ST. JOHN’S, N.S. — It was a bit of the good and a bit of the bad for Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen and Kelly Knapp on the first full day of competition Saturday at the Montana’s Brier national men’s curling championship.
Saskatoon’s McEwen opened his round robin draw in Pool B with an 11-5 win over Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe, while Regina’s Knapp didn’t have as much luck in Pool A, taking Olympic champion Brad Jacobs down to his final shot before falling 8-6
McEwen and his Nutana foursome of third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh, lead Daniel Marsh, alternate Brent Laing and coach Pat Simmons didn’t leave much to chance against one of the most veteran skips in the Brier field.
After the teams exchanged single points the first two ends, McEwen picked up a deuce in the third end and added another two in the fourth for a 5-1 lead. Koe got a pair back in the fifth, but a three-spot by McEwen in the sixth made it an 8-3 Saskatchewan lead, and they’d steal three more the next end to make things all but academic. Koe scored two in the eighth, and the teams would shake hands.
Dan Marsh led the team curling 94 percent, while Kevin Marsh was at 91, Flasch 88 and McEwen 86.
Standings in Pool B after four draws are as follows:
Manitoba (Dunstone) 1-0
Saskatchewan (McEwen) 1-0
Alberta (Koe) 1-0
Northern Ontario (MacEwen) 1-0
British Columbia (Tanaka) 0-0
Manitoba (Calvert) 0-1
New Brunswick (Grattan) 0-1
Yukon (Scoffin) 0-1
Northwest Territories (Koe) 0-1
McEwen plays a pair of games Sunday as he takes on Alberta’s Kevin Koe during the 7 a.m. draw and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin at 5 p.m.
It was a tough draw right off the hop for Knapp and his Highland rink of third Brennen Jones, second Dustin Kidby, lead Mat Ring and alternate Trent Knapp, but they got off to a solid start against the reigning Brier champs.
Jacobs had the hammer in the first end and the teams exchanged single points the first three frames before Knapp scored two in the fourth and stole another in the fifth to lead 4-2 at the break.
Team Canada took control of things with three in the sixth, though, and after holding Knapp to one in the seventh, picked up two more in the eighth to lead 7-5. Knapp got one back in the ninth, and Jacobs would successfully draw full four foot with his final shot in the 10th to score one and prevent an extra end.
It was a bit of a tough start for the Tankard champs’ back end, as Knapp curled 66 per cent and Jones 73 per cent, with Kidby leading the team at 86 and Ring hitting 85.
Standings in Pool A after four draws are as follows:
Canada (Jacobs) 2-0
Newfoundland (Gushue) 2-0
Ontario (King) 2-0
Quebec (Menard) 1-1
Newfoundland (Young) 1-1
Saskatchewan (Knapp) 0-1
Nova Scotia (Thompson) 0-1
Prince Edward Island (Smith) 0-2
Nunavut (Samagalski) 0-2
Knapp plays a single game on Sunday as they take on Nova Scotia’s Kendal Thompson at 1 p.m.
Be sure to keep an eye on www.curling.ca for scores and standings all tournament long.
