Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 9, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B2 B 2 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2020 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMSPORTS I CURLING CALL it a blessing in disguise for Jacques Gauthier’s young curling team. The newly minted Canadian junior men’s curl- ing champions bowed out of the Viterra provincial men’s championship on the Saturday morning draw, the team’s seventh game of the five-day event. William Lyburn from the Granite Club administered the knockout blow, posting a 9-3 victory. Gauthier, third Jordan Peters, second Brayden Payette and lead Zach Bilawka have been through the ringer the last few weeks, enduring the rigours of the week-long national junior in Langley, B.C., late last month that culminated with a euphoric triumph. Since then, they’ve had to rearrange school and work schedules to accom- modate a nearly two-week trek to Siberia — Krasno- yarsk, Russia, to be precise. Credit the crew for reserving some energy and focus for the Viterra provincial men’s championship; the As- siniboine Memorial team made the eight-team playoffs, something 24 others failed to do. Now, it’s time to for a reboot, just in time for a send- off party at their home club tonight. They’re scheduled to leave for Russia on Monday. “Our goal was the eights and we made our goal. We had three games (Friday) and that was a long day of curling. The adrenaline got us through it. This (event) really helped us. It’s some of the best practise you can ever get, anywhere in the world,” said Payette. “In Manitoba, we have some of the top men’s teams in Canada. This was a good run. “We all said that we made our goal. It would have been nice to win, but that would have meant (four) more games. That’s a grind. It’s not the end of the world to get a break. We’re all gassed. We need to rest up, pack and get ready to head off.” The Gauthier foursome will have company at the worlds. Altona’s Mackenzie Zacharias won the national junior women’s crown Jan. 26 in Langley to complete the Manitoba sweep. The worlds go Feb. 15-22 in a new curling facility in Krasnoyarsk. DOUBLE DISAPPOINTMENT TANNER Horgan got a double dose of disappointment Saturday morning. The Viterra championship’s third-seeded team suf- fered an 8-6 defeat to St. Vital’s Ryan Wiebe, ousting them from the event and distinguishing any chance of an appearance in the Brier wild-card game the night before the national playdowns begin in Kingston, Ont., at the end of February. Several things needed to fall into place for the Win- nipeg Beach team, but paramount was taking care of the business they could control — reaching at least the semifinal on Sunday morning. “There’s no wild-card for us. This will be it for our sea- son this year,” said Horgan, 21, a Sudbury, Ont., resident, who aligned himself with terrific young players Colton Lott, Kyle Doering and Tanner Lott for the 2019-20 sea- son. The designated import has been battling a cold all. “This is a tough finishing, obviously. We were hoping for a lot more, especially being the third seed. We expected to be there Sunday.” Horgan is 10th on the Canadian Team Ranking System and needed a top-three finish here to vaul over Ontario’s Glenn Howard in the standings. Of the eight teams ahead of Howard, five are Brier bound. Three others, Manitoba’s top two teams, Mike McEwen and Jason Gunnlaugson, along with Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher, are still in the mix for their provincial titles and a spot in the wild-card game. AUTHOR, AUTHOR VETERAN skip Sean Grassie of Deer Lodge is working on an intriguing project off the ice. He’s written a book that tells 150 stories of Manitoba sports achievement, and it’s part of the province’s 150 birthday celebrations this year. He’s partnering with Sport Manitoba and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame to raise money for KidSport Manitoba. It’s Grassie’s second book. His first, Kings of the Rings: 125 Years of the World’s Biggest Bonspiel, was released in 2012 and chronicled the long history of the MCA curling bonspiel. His new book goes well beyond the rings. “This one’s going to be all sports in Manitoba’s history, athletes and teams, events, historic moments,” he said. “It’s 150 different stories. We started about a year ago and I put together a draft list of stories, and Rick Brown- lee of the hall of fame had a list, too. We had a panel to get to 150 stories and we also had a public submission.” Grassie, who won a Canadian mixed title in 2009 and lost the Manitoba men’s final four years later to Jeff Stoughton in Neepawa, said 30 sports are represented in the book, and some might surprise the average Manitoban. “We have two world handball champions over the years, some of the top water-skiers, a bowler from the 1950s. We tried to highlight some of those stories that people don’t know about,” said Grassie. “The idea was capturing 150 iconic moments, and then we dive into athletes’ backgrounds. The most fun part was learning so much about our sports history.” The book is due out in May and will cost $20.20. jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell NOTEBOOK Gauthier going to Siberia, and