Back-to-back last rock wins on Tuesday have Penetanguishene’s Glenn Howard in a good position at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary.
The Howard rink, with Wayne Middaugh serving as skip for Howard, who is serving as an alternate at the event due to injury, picked up a pair of important wins to move to 4-1 at the 10-day event.
Both wins came on dramatic shots by Middaugh.
Middaugh made a double takeout with his final shot to score a pair and lift the Wild Card team to an important victory.
“We got very fortunate that Mike’s rock paper ticked the top on,” Middaugh said of McEwen’s final shot in media availability shared by Curling Canada. “It ended up in a really good spot for us. It was very fortunate that that’s the way it worked out. As it turned out, I just had to throw it hard somewhere down the edge of the centre line and all of the rocks were in the right spots.”
Middaugh also had plenty of praise for the rest of the team following the game, including high praise for third Scott Howard.
“He actually made the shot that won us the game,” Middaugh said. “It was his rock that was shot rock at the end of the tenth end. It was just one great shot after another. I give a lot of credit to the guys in that game. I missed a bad one in eight and they hung in there and kept pushing me along.”
The McEwen rink had pulled ahead 5-4 in the eighth end after stealing a pair.
Middaugh blanked the ninth end, setting the stage for the late heroics.
In the evening draw, Middaugh came through again on his final shot in 10 as the Howard rink, which includes second David Mathers and lead Tim March in addition to the Howards, beat Team British Columbia, skipped by Steve Laycock, 4-3.
Trailing 3-2 through eight ends, a blank in nine set up the dramatics in 10.
Middaugh credited the sweeping of Mathers and March following the win over Laycock.
“My job is to get it close and then throw it to the sweepers,” Middaugh said. “They’re super strong horses. Davey and Timmy have made more than one for me already this week.”
Next up is a game against Team New Brunswick, skipped by James Grattan, on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. (eastern time).
Other Pool A scores from the morning draw saw Team Manitoba, skipped by Jason Gunnlaugson, beat Team Northwest Territories, skipped by Greg Skauge 7-4.
Team New Brunswick, skipped by James Grattan, beat Team Yukon, skipped by Dustin Mikkelsen 8-3.
Team Northern Ontario, skipped by Brad Jacobs, got a pair in the 10th end on a measurement to beat Team British Columbia, skipped by Steve Laycock, 8-7.
Other Pool A action in the evening draw saw Team Northern Ontario beat Team Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher, 7-5.
Team Manitoba beat Team New Brunswick 8-4.
Team Northwest Territories got in the win column with a 9-5 win over Team Yukon.
Standings in Pool A heading into Wednesday are:
- Team Manitoba (Jason Gunnlaugson): 5-0
- Team Wild Card2 (Glenn Howard): 4-1
- Team New Brunswick (James Grattan): 4-2
- Team Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs): 4-2
- Team Alberta (Brendan Bottcher): 3-2
- Team Wild Card1 (Mike McEwen): 2-3
- Team British Columbia (Steve Laycock): 1-4
- Team Northwest Territories (Gregory Skauge): 1-4)
- Team Yukon (Dustin Mikkelsen): 0-6
Pool B saw four games on Tuesday.
Team Ontario, skipped by John Epping, scored five in the third end to open up a 6-1 lead en route to a 9-4 win over Team Newfoundland and Labrador, skipped by Greg Smith.
Team Prince Edward Island, skipped by Eddie MacKenzie, scored three in the ninth end in a 7-4 win over Team Nunavut, skipped by Peter Mackey.
Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, beat Team Nova Scotia, skipped by Scott McDonald, 8-6. McDonald is filling in at the event for Jamie Murphy.
Team Saskatchewan, skipped by Matt Dunstone, beat Team Quebec, skipped by Michael Fournier, 9-6.
Standings in Pool B following Tuesday’s action are:
- Team Wild Card2 (Kevin Koe): 5-0
- Team Ontario (John Epping): 4-1
- Team Saskatchewan (Matt Dunstone): 4-1
- Team Canada (Brad Gushue): 2-2
- Team Nova Scotia (Scott McDonald): 3-3
- Team Quebec (Michael Fournier): 3-3
- Team Prince Edward Island (Eddie McKenzie): 1-4
- Team Newfoundland and Labrador (Greg Smith): 1-5
- Team Nunavut (Peter Mackey): 0-5
The top four teams in each pool will advance to the Championship Pool, which is set for Friday and Saturday.
Following the conclusion of the Championship Pool, the top three teams will advance to the playoff round and the team with the best record at that point will advance directly into the final on Sunday night.
