Issue 5 – Wednesday, March 9, 2011 • An Offi cial Publication of the Canadian Curling Association. ■ Ontario wins marquee match-up to set up three-way tie Page 2 Howard’s House Sponsors of the day With single draw tickets now on sale, it’s all about matching up the games you most want to see with the times that are best for you to go. For tickets call or order online 1.800.970.7328 FROM $ 12 AND UP! Brandt Centre – Evraz Place • April 2 – 10 BUILD YOUR OWN CHAMPIONSHIP Page 2 Tankard Times 2011 TIM HORTONS BRIER • Day 4 Horse race heading into moving day Larry Wood Tankard Times Editor uddenly, but not surprisingly, it’s a three-way race at the front of the STim Hortons Brier preliminary round robin at the John Labatt Centre. The front-running favourites — Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario — headed into Wednesday’s penultimate round of draws with identical 6-and-1 records. The leaders were one game up on New- foundland/Labrador (5-2) while Saskatch- ewan (4-3) remained two games in arrears. Ontario’s Glenn Howard, who is ac- customed to reeling off winning streaks at Briers, won his sixth straight on Tuesday night, calling a halt to Manitoba’s six-game unbeaten skein with a methodical 7-4 con- quest of the Winnipeg team skipped by Jeff Stoughton. Howard stole two points in the fourth end for a 4-zip advantage that was never threat- ened when the 47-year-old Stoughton twice wrecked on guards with his shots. Howard had opened with a deuce the end previously after blanking the first two. “That was pretty costly,” admitted the Manitoba skipper afterward. “You missed by a quarter-inch-to-an-inch twice like that and it’s going to cost you. Manitoba s Jeff Stoughton fell from the ranks of the undefeated creating a three-way race for top spot. Those were two big points. Four down was strange.” B.C. 6-4 and Adams rebounded maybe three and the game’s over,” said really tough. It was one end where we were His in-turn draw in the fifth to roughly from his tough morning loss to double up Martin. an inch off here and there and you can’t do six feet curled and died with Howard sitting on Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs 10-5. After that, the Wild Rosers seemed to find that against these good teams.” two counters. The Bluenosers closed the day with four their comfort zone and built momentum Howard was happy with his team’s ac- The Newfoundland crew finally gave up losses, alongside Jacobs of The Soo. culminating with a great double and stick celerated performances. the hammer in the seventh, taking a single. “We’re still in ‘er but we pretty well have by Martin for three in the ninth and a 9-7 “We played really well in that game and Howard executed two killer shots in the to run the table,” said Adams. lead coming home. caught Jeff on a couple of bad ones,” he eighth to double his score and settle the He controlled his morning squabble with Stoughton bounced back from a slow assessed. issue. Alberta until the latter hit for a go-ahead start, down 3-1, to wallop the Territories “It gets us to six. If Jeff had beaten us “We have nobody to blame but our- three in the ninth end. 10-4. he’d get two more wins and two less losses selves,” said the 30-year-old Olympic gold “It’s hard to keep that team from scoring Jacobs (3-4) jumped back into fray, beat- and you start to think there’s no way to medallist of 2006. “It was just poor execu- multiple points,” said Adams. “I missed a ing Quebec’s 8-5. The Jacobs crew was catch him. Now it’s conceivable that we tions, poor throws, poor communication, couple of doubles and that’s all it takes. I forced to curl well in the latter stages to have a shot at the One-Two playoff. We get there was a lot of stuff that went wrong.” thought we managed them half-decent until hold on for the win. to control our own destiny. You lose two or Gushue (4-2), who knocked off Alberta’s the ninth end. What do we do now? Just go Quebec finished the day at 2-5. three and you can’t.” Kevin Martin on Monday night after he’d forward.” Jacobs agrees his team has curled better Howard experienced something new on a racked up 30 straight Brier wins, rebounded Laycock’s Regina entry outlasted the than their record shows. sheet of curling ice in the afternoon. Tuesday night to defeat Jamie Koe’s Polar struggling