Brad Gushue and his St. John’s teammates played OK last year at the Boost National in Conception Bay South, but certainly not great, just good enough to get to the quarter-finals in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event.
That’s as far as Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker would get at the three-year-old C.B.S. Arena before losing to Scotland’s Bruce Mouat.
It wasn’t the first quarter-final loss for Gushue and Co., and it wasn’t the last one during the 2018-19 season. After winning the season-opening Elite 10, the team was bounced during the quarter-final round five times and lost in the semifinals once.
This season, Team Gushue has gotten past the quarter-final hump, and beyond the semis, too, but has yet to win a Grand Slam event, finishing runner-up in both spiels so far this fall — at the Kioti Tour Challenge last month in New Glasgow, N.S., and The Masters in North Bay, Ont., in late October.
So it goes without saying Gushue, Nichols, Gallant and Walker would like to change their finals fortunes in C.B.S., at the National ,which opens this evening.
“The finals are now our nemesis, with back-to-back losses, but if you’re getting to the finals you’re playing well, you’re giving yourselves opportunities,” Gushue told Sportsnet’s Jonathan Brazeau.
Gushue's rink is among 15 men's entries in C.B.S., a lineup of the world best, including defending National champ Ross Paterson of Scotland. All are 16th or better on the world rankings. There are also 15 front-running women’s teams playing in the Nationals.
“We’re looking forward to playing our best this year or certainly putting in a better effort than we did last year (in the National) in C.B.S. I think we’re going to be a little more relaxed going into it this year and hopefully, that will turn into a better performance," Gushue said in the Sportsnet interview.
The combined purse is $300,000, with the male and female championship teams receiving $35,000 each, plus berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup in Alberta.
Last year’s National in C.B.S. was well-attended by local curling fans, who rode the Gushue wave — albeit a rough one — throughout the week.
“We just weren’t playing really solid,” Gushue told Brazeau as he looked back at the 2018 National, “and I think put a lot of pressure on ourselves as we do in those events where we’re playing at or near home. I think the combination of being a little bit off and putting that pressure (on ourselves), it made it a real challenge.
“It was still a great experience for us, we had a ton of fun. We’re looking forward to playing our best this year or certainly putting in a better effort than we did last year. I think we’re going to be a little more relaxed going into it this year and hopefully, that will turn into a better performance.”
Gushue has won 11 Grand Slams in his career, including two in the National, but none of the titles have come in an event held in Newfoundland.
I think we’re going to be a little more relaxed going into it this year and hopefully, that will turn into a better performance." — Brad Gushue to Sportsnet
This is the eighth Gram Slam event to be played in this province.
The first was the 2002 Masters in Gander. Another Masters was held at Mile One Centre in St. John's in 2006, and Mile One was home to three Players Championships, in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
The 2016 Tour Challenge was at the Paradise Double Ice Complex, followed by last year's Nationals in C.B.S.
Gushue's last Slam win came 15 months ago, in September of 2018 at the Elite 10, which is no longer on the Grand Slam's roster of events. So he will be looking for a double-dip victory this week, one that will end the recent drought and at the same time, give him a first Slam championship on what can be considered home ice.
“You’ve just got to keep putting yourself in that (contending) position week after week and eventually, you’ll get one. That’s kind of the perspective we’re taking,” said Gushue who takes on Scott McDonald of Kingston, Ont., in today's only draw, which starts at 7 p.m.
The Gushue rink will also play Paterson, Dunstone and defending Canadian champion Kevin Koe in one of three five-team men’s pools in the preliminary round, which runs through Friday.
The top eight finishers in the preliminary round in both the men's and women's division advance to the quarter-finals on Saturday
NATIONAL TEAMS
The men's and women's teams, with skip and country, entered in the 2019 Boost National, beginning today at the C.B.S. Arena:
MEN
- Brendan Bottcher, Canada
- Peter De Cruz, Switzerland
- Matt Dunstone, Canada
- Niklas Edin, Sweden
- John Epping, Canada
- Brad Gushue, Canada
- Glenn Howard, Canada
- Brad Jacobs, Canada
- Kevin Koe, Canada
- Yuta Matsumura, Japan
- Scott McDonald, Canada
- Mike McEwen, Canada
- Bruce Mouat, Scotland
- Ross Paterson, Scotland
- Yannick Schwaller, Switzerland
WOMEN
- Chelsea Carey, Canada
- Kerri Einarson, Canada
- Tracy Fleury, Canada
- Satsuki Fujisawa, Japan
- Anna Hasselborg, Sweden
- Rachel Homan, Canada
- Jennifer Jones, Canada
- Eve Muirhead, Scotland
- Kelsey Rocque, Canada
- * Casey Scheidegger, Canada
- Robyn Silvernagle, Canada
- Elena Stern, Switzerland
- Silvana Tirinzoni. Switzerland
- Isabella Wrana, Sweden
- Sayaka Yoshimura, Japan
* The Scheidgger rink is being skipped by Kristie Moore
TODAY'S DRAW
The schedule for today’s opening draw at the Boost National, beginning at 7 p.m.:
- Gushue vs. McDonald
- Koe vs. Dunstone
- Einarson vs. Scheidegger
- Jones vs.Fujisawa
- Tirinzoni vs.Wrana
[email protected] | Twitter: @telysports
