Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Brad Gushue is heading to his 17th Canadian men’s curling championship.
The 2017 national and world champion defeated Trent Skanes 3-1 on Sunday in a Newfoundland and Labrador final dominated by blank ends.
Gushue, vice Mark Nichols and front end Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker out of St. John’s claimed a Canadian title three years ago and defended it in 2018.
Gushue has played in every national championship since 2003 with the exception of 2006 when he, Nichols, Russ Howard and Jamie Korab won Olympic gold in Turin, Italy.
The field for the Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston, Ont., from Feb. 29 to March 8 continued to fill Sunday, while women’s provincial playdowns for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Sask., wrapped up.
Rachel Homan prevailed in Ontario with a 7-6 victory over Hollie Duncan on Saturday.
Homan lost a heartbreaker to Alberta’s Chelsea Carey in last year’s national final in Sydney, N.S., giving up a steal of one in the 10th and extra ends.
Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney and lead Lisa Weagle won Canadian and world titles in 2017.
Women’s finals in Manitoba, Ontario and Northern Ontario were also underway Sunday.
Teams already qualified for the Feb. 14-23 national championship are Robyn Silvernagle (Saskatchewan), Laura Walker (Alberta), Noemie Verreault (Quebec), Andrew Crawford (New Brunswick), Mary-Anne Arsenault (Nova Scotia), Erica Curtis (Newfoundland and Labrador), Kerry Galusha (Northwest Territories), Lori Eddy (Nunavut), Suzanne Birt (Prince Edward Island) and Hailey Birnie (Yukon) and defending champion Carey.
Two wild-card teams — the top two non-qualified teams in the Canadian Team Rankings System (CTRS) — meet Feb. 14 in Moose Jaw with the winner gaining entry into the Hearts main draw the following day.
Manitobans Tracy Fleury, Kerri Einarson and Jennifer Jones rank first to third.
Men’s teams who have already punched their ticket to Kingston include defending champion Kevin Koe as Team Canada, Alek Bedard (Quebec), Jamie Murphy (Nova Scotia), Jake Higgs (Nunavut), and Bryan Cochrane (Prince Edward Island).
New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, B.C., and Northern Ontario representatives were to be decided Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2020.
The Canadian Press
