News Masters

SELKIRK, Man. — Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., captured the Masters men’s title after outlasting home-province favourite Mike McEwen of Winnipeg 8-6 in Sunday’s championship game.

The team of Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker earned $24,500. Nichols rejoined the squad this season following a two-year stint with Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton.

It’s the second career Grand Slam title for Gushue, who earned his first at the National in 2010 and has been close with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Canadian Open and National last season.

“We’ve been knocking on the door the last four, I guess, and to break through and finally win one here is nice and against the best team in the world,” Gushue said. “Those guys have been crazy hot this year. To come out and play well, and we controlled the game other than the sixth end, which was a bit of a disaster but we bounced right back and played a great seventh end and a great eighth end there. It was nice to make that double to win.”

McEwen, who cashed in $15,500, had been white-hot on tour entering the Masters winning four consecutive titles to start the season. Gushue scored four in the fifth to lead 6-2 until McEwen made an incredible double raise in-off double to score four of his own and tie it back up. 

“We made a couple bad ones and left Mike a Hail Mary and he made it,” Nichols said. “Credit to the guys because we just shook it off and said, ‘We’re still tied up with hammer, two ends left to win a Slam.’ A lot of teams, I don’t want to say crumble but they take that pretty bad.”

Gushue bounced back to earn a deuce in the seventh and regain the lead. McEwen held the hammer in the eighth but Gushue ran him out of rocks.

“For all of us here, we haven’t played the five-rock rule enough to really know what the stats say and what way you should play. It’s a bit of a feeling out,” Gushue added. “Looking back now maybe I’d play a little bit differently but who knows. If Mark and I executed our shots in the sixth end, it’s probably a little bit of a different situation. I missed a come-around and a draw so sometimes it’s hard to blame strategy on missed shots. But it’s a good win, I’m very happy. It’s going to be a much shorter flight than if we had let that one slide.”

Gushue dropped his opening draw match to Stoughton but went on a tear from there with victories over Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud, Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., and Toronto’s John Epping to qualify for the playoffs and avenged the loss to Stoughton with a 5-4 win in the quarterfinals. Gushue had to grind out another victory over Epping in the semifinals after missing a double and giving up a steal of one in the eighth but secured his spot in the final with a single in the extra end. 

“These events are so hard to win and we were arguably in the toughest pool,” Nichols said. “To come out of that and we played Stoughton, Epping and McEwen to win it. It’s no easy feat.”

McEwen is supported by third B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld. The team rolled through their first three games at the Masters but fell to John Morris’ rink to close out the round robin. McEwen bounced back big time to defeat Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 9-3 in the quarterfinals and made quick work of Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., with a 7-2 win in five ends in the semis.

The Masters was the first stop of the 2014-15 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. The next event is the National, Nov. 19-23 at the Essar Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.