EDMONTON — It wasn’t all that long ago that Brad Gushue’s Rink out of the Bally Haly Curling Club in St. John’s was on the edge of disaster at the Tim Hortons Brier.
An 8-4 loss against Northwest Territories in their fifth game dropped Gushue to a 3-2 record, stunning a city and province that had great expectations for their hometown team.
In hindsight, that loss would be a blessing in disguise. Gushue was fuming after it. In his brief post-game comments he admitted that the team had perhaps gotten caught up in throwing a party rather than winning a Canadian curling title.
Everything in that moment changed. A heated team meeting took place. They’ve never looked back.
“I think we’ve grown as a team this last month,” said third, Mark Nichols. “We’ve learned a lot about each other and what we can do in big moments and in big situations. The Brier is a prime example.”
Since then, between the Brier and worlds, the Gushue foursome hasn’t lost. It’s now 20 consecutive wins.
“It’s going to take a hell of a game from someone to beat us,” skip Brad Gushue said.
The skip is brimming with confidence.
Imagine this. Just five short weeks ago Brad Gushue had never captured a Brier or world championship. In his 14th appearance at the Canadian men’s curling championship he finally did it. Now he’s one win away claiming a world title. Should the now veteran skip win Sunday night in Edmonton, it’ll be historic.
Canada skip Brad Gushue makes a shot during the page 1-2 playoff against Sweden. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
Gushue would become the first-ever skip in the history of the game to win a world junior title, an Olympic gold medal, and a world curling title.
“I want to be a world champion. It’s one of the things missing,” he said. “And more so what our team has done over the last three years in particular to get to this point and the work we’ve put into the game.”
Brier title win for the Rock
Gushue’s Rink captured Newfoundland and Labrador’s first Brier title since Jack MacDuff and his team did it in Regina in 1976.
What made it even more special for the team is that it took place in St. John’s. Every game the hometown team played in was a party, people packed into the Mile One Centre for every draw, cheering wildly for every Gushue shot made.
After a nail-biting 7-6 Brier win, the party spilled across the street into the Brier Patch, where thousands of people waited until 2am to celebrate with the Gushue team.
Gushue even picked up the Brier Tankard and passed it to the throng of fans. The trophy crowd-surfed around the Patch.
It was more than just a game. It was for the entire province. Now at Worlds, it’s for the entire country.
“We want to cap this off,” said Walker. “It’s been quite the story-book year that’s for sure with everything that’s gone on. We’re here now and we want to win.”
Each member is critical
The Gushue four all play a crucial role in the team’s success, and each one will tell you that.
Lead Geoff Walker, from Beaverlodge, Alta., has been a part of the team since the 2011-12 season. Now he’s playing for a World Championship in the same province he learned how to play the sport in.
Brad Gushue and the rest of team Canada take part in a team practice. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
I dreamed of this when I started curling competitively but realistically it’s obviously some long odds. I worked hard and got on a great team.”
Second Brett Gallant, from Charlottetown, PEI, has been alongside Gushue for the past five seasons. He moved from third to second when Nichols rejoined the team three years ago.
“I think when it’s all done we’ll look back at it as an unbelievable time in our lives,” Gallant said.
“A hometown Brier and basically a hometown worlds in Edmonton which is one of the biggest curling cities there is.”
There there’s Mark Nichols. The team’s third and pride of Labrador City, Nichols has been with Gushue since 1998. They’ve been through a lot of battles together. But Nichols says it’s the past year that has really shaped this team.
“The last 12 months for this team has been a roller coaster,” Nichols said. “From the moment we lost that Brier final last year we talked about getting back to that Brier final.”
Gushue and Nichols were part of that Olympic gold-medal winning team from 2006.
The skip knows how valuable each member of the team is.
“I think we all bring different qualities. Geoff is quiet and level-headed. Sometimes you have to check if he has a heartbeat in the big moments which is good,” Gushue said.
“Brett has that young excitement, enthusiasm and energy which is great.”
He then talked about his relationship with longtime teammate Nichols.
“Mark and I bring the experience. Mark works so well with the guys on the front-end. He’s a great conduit between those guys and myself.”
Finally, Gushue is showing a lot of introspection at this year’s world championship.
“I’ve matured over the last numbers of years into a leader. I think it all gels into a pretty good team.”
A pretty good team that can become the first-ever to go undefeated to win a men’s world curling title since it became a 12-team format in 2005.