happy about it J ASON Gunnlaugson heaved his stones with precision and might Saturday night to topple a giant. The seasoned skip guided his Morris curling team to an 8-6 triumph over defending Mani- toba men’s champion Mike McEwen of West St. Paul to gain entry to today’s Viterra final. The event’s marquee matchup to date, featuring the event’s top seeds, was nothing short of electri- fying, with a houseful of rocks seemingly in every end. Full marks to Gunnlaugson’s crew of third Alex Forrest, second Adam Casey and lead Connor Njegovan for applying pressure throughout the 10-end affair, forcing McEwen into some uncom- fortable situations. He wiggled out of some. But not enough. Down by one in the final end, McEwen, a three-time Manitoba titleist, was left with a challenging draw to the button that settled just short. Gunnlaugson, who lost Friday morning to Ryan Wiebe’s terrific junior team from St. Vital before rattling off four consecutive wins, heaped credit on his teammates for being the architects of the upset victory. “Mike definitely outplayed me... but my team played great and put a ton of pressure on. If you make him make hard enough shots all the time, eventually you might get a half shot and that’s kinda what happened,” he said. “Every end is basically terrifying. We could have given up three, four at different times this game. It really comes down to the execution.” McEwen, the world’s fifth-ranked foursome, could rise up and prove just as menacing this af- ternoon. But his savvy, battle-tested team of third Reid Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski and lead Colin Hodgson needs to get past Sean Grassie of Deer Lodge first. Grassie and McEwen play in the 8:30 a.m. semi- final, with the championship game set for 2:30 p.m. Both contests will be televised on Sportsnet. The winner join a starry field — Kevin Koe, Brad Jacobs, Brad Gushue and John Epping to name a few — at the Brier in Kingston, Ont., Feb. 29 to March 8. Due to their lofty standings on the Canadian Team Ranking System, McEwen and Gunnlaugson each has the Brier wild-card game in their back pockets if they require it. “I thought they played as a unit very well. Jay made some big shots, too. I made a couple when it was looking like disaster out there and I needed one more in the 10th,” McEwen offered, in a post- game chat. “I thought they put a lot of pressure on us. Full credit. We almost pulled it out of the fire.”. An apparent tectonic shift in momentum oc- curred in the seventh with Gunnlaugson up 5-3. He tried to hit and flop on top of a pair of McE- wen stones but rolled a shade deep. McEwen then played a delicate bump of his own rock to move a Gunnlaugson stone just enough for a huge count of three and a 6-5 lead. But facing a rock quarry in the four-foot, Gunnlaugson coolly drew in to take two and leap in front 7-6 after 8 ends. McEwen then blank the 9th, but face a near-impossible draw to dislodge a Gunnlaugson counter coming home. “We just work so hard. I feel like maybe I’ve underperformed a few times in this event and I really worked hard to just mentally be in a great space to play. Definitely that was the case today and, hopefully, it’s the case (on Sunday),” said Gunnlaugson. Grassie shrugged off a major shift in momen- tum in his game with Granite’s William Lyburn to score a single point in an extra end for a 6-5 win to reach the semifinal. Lyburn had used the hammer in the 10th to chip his own stone into the 12-foot and then rolled his shooter into the 12-foot on the opposite side to count two and tie things up. McEwen has already defeated Grassie in two previous meetings this week. “Maybe it will be our turn (Sunday),” said Grassie, who lost the 2013 Manitoba final to Jeff Stoughton in Neepawa. “I think the guys are just thrilled to be in this position. There’s no pressure on us. No one expects us to win so I think we’ll be loose and just keep playing the way we’re playing.” He’s joined on the team by third Tyler Drews, second Daryl Evans and lead Rodney Legault. In the afternoon draw, Brandon’s Steve Irwin pushed Lyburn to the 10th end before falling 8-7 to exit the championship. Wiebe had his impressive run skid to a stop after an 8-5 loss to Grassie. No. 3-seed Tanner Horgan of Winnipeg Beach and Jacques Gauthier of Assiniboine Memorial were sent packing Saturday morning. All-stars named The Viterra championship all-star awards were given to McEwen, third Daley Peters of the Ly- burn foursome, Evans and Njegovan. Lyburn was presented with the Pat Spiring Memorial Award, given annually to the curler at the Viterra championship who “exemplifies excel- lence combined with competitive spirit, love of the game, and respect for the spirit and traditions of curling.” jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPJasonBell JASON BELL McEwen meets Grassie in morning semifinal Gunnlaugson into final by applying the pressure MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Skip Jason Gunnlaugson will lead his crew into the final of today’s Viterra Championship MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Skip Mike McEwen and his team will play in this morning’s semifinal at Eric Coy Arena. B_02_Feb-09-20_FP_01.indd B2 2020-02-08 11:36 PM ;