Carruthers wins Canada Cup to clinch Olympic Trials spot
“Ottawa, here we come.”
That’s what Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers said to the camera after defeating Mark Nichols of St. John’s, N.L., 8-6 to win the Canada Cup Sunday in Brandon, Man.
Carruthers secured a spot in next year’s Olympic Trials taking place in the nation’s capital where he will compete for a chance to represent Canada at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.
It was a Manitoba sweep on home-province ice at the Keystone Centre with Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones topping Ottawa’s Rachel Homan 9-5 earlier in the Canada Cup women’s final.
Here are three things we learned at the Canada Cup Sunday:
Carruthers comes through in the clutch
Carruthers was cool, calm and collected through the final to beat his former teammate Nichols.
Nichols, who had the bye to the final, opened with the hammer and was held to one as Carruthers went to work early to flip the script, scoring a deuce in the second end to take control.
Some sharpshooting by Carruthers in the third end had him sitting four and Nichols rubbed and rolled to the button for another point to make it all square 2-2. The teams alternated singles in four and five to keep it tight 3-3 entering the break.
Carruthers chipped out Nichols’s shot rock in the six to finish with a pair around the rim of the four-foot circle and a two-point lead. Nichols kept pace though replying with a couple of his own in the seventh and a 5-5 tie.
After a blank in eight, Carruthers finally got some separation on the scoreboard in the ninth end. Nichols tried to hold them to one with a freeze attempt, but he didn’t get it and Carruthers capitalized to pop out the counter and score three.
Down to the final frame, Carruthers peeled the lone guard, leaving Nichols nowhere left to hide with his first skip stone, and a simple tap on the next play ran him out of rocks.
Carruthers struggled with steals earlier in the tournament, but remained in top form when it mattered most and never let it slip away in the final.
Jones slides past Homan with huge steal
The stakes were much lower in the women’s final with Jones and Homan already clinching their Olympic Trials spots last season.
Still there’s money and points on the line plus bragging rights over who’s the best in Canada.
The game turned sideways early as a disastrous third end derailed Homan. Jones was already up one and made a perfectly executed raised takeout to sit four counters. Homan looked to promote her own in, but didn’t make it and gifted Jones the steal of four and a huge five-point advantage.
It’s difficult to bounce back from that, especially against a team like Jones. Homan got on the scoreboard in the fourth, but just a single. Jones raised her own to hit Homan’s stone back and count a pair in the fifth to extend her lead 7-1.
Homan didn’t give up and looked at making a circus shot in six, but opted to play it safe by tapping for two and chip away at the deficit. Jones was forced to one in the seventh and Homan added another deuce in eight to bring the score closer 8-5.
However, it was handshakes after the ninth when Jones put another point on the board.
The Olympic Trials berth that was up for grabs in Brandon defers to the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points standings at the end of the season.
Both Carruthers and Jones also earned places on Team North America for the Continental Cup next month in Las Vegas.
Nichols keeps Team Gushue in good standing for Olympic Trials spot
Nichols now returns to his regular third position after a valiant effort holding the fort with Brad Gushue out to start the season due to a hip/groin issue.
Losing their superstar skip for an indefinite amount of time was a huge blow not only with Olympic Trials making every point count, but their hometown hosts the Tim Hortons Brier later this season.
Gushue also hoped to maintain his team’s momentum from their powerhouse tour year last season winning eight events including three Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles.
The 36-year-old Gushue now returns for his season debut at the Boost National, starting Tuesday in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., as the team returns to the points trail for a Trials spot.
Gushue, who won the 2006 Olympic gold medal with Nichols, had to take the long road the past two quadrennial cycles through the pre-trials in 2009 and 2013 and fell short on both occasions.
Nichols kept the team atop of the CTRS standings qualifying for the playoffs in all eight events they played. Combined with their stellar 2015-16 campaign, that should put them in good standing to clinch at least one of the Olympic Trials spots awarded at the end of the season via CTRS.