They came about as close as they could get to a playoff spot at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier without actually getting there.
Team Glenn Howard, a wild card entry in the tournament, wrapped up play in the Championship Pool of the 10-day event in Calgary with an 8-4 record following a pair of losses on Saturday.
In Saturday’s afternoon draw, the Howard rink, which was skipped by Wayne Middaugh throughout the tournament due to an injury to Glenn Howard prior to the event, dropped a 6-3 decision to Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue.
Gushue scored a pair with the hammer in the opening end and added two more in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead at the time en route to the win.
Prior to the game, Howard was seen in discussions with tournament officials.
The discussion was about the tournament rocks being “papered” following action on Friday night.
While some teams were aware that the rocks had been treated, the Howard rink was not one of them.
Winnipeg Sun reporter Ted Wyman quoted Howard as saying that his team was not one of the teams who knew that the rocks had been treated with sandpaper following Friday’s games.
The treatment was in response to some players reporting less curl in rocks late in games.
Howard told Wyman his team was unaware of the treatment until after practice, which includes each teams draw to the button to determine the hammer for the opening end.
Gushue won the draw and ultimately took the lead in the opening end with the hammer.
Howard was quoted by Wyman saying “six teams, for sure, before they threw their first rocks for practice, knew the rocks were papered. We weren’t one of them.”
Howard added that he doesn’t have an issue with it happening and the issue is with all teams not knowing it happened but added “it’s not the reason why we lost the game.”
Curling Canada released a statement on the issue Saturday that said, “the rocks at the Brier were touched up late Friday night in response to player comments that there was less curl in the later ends.”
“At that point, there was a communication breakdown, which Curling Canada regrets as none of the teams was officially informed that the rocks had been touched up,” the statement continued. “Two teams approached Chief Ice Technician Greg Ewasko prior to practice to ask if the rocks had been touched up, and he confirmed to them that they had. As is customary, each of the eight teams had nine minutes of practice time prior to the game.”
Curling Canada also said it “will review its procedures going forward to address this issue.”
In Saturday’s evening draw, needing a win to get into a tiebreaker game on Sunday morning, the Howard rink dropped a 7-6 decision to Team Wild Card2, skipped by Kevin Koe.
The game came down to the final rocks.
The teams traded scored throughout the opening six ends, but Koe strung together three straight steals to turn a 4-4 tie into a 7-4 lead heading into the 10th end.
With the hammer, Middaugh just missed a double for three to force an extra end, thus ending the Howard rink’s run in the tournament.
In other Championship Pool action on Saturday, results from the morning draw included Team Saskatchewan, skipped by Matt Dunstone, beating Team Northern Ontario, skipped by Brad Jacobs, 5-4.
Team Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher, beat Team Ontario 8-3, and Team Wild Card2 beat Team Manitoba, skipped by Jason Gunnlaugson 12-4.
In Saturday’s evening draw, Team Saskatchewan beat Team Manitoba 9-6 in eight ends, Team Alberta beat Team Canada 8-2 in eight ends, and Team Wild Card2 beat Team Wild Card3 7-6.
The final standings for the Championship Pool teams were:
- Team Wild Card2 (Kevin Koe): 10-2
- Team Saskatchewan (Matt Dunstone): 9-3
- Team Alberta (Brendan Bottcher): 9-3
- Team Canada (Brad Gushue): 8-4
- Team Wild Card3 (Glenn Howard): 8-4
- Team Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs): 7-5
- Team Ontario (John Epping): 7-5
- Team Manitoba (Jason Gunnlaugson): 6-6
By way of finishing in top spot, the Koe rink earns a spot in Sunday’s final while Saskatchewan and Alberta will meet in semi-final action on Sunday afternoon to determine who Koe will face.
