McEwen embracing role as home team at WFG Masters in Saskatoon
SASKATOON — Score one for the home team: Saskatoon’s own Team Mike McEwen is now in the win column at the WFG Masters.
McEwen defeated Team Korey Dropkin of the United States 7-3 during Draw 9 Thursday at Merlis Belsher Place to improve to a 1-2 round-robin record and remain in the mix.
Already up by one in the seventh end, McEwen hit to count three as Dropkin (0-3) shook hands and was eliminated from playoff contention.
“We needed that,” McEwen said. “Honestly, I thought we played well again. Our first two games, we threw a lot of good stones and some of them didn’t work out. It’s a little unknown, we haven’t played a ton of Grand Slams as a team. We played in (the HearingLife Tour Challenge) Tier 2 but the main event one, this is the first for our team.
“Just getting comfortable with how the ice is moving, that instinct on when to hold shots and all that goes into managing things. I thought we played really well but we lost both games. The great thing was despite the 0-2 record, we still played well here today and this time we got the win.”
McEwen, who is from Winnipeg, linked up with third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Dan Marsh starting this season. The seven-time Grand Slam men’s champion said it’s been a seamless transition and easier than he thought.
“Team dynamics are easy. Sometimes you’ve got to build those on a team, they take time, and I feel like with this team, that’s not something we’ve got to work on,” McEwen said. “There’s still lots to work on — all the processes, shot making, management and whatnot — but that’s something I don’t think we’ll ever really struggle with.”
Even though they were playing reigning Brier champion Brad Gushue on opening night Tuesday, McEwen could feel the crowd support for his squad.
“Wherever (Gushue) goes is a home crowd, it doesn’t matter, but the crowd was equally loud for us and very supportive, so I noticed that right away,” McEwen said. “I was like, ‘Oh wow, this is good.’ The crowd really got behind us and that was pretty cool to see. They’ve been great in our three games, so it’s nice to see so many supportive fans in the stands.”
Elsewhere in Draw 9, Team Brendan Bottcher of Calgary remained undefeated at 3-0 following a 5-4 win over Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte (2-1).
Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., earned an 8-3 decision against Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller. Both teams are at 2-1.
Norway’s Team Magnus Ramsfjell also improved to a 2-1 record with a 5-3 victory over Team Aaron Sluchinski (0-3) of Airdrie, Alta.
WFG Masters: Scores / Standings | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters resumes Thursday with Draw 10 at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. local time on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ (Canada) and GSOClive.com (international).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
