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One year ago, Mike McEwen and Team Saskatchewan left the Brier at the Brandt Centre in Regina heartbroken.
After finishing first in the pool and making a dream run to the Brier final on home soil, the rink out of the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon went up against one of the top curling teams in the world in the final – Brad Gushue and Team Canada.
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But in that final the magic came to an end, with Saskatchewan finishing second.
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The loss marked an end to a marathon season for skip McEwen, third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Dan Marsh.
In the 2023 off-season, Flasch and the Marsh brothers were able to recruit and convince McEwen to serve as skip after his rink in Ontario folded.
Because of the change in skip, the McEwen rink had to crisscross the country and climb the world curling ranks in order to become eligible for provincials and qualify for the Brier.
This time around, things are a lot different and a lot more quiet for the Saskatoon-based rink ahead of one of the biggest tournament of the year.
McEwen said he’s excited to get back to the Brier this weekend.
“It’s a little bit different this time. It’s six weeks off, pretty much, from our last competition, so that’s been the biggest thing to get used to,” McEwen said.
“We didn’t have it like the other years where you have a highlight coming off a provincial tankard win and then kind of bolting you into nationals.”
Because of its high ranking, McEwen’s rink was given an automatic spot in the Brier. That meant more flexibility and practice time could be built into the team’s schedule to prepare for the run at the national title.
McEwen said he’s not yet sure if the extra time off will be good for his team.
“It gave us a lot of more more time to plan how we wanted to prep and train,” McEwen stated. “We’ll see. It’s something to get used to. I don’t think it’s bad or good.”
One of the ways Team McEwen was able to prepare for the Brier had nothing to do with curling. The players took a trip to Arizona for a weekend to enjoy some warm weather, play some golf and do some team building.
“If anything, it got us thinking. We were a little bit creative in how we wanted to plan our February. We had a lot of fun with it,” McEwen said. “We’ve had a good February getting ready for it.”
Flasch said he thinks his team is ready to go for the big tournament thanks to the additional rest.
“We perform best when we have lots of practice weekends before, and hopefully that will show,” Flasch said.
“Our confidence is as high as its going to be, I think. We’re throwing well, and I don’t see why we can’t win this thing.”
With the Brier being held in Kelowna this year, Flasch said he thinks there’s a little less pressure on his team.
“Last year being in Regina, for sure there was probably a little bit, and then making it all the way to the final, but we’ve just got to go out and do our thing,” Flasch explained.
McEwen and Team Saskatchewan will be slotted in Pool B this year at the Brier. That pool features Brad Jacobs’ Alberta rink, Rylan Kleiter and the other Saskatchewan rink (which also curls out of the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon), as well as teams from Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.
McEwen and Flasch said they’re both excited to play Team Kleiter and their friends from the Nutana Curling Club.
“Interesting that lined up,” McEwen said. “Obviously we want to be the number-one team in Saskatchewan, so I’m looking forward to that battle.”
“It will be fun to play those guys,” Flasch added. “It’s their first Brier and I’m pumped for those guys too, but obviously we want to win.”
Team McEwen plays its first game at the Brier on Saturday afternoon against Prince Edward Island.