B.C. team in a see-saw affair. “We still need to curl better though, we He played seven ends without the ham- gang (2-5) from Yellowknife 8-3. “It was a funny game,” said Simmons. haven’t quite curled to our potential yet,” mer and then scored three points with it in In other late-finishing affairs, Saskatch- “Every end, early, the team with hammer said Jacobs. the eighth frame to stun Newfoundland’s ewan’s Steve Laycock won his second of was in great shape and by the time it got “We might be the best team with the Brad Gushue 6-1. the day, 8-7 over Eddie MacKenzie’s lowly down to last rocks the throwers were in worst record, I can kind of see that to be “Never in my life have I gone that long P.E.I. crew (12-6) while Cotter of Vernon huge trouble. It was basically a matter of honest with you.” without the hammer,” said Howard with a posted his second win in seven starts, 7-5 drawing against enemy rocks all afternoon. The feel-good story of the day was grin. “But that had to be a good thing. You over New Brunswick’s fading James Grat- “We were a little POed from yesterday, MacKenzie, who posted the Island’s first can’t be down too much as long as that’s tan (2-5). all the wrong doings (two losses), but our win at this event, beating Maritime rival going on” Alberta’s Kevin Martin took off the night- confidence wasn’t really bruised. That Grattan 8-5. Gushue blanked three ends but Ontario shift after a pair of wins earlier in the day. wasn’t our sharpest game but we battled and “It’s nice to get a win, a little late coming, scored first in the fourth and stole two more Exhibiting what skip Martin defined as it was huge result for us.” but we’re happy,” said Mackenzie. in the fifth. a “lot more energy in our team”, Alberta Martin, for the second match in a row, Most happy of all, maybe, was Howard’s “We tried to keep it simple because we defeated Quebec’s Francois Gagne 7-5 found himself down three early in the morn- team which appears to be reveling in front haven’t been very successful getting leads in the afternoon after struggling uphill to ing, but he made a great lock-in forcing the of a vociferous home crowd. set up,” explained Gushue. outlast Shawn Adams of Nova Scotia 9-7 in Nova Scotia skipper to throw through in the “Every player out here would love to play “But we weren’t very crisp, flashing hits, a morning confrontation. third end for one, making it a 4-2 contest in his home province,” said Howard. “You missing draws . I missed that draw in In other afternoon action, Saskatchewan with Alberta holding hammer in five. get the cheers. You’re going to support your the fifth. Then in the next end we couldn’t hammer-thrower Pat Simmons scored an “That was big, because he couldn’t make hometown team and that’s what they’re do- hit the rings for some reason. It was very open hit for a deuce with last rock to defeat the deuce. If I don’t make that, he gets two ing here. I love it. I hope they keep it up.” Amarula Hortons TT Vert. Ad 12/15/10 1:20 PM Page 1 Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Page 3 Full House... African Style. The creamy consistency of Amarula delights with lingering subtle flavours of vanilla, caramel and chocolate. Affirming its unrivaled taste, Amarula Cream was recently voted “Best Liqueur in the World” at the International VolunteerTankardTimes:Layout 1 12/15/10 2:58 PM Page 1 One of those days: Quebec skip Francois Gagne. Wine and Spirit Competition. THE OFFICIAL SPIRIT OF CHAMPIONSHIP CURLING You may not recognize them at first, but they’re there working hard. They are volunteers and they make our communities better. Thank a volunteer today, for making your community a better place to live. Thank you for your help in building strong, healthy communities from coast to coast – you know who you are. Amarula is the official spirit of the Tim Hortons Brier, Scotties Tournament of Hearts, and Ford World Men’s Curling Championship 3M Canada Supporting Volunteers. Represented by PMA Canada Ltd. | www.pmacanada.com Amarula is a rare find. Appreciate it accordingly. © 3M 2011. All Rights Reserved. 1012-04238 3 Page 4 Tankard Times Hurry hard... Time out for to the John Deere booth, located on level one concourse, Tim Hortons Brier trivia and make a donation to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation.