Issue 7 – Friday, March 11, 2011 • An Official Publication of the Canadian Curling Association. Face-off Friday n It will be Gushue vs. Stoughton in the 1/2 Page game; Howard/Martin rematch in the 3/4 game Page 2 Sponsor of the day In addition to our “Old Classic” full event pass – for the fans who crave the excitement of every single draw – we’re introducing the Double Impact ticket option that allows you to double up on the draws that work best for your schedule. JANUARY 12-15 For tickets, visit LANGLEY EVENTS CENTRE Page 2 Tankard Times 2011 TIM HORTONS BRIER • Day 6 No tiebreakers loom; four left standing Larry Wood sure it will be another epic battle on Saturday. Tankard Times Editor “It’s frustrating. We definitely didn’t bring our A-game. I don’t like getting beat seven he suspense began seeping out of the in a row by anybody . let alone Kevin final-draw scenario like a leaky bal- Martin.” loon on Thursday night in the Tim For a while, it looked like Territories’ skip- HortonsT Brier at the John Labatt Centre. per Jamie Koe was going to rain on Martin’s When Newfoundlander Brad Gushue ham- parade in the afternoon. mered four on the board in the fourth end of Koe led Alberta by one heading into the his match against Quebec’s Francois Gagne 10th end without hammer, and a series of and Alberta’s Kevin Martin nailed Ontario’s great shots by his team, particularly third Glenn Howard for a couple of early deuces Tom Naugler, left Martin in a tough spot, and probably should have had a four-spot for having to make a four-banger raise to stick openers, the weekend’s playoff alignment for two and win the game. appeared to be settling in stone. As usual, when Martin is facing some sort Indeed, Gushue and his team of Mark of circus shot to win, he made it. Nichols, Ryan Fry and Jamie Danbrook, When asked if it was the best shot he’d will forge a 2006 Olympic trials rematch made all week, Martin replied with a laugh: with Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton in tonight’s “It was certainly the only shot I made all Page One-Two playoff match (7:30 ET) with day.” the winner advancing directly to Sunday’s Alberta got off to a 3-0 lead in two ends national championship final. but Koe battled back and stole a go-ahead The contest will be a rematch of the 2005 point in the ninth. Canadian Olympic curling trials final com- The win eliminated Brad Jacobs and his batants as well as Thursday’s Draw-15 morn- Northern Ontario Soo crew. ing clash won 8-5 by the Newfoundland/ Kevin Martin eliminated N. Ontario with his first win Thursday, and knocked “You look back at a few moments,” said Labrador bunch. Glenn Howard out of the Page 1/2 game with his second. Jacobs, who reached the Page One-Two play- Martin and his Olympic gold-medallists of off a year ago. “A few shots over the week, 2010 possessed only a slim chance of making Gushue, who went to defeat Quebec’s Gagne our games always are. We just kept control. sure, but we played well, and I think we it to the Page One-Two. Alberta needed a win 9-7 in his late game. Three-up early. Two-up after eight. Tied learned some valuable lessons and we look over Howard and a loss from Gushue. Manitoba, meanwhile, rebounded to stop up after nine. We have the hammer coming forward to being back.” But Alberta’s last-draw 6-5 win over the Quebec 8-4 in the afternoon and await its fate home. That’s all you can hope for against a Stoughton had a scare of his own in the Ontario team, which never seemed to be decided during the evening matches. guy like Glenn. That’s a pretty good result.” afternoon. in doubt in spite of being taken to Martin’s “The One-Two is a huge playoff advan- Martin admitted his team probably had Heading into the eighth end, his Manitoba open last-rock takeout shot in the 10th end, tage,” said Gushue. “We had a good run and some momentum heading into Saturday’s crew found itself tied at four, but the Winni- dragged Howard and Co., out of Page-One- got in the One-Two in 2007 (then lost the playoff. peg crew erupted for a deuce, stole two more Two contention as well, and into Saturday’s final to Glenn Howard). But the last three “It certainly can’t hurt. It feels good now. and