By John Hodge
We’ve officially reached the midway point of the round-robin at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax, which means it’s time to take stock of how the teams stack up with two days remaining before the playoffs.
In this article, we’ll focus on the men’s side.
There are only three playoff spots available in the event’s new format, which will see the top squad advance to the best-of-three final with the second and third-place squads meeting in the semifinal on Thursday.
There are no tiebreaking games, as ties will instead be broken by head-to-head record, then the cumulative Last Stone Draw (LSD) ranking.
ITALY BECKONS
Matt Dunstone (4-0)
Our country’s top-ranked men’s team has come to play this week, rattling off three straight decisive victories before beating Brad Gushue in an extra end on Monday night. Dunstone controlled most of the game against the Olympic gold medallist and six-time Brier champion, though he had to make a great tap with his final stone in the 10th end to force the extra frame.
The 30-year-old skip from Winnipeg is used to being a bridesmaid, having won a combined six bronze and silver medals at the World Junior Championships and Brier. Now with Gushue out of the way — for the round-robin, at least — his team is in a great spot to earn a playoff berth and possibly secure the bye straight to the final.
Colton Lott and Ryan Harnden are currently the tournament’s top performers at third and lead at 93 and 96 per cent, respectively, while the team leads the field by far with hammer efficiency of 53 per cent.
Remaining opponents: Koe, Jacobs, McEwen
HOT ON THE TRAIL
Brad Gushue (3-1)
The two-time Olympic Trials champion got off to a relatively slow start this season, which was a surprise given that he announced it would be his last in competitive curling. The team’s roster shakeup from last year didn’t seem to be paying dividends, though all that’s changed thus far this week.
Gushue and his team hit the ground running in Halifax, notching three straight victories before a razor-thin extra-end loss to Dunstone on Monday night. The team has yet to allow a steal, and Gushue is the top-ranked thrower at the skip position at 91 per cent.
If there were any questions about whether or not this squad would be ready for Gushue’s last hurrah, they’ve answered them thus far. Based out of the RE/MAX Centre in St. John’s, N.L., this team has also had the benefit of strong crowd support.
Remaining opponents: McDonald, McEwen, Jacobs
Brad Jacobs (3-1)
This rink isn’t off to a bad start, but an event-opening loss to Kevin Koe stuck them in an unexpected early hole. Jacobs took full responsibility for the defeat when speaking to the media post-game as he curled an uncharacteristically low 76 per cent, though veteran second Brett Gallant finished a team-worst 64 per cent.
The squad out of the Glencoe Club in Calgary has since bounced back with three straight wins, though they’ve yet to play arguably the two best outfits in Halifax. When he won the Olympic Trials in 2013, Jacobs finished first in the round-robin. Unless he and his team have two incredible games on Wednesday, they’ll likely have to go through the semifinal round this time around.
Remaining opponents: Epping, Dunstone, Gushue
HANGING ON
Kevin Koe (2-2)
Not many pundits were picking Koe and his team to make the playoffs in this event, but they caught everyone’s attention with a day-one win over Brad Jacobs. The veteran skip, who is the oldest player in the field at almost 51, turned back the clock early on with several throwback, highlight-reel Koe classics.
The team has since come back down to earth with two-point losses to Gushue and Mike McEwen, plus they have a tough Tuesday matchup against Dunstone looming. One area of concern for Koe’s squad should be its seventh-place LSD ranking of 58.48, which will put them in a tough spot if they’re tied for a playoff spot come the end of the round-robin.
Remaining opponents: Dunstone, Epping, Kleiter
Mike McEwen (2-2)
This squad has had a lot of success over the last two seasons and is helmed by a veteran skip who is still looking for a career-defining gold medal after previously capturing silver at the Brier and Olympic Trials. Following back-to-back losses to John Epping and Jacobs, McEwen’s rink saved itself with a big win over Koe on Monday night, thanks to a score of three in the eighth end.
There’s still work to be done, especially with arguably the two toughest opponents left for the final day of the round-robin, but there are reasons for optimism as McEwen’s rink ranks second in the LSD standings with a score of 11.85, which will be helpful if they’re tied for a playoff spot come the end of the round-robin.
Remaining opponents: Kleiter, Gushue, Dunstone
PRESSING THE PANIC BUTTON
John Epping (1-3)
The rink out of the Northern Credit Union Community Centre in Sudbury, Ont., had a disastrous Monday, suffering losses to Gushue and Rylan Kleiter. The team outshot Kleiter’s rink 91 to 89 per cent, but Epping lost the head-to-head matchup at skip 86 to 80 per cent.
The best news for Epping and his team is that they’ve already played Gushue and Dunstone, which have been the two top squads in Halifax thus far. If the unit can rattle off three straight wins, there’s still a chance for them to be around come playoff time. Tanner Horgan, the team’s second, is the top-ranked thrower at his position at 91 per cent.
Remaining opponents: Jacobs, Koe, McDonald
Rylan Kleiter (1-3)
Based out of the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon, this squad travelled to Halifax as the only outfit ranked outside the top 20 of the CTRS. They were also handed a miserable start by the schedule-makers, facing Gushue, Jacobs, and Dunstone in their first three games.
Kleiter’s losses to Gushue and Dunstone weren’t particularly close, though the team pushed Jacobs to an extra end on Sunday afternoon before beating Epping on Monday night. This team likely won’t be heading to the playoffs, but look for them to be more competitive over the last two days of the round-robin with a bit of a lighter schedule ahead.
Remaining opponents: McEwen, McDonald, Koe
GETTING REPS
Jordan McDonald (0-4)
As by far the youngest team in the field, this rink from the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club in Winnipeg was always going to take some lumps after making it to Halifax through the pre-trials. The team has dug itself into an insurmountable hole, though none of its losses have been lopsided, losing by one point to McEwen and Koe and curling 93 per cent against Dunstone.
With an average age of 23 among its core foursome, this squad has a bright future, and this event will serve as invaluable experience for them moving forward. McDonald also has a strong case for shot of the week with a big-weight, around-the-horn single that momentarily saved the game against McEwen on Saturday.
Remaining opponents: Gushue, Kleiter, Epping
