in a playoff game on Saturday night to secure a spot in Sunday evening’s final in Regina’s Brandt Centre.
Bottcher went to the Sunday afternoon’s semifinal to face Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen, who won 6-5 earlier over Matt Dunstone.
Gushue has a troublesome hip, so having one less game between his team and another title was preferable.
The 43-year-old stated, “We’re not young, so getting there efficiently is important. It’s a challenge to play that semifinal and play the final again. I’d rather go this route.”
Gushue, third Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker were trying to win their sixth Canadian men’s curling championship and third consecutive, which would equal both of Randy Ferbey’s records.
Gushue could be the first man to skip a team to six Brier titles.
Winning the first title in Gushue’s hometown of St. John’s, N.L., in 2017, broke the Brier ice for him. His team repeated in 2018 in Regina playing like a team with no pressure on it. They’ve been perennial contenders the last six years.
“If I win this, or we pull out the win tomorrow, it’s not going to change much in our lives,” Gushue said. “We know this is not a huge life-changing event for us anymore, so it takes a lot of the edge off. And we had a lot of edge in 2017.”
Gushue and Nichols will be in an eighth Brier final to rank third all-time alongside Kevin Koe. Only Glenn Howard (11) and his former teammate Brent Laing (9) have appeared in more.
“I know the nerves are going to be there,” Gushue said. “I’m not going to be able to eat as much tomorrow. That’s not going to surprise me. It’s not going to make me more nervous. It’s actually going to get me excited because I know that’s the feeling that I want and that I want all year.
“When you go play in events in curling clubs, and you don’t get that, I’m like ‘this sucks.'”
After starting with a 2-2 record, Gushue’s team that includes second E.J. Harnden won six games in a row.
Bottcher, the 2021 Brier champion, shook hands after giving up a steal of one in both the eight and ninth ends on Saturday.
Alberta’s skip missed a difficult double attempt to score three in the eighth. He missed an attempted triple takeout in the ninth in front of a tournament-high 5,637 at the Brandt Centre.
“I thought in the first half we definitely had a few chances,” Bottcher said. “We gave up a couple of deuces. He kept the lead on the scoreboard. As the game went on, we had to take a little bit more risk.”
The winner on Sunday will represent Canada at the men’s world championship from March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and will return to the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C., as defending champion.
The winner also secures a spot in the 2025 Olympic trials pending a top-six result in Switzerland.
A revitalized McEwen has improved Saskatchewan’s chances of ending a 43-year-old drought.
Last year, Colton Flasch recruited Kevin Marsh and Daniel Marsh to lead them as their out-of-province import, and they were two victories away from being the first Saskatchewan team to win a Brier since Rick Folk’s victory in 1980.
McEwen’s successful shot against three Dunstone counters to earn the winning point in the 10th end received a standing ovation.
The 43-year-old from Winnipeg said, “It will be remembered as one of my greatest memories in my entire career, regardless of how it turns out.”
A Saskatchewan team has not made it to a final since Brad Heidt's loss to Kerry Burtnyk in 1995. The Marsh twins were born in Regina and Flasch in Biggar.
Kevin expressed, “Our objective coming here was to reach the final game on Sunday. It's something we've discussed and considered, and it's in our plans, right? This is where we expect to be, and if we perform really well, I believe we'll be in a good position by Sunday.”