coasted to an 8-4 win. sudden-death Page Three-Four rematch at years we’ve been in the Three-Four and Going in, I had to get it through my head to Stoughton stayed out to watch Martin’s 2:30 p.m. ET. there’s no way back from a loss there.” make a few shots.” circus heroics and says it is shots like that Martin and Howard collided in the 2009 Manitoba hit for three in the third end and He described the day off today as “really that makes him a great curler. Olympic trials final as well as Brier finals in controlled the issue through to the eighth good”. “Those are the kind of shots Kevin lives 2010 and 2008. In fact, Martin owns a seven- when Stoughton’s last attempted double-kill “I’m a little tired. Brier’s are tough for, it was a great shot for sure,” Stoughton for-eight win record against his Ontario foe. double-jammed on backing and left his foe weeks.” opined. Gushue’s Newfoundland/Labrador team the free draw for the go-ahead trio. Martin scoffed at any suggestion of long- Earlier, there was a suggestion animos- rallied to make its move toward the top of “That was a (bleepin’) bonehead shot,” term domination over the Howard team being ity might remain from the hotly-contested the Brier standings in the morning against admitted Stoughton. “I mean, I wish every- a future factor. Olympic trials final 15 months ago involved Stoughton and his team of Jonathan Mead, one had been a little more adamant that we “Winning runs don’t mean anything,” he Howard and Martin. Reid Carruthers and Steve Gould, stealing an could double-jam. I never thought we could. said. “We had a real run going against Jeff “We’re all competitors but we’re all still 8-5 duke. If someone had said we could I never would (Stoughton), too. And he made everything. good friends,” said Howard. The Rocksters took advantage of a mon- have thrown that shot. It was the dumbest And when you make everything you win. So “There’s nothing untoward between the strous miscue from Stoughton in the eighth shot in the, er, a junior-B group piece of crap. it means nothing.” two teams. If we see any infraction we’re go- end and turned a two-point deficit into a one- It was a stupid shot and gave them an easy Howard reflected on the first three ends . ing to call them out and that’s what happened point advantage. three. I guess I threw it too good because it “You give him a big lead like that it’s hard in the trials. Since then we’ve had no prob- “It was a tight one, looking dicey for most hit the perfect spot . for them.” to come back. The first three were terrible. lems at all. Neither team has had any harsh of the game,” said Gushue who proceed to The alternative, he said, was to hit and roll We were awful and I don’t know what the words toward the other. Off the ice we’re pay tribute to his sweepers Nichols and Dan- in front, surrender two and be tied playing reason was. We just missed shots. We weren’t good friends. There’s eight guys out there brook who managed to turn three of Gushue’s the ninth with the hammer. sharp. We didn’t pick up on the ice condi- who want to win and I don’t blame them for shots from near-misses to just-made-its. Manitoba kept the ninth end open but tions. We couldn’t put three or four shots in going hard. just as we are going hard.” “Those three shots were the only rocks I Stoughton rubbed with his last rock bidding a row together. The first end, we were really In other last-draw matches, Nova Scotia’s didn’t really throw real good and they made for the deadlock in the final exchange, leav- lucky to give him two. It could have been Shawn Adams of Halifax brought his record them all. Those two guys swept their hearts ing the theft of a pair. three or four. to 5-6 with a 6-5 win over British Columbia’s out. I’ve never seen two guys so out of breath “I may have got it going,” said Stoughton. “Then we played great for the last seven Jim Cotter of Vernon while Jacobs’s Moosies after those shots. They did a great job for me “You do that on this swingy ice today and but it didn’t matter. If my last shot curls a defeated Saskatchewan’s fast-fading Steve today.” it’s gone. We knew halfway down I’d already half-inch less he’s got a real tough shot to Laycock 6-3.