News Players' Championship

TORONTO — Connor Njegovan had to dig his curling bag out of the closet when he got the call from former teammate Brad Jacobs to spare this week at the AMJ Players’ Championship.

Njegovan, who plays lead for skip Reid Carruthers, thought his season was over after his Winnipeg club was eliminated during last month’s Montana’s Brier, coincidentally losing to Jacobs in the Page 3-4 playoff game.

Although he hadn’t thrown a rock since that tournament, Njegovan was ready to go when Jacobs reached out as lead Ben Hebert is rehabbing an injury.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Njeogvan said Friday after Team Jacobs’s 6-5 come-from-behind victory over Mike McEwen’s squad. “Obviously, I got along great with Brad when he played with us. We’ve always been really close friends, so it was really exciting to watch them last week. When you get a phone call to come and hang out with them for a week after that, it was a no-brainer to come and play.”

He’s not the only sub on Team Jacobs for the Grand Slam of Curling season finale. Tyler Tardi is in for second Brett Gallant, who is resting and recovering as he prepares to represent Canada at the upcoming World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship.

Jacobs is well versed with both Njegovan and Tardi. He played with Njegovan last season on Team Carruthers before linking up with Hebert, Gallant and third Marc Kennedy. The Calgary-based club captured the Brier last month and earned bronze for Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship this past weekend. Tardi, who lives in Calgary and throws second stones for skip Kevin Koe, served as Jacobs’s alternate at the men’s worlds.

“It all happened very fast and the guys were super welcoming,” Tardi said. “It was completely unexpected. They first called me — I don’t know, half an hour or 45 minutes after the Brier final — I didn’t even respond because I wasn’t expecting a call and I didn’t know who the number was. Then (coach) Paul Webster texted me, ‘Answer your damn phone,’ and sure enough, I did. It was great.”

It’s not the first time Njegovan and Tardi have teamed up for a Grand Slam event either. Tardi filled in on Jason Gunnlaugson’s team, which Njegovan was a part of, for the 2022 Champions Cup.

“You can’t ever say a bad thing about the kid,” Njegovan said. “He’s an amazing shooter, way more talented than I’ll ever be and a great human being, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

Fun was always the word Tardi used when asked what it’s like playing with Njegovan.

“I’ve always liked playing with him,” said Tardi, who won the Players’ Championship here in 2019 with Team Koe, echoed those sentiments. “It’s been pretty smooth this week. They’re all easy-going guys. We have pretty low expectations this week, we’re just trying to have some fun, but it’s been good.

“The cardio has been a bit of a challenge after I was sitting on my ass for a week and a half just eating snacks every day but it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

Jacobs said it’s been very seamless having Njegovan and Tardi on board.

“I’ve played with Connor before, so stepping back out on the ice with him was very easy,” Jacobs said Wednesday after his 5-4 win over Brad Gushue’s crew. “He’s a very easy guy to play with and so is Tyler Tardi. It’s no surprise to me we’re getting along really well, communicating really well, and hopefully, we can just continue to build throughout this week.”

Njegovan explained that it’s been a bit of an ebb and flow playing with Jacobs and Kennedy as his intention wasn’t to mess with their dynamic.

“Then Brad just pulled me aside and told me to start being myself,” Njegovan said. “I think that’s where it clicked for me to help him out a little bit and try and have some fun with the guys.”

Big shot Brad does it again

Jacobs didn’t hold the lead against McEwen until the dust settled after his electric final shot of the game in the eighth end.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion needed a double takeout and eliminated a third McEwen stone for good measure to take two for the win.

“It’s great. He sure is a shot-maker,” Tardi said. “It was similar to the Brier final. We were never winning until the very last shot. It’s fun to be playing with him right now.”

McEwen opened with the hammer and settled for a single in the first but grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second as Jacobs was short on a draw to give up a steal. Jacobs rebounded in the third, chiselling McEwen’s shot rock off the button to count the tying two points.

After McEwen was forced to a single in four, he stole again in five to reclaim a two-point advantage as Jacobs’s runback attempt went awry.

It looked like Jacobs could score three in the sixth, however, his shooter rolled — and McEwen’s rock jammed — for just a deuce that knotted it up again at 4-4.

McEwen was limited to just another single in seven that set the table for Jacobs’s walk-off win in the final frame.

“That was great. It’s such a fun feeling,” Njegovan said. “It’s just fun to be part of those big moments. I’m really excited and grateful to be out here.”

Both teams wrapped up pool play with 3-2 records and qualified for the playoffs, following the results from the final round-robin draw in the evening.

Elsewhere in Draw 14, Team Korey Dropkin (1-4) of the United States also came back with a deuce in the eighth to win 7-6 over Germany’s Team Marc Muskatewitz (2-3).

In women’s play, Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura (3-2) shut out Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller 5-0 to clinch the final playoff berth on the women’s side.

Schwaller ended the event winless at 0-5.

South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim (2-3) finished on a positive note with a 7-4 win over Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata (1-4). Both teams were already eliminated.

Up next

The round-robin finale gets underway at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ca.

Live streaming of every game is available in free preview via HomeTeam.

Notes

The AMJ Players’ Championship features the top 12 men’s teams and top 12 women’s teams from around the world. … Six teams qualify for the playoffs in both divisions, with the top two receiving byes to the semifinals. … If necessary, one tiebreaker draw is slated for Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday. Both finals are on tap Sunday.