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Laycock edges Simmons in extra end at Masters

LLOYDMINSTER, Sask. — Team Laycock second Matt Dunstone was all set to shake hands with Team Simmons following the eight end of their Draw 2 match Tuesday at the Masters.

Although Pat Simmons was down by a pair, the two-time Brier champion held the hammer coming home and had an open draw for the winning three-ender.

As the rock rolled down the ice, Dunstone, who handles vice skip duties, reached out to his former teammates until skip Steve Laycock jumped in and brushed Simmons’ shooter out to force an extra end.

“I don’t know if he felt they were for sure on the backing that they had it made,” Laycock said. “I knew the hog-to-hog time wasn’t good and that he was heavy, so I knew once he was by that rock we had a chance to get it out. By Matt kicking that rock I had to sweep it a little bit extra hard to get it out. That’s why skips train so hard for their sweeping.”

Simmons attempted a hit and stick to sit two in the extra end but didn’t connect hard enough and enabled Laycock to take out the other stone and count a deuce to win 7-5.

The wild game was tight starting with duelling deuces in the first couple ends and splitting singles in three and four. Laycock settled for another lone point in six then swiped another one in seven when Simmons wrecked on a guard. That made it 5-3 for Laycock and set the stage for the dramatic eighth and extra ends.

“We got off to a really good start, an early deuce, and it didn’t seem like either team really felt super comfortable with the big curl and just the early week ice,” Laycock said. “But it was good ice. You could make all the shots, it’s just you had to really think your way through it because there was tons of curl out there especially on the takeouts.”

Making things more interesting was the fact Laycock was facing his former skip while Team Simmons third Colton Lott, second Kyle Doering and lead Robbie Gordon previously played with Dunstone and won the Canadian junior championship in 2016. Simmons, from Moose Jaw, Sask., joined the Winnipeg-based trio this season.

“There’s tons of that in curling where you play against former teammates just because if you’re anyone good you play with people good,” Laycock said. “There’s a lot of that that goes on. It got a little heated out there at times but we’re all good friends off of the ice, so hopefully, that doesn’t cause any trouble going forward.”

Lloydminster is split between Alberta and Saskatchewan but with Centennial Civic Centre falling on the right side of the border, the Saskatoon-based Laycock is soaking up the atmosphere as the crowd favourite.

“I guess we’re just barely on the Saskatchewan side here, so we can call this a home province event,” Laycock said. “Definitely a lot of support from the crowd. We heard a few people yelling during the game, so that was fun to have a little bit of support out there.”

Masters: Scores | Standings | Draw Schedule | TV Schedule

Elsewhere, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen made up for lost time shutting out American John Shuster 8-0 in just five ends. McEwen missed the season-opening Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event, September’s Tour Challenge in Regina, and charged out of the gate with a deuce in the second followed by a steal of one in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth as Shuster struggled to find his game.

“It’s felt like ages since we’ve got to play in a Slam,” said McEwen, who threw 100 percent in the game. “It hasn’t been that long but we wanted to come out with a lot of intensity and a lot of focus. That felt really, really good for an opening game of a Grand Slam, to be that precise. It almost felt perfect.”

The game swung back and forth with Smith opening with the hammer and settling for a single in the first. Gushue made a great hit off of his own to pop out a counter for a three-ender in the second, but Smith jumped back into the lead with a deuce in the third followed by a steal in four to make it 4-3 at the break.

The reigning world champion Gushue got the equalizer in five and went up 6-4 by stealing a pair in six. Smith fired back with a deuce in seven to tie it, but Gushue got the winner with the hammer coming home in eight.

“It wasn’t our best game, but we’re just trying to figure out the ice still,” Team Gushue second Brett Gallant said. “There’s plenty of curl, so I think the ice is going to be good. It was just a bit of adjusting and finding where to put the broom and not just that but throwing it positively will account for that curl.”

Calgary’s Kevin Koe picked up a 7-3 victory over Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson, who won the Tour Challenge Tier 2 division to qualify for the Masters.

Michelle Englot and her Winnipeg-based squad defeated reigning world champion Rachel Homan of Ottawa 5-3 in a rematch of last season’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts final.

More to follow.

NOTES: The Masters is the second event and first major of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … Round-robin action runs through to Friday with the quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday and finals set for Sunday. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).

Jan. 14-19, 2025 Sleeman Centre Guelph, ON