McEwen, Saskatchewan suffer first loss at 2024 Brier

Saskatchewan couldn’t find an answer to Nova Scotia, which led to the green team’s first loss at the 2024 Brier.

Mike McEwen’s rink was defeated by Matthew Manuel 7-4 at the Canadian men’s curling championship at the Brandt Centre.

“We just collectively didn’t create enough chances and we certainly left some points out there,” McEwen said after his team fell to 3-1. “We certainly left some points out there. That’s all it was — we just needed to convert one more two-point end. We certainly had a chance mid-game and didn’t convert.

“They didn’t really outplay us, we kind of beat ourselves. We had a couple of easy twos where we just didn’t get the rocks in the house, literally.”

After the game, McEwen admitted the ice was a little “wonky.”

“I don’t know if it was an airflow or temperature thing but that was the most inconsistent the surface has been,” McEwen said. “We’ve only played four games but that was night and day from the weekend. I see why there are so many upsets today.

“Hopefully he can get the surface better as we go because that’s not ideal and what we want to see. Ice making is really tough — the weather doesn’t co-operate all the time and I thought this was a surface issue and not a rock texturing issue.”

It capped off a day of upsets at the Brier, which included Jamie Koe’s Northwest Territories rink defeating Brad Gushue’s Team Canada 7-5 and Northern Ontario’s Trevor Bonot beating the No. 1-ranked Brendan Bottcher rink 6-5.

“You saw some really uncharacteristic misses by high-end players today so I think it’s both,” McEwen said. “Obviously, the field is capable — there’s a lot of teams that are capable of beating some of the best teams. Let’s be honest: They aren’t capable of winning the event but there is a heck of a lot of teams that, on any given game, can beat the very best team in the field.

“You don’t see Bottcher miss a draw to the eight-foot by 10 feet. I think that’s a product of the surface being a bit tough. We missed some of those draws by 10 feet and that’s why we weren’t able to convert enough offence. That’s where they beat us — they had a better feel of getting the rocks into the house than we did.”

Saskatchewan got on the board first with a double takeout that just got enough of a Nova Scotia rock out to score two.

Nova Scotia answered right back with Manuel getting a draw for two in the third.

Saskatchewan ran into some adversity in the fifth with Nova Scotia able to steal a point.

McEwen answered back in the sixth with a runback and stick for a single.

Manuel tried to get a double takeout to score two but only got one so he had to settle for a single in the seventh.

In the eighth, McEwen was able to make a double and sit the rock near the button to salvage one point.

Nova Scotia tapped its rock ahead which gave it a single-point lead heading into the 10th.

The first and fourth ends were blanked.

While it was Saskatchewan’s first loss, the home team still controls its own destiny. If McEwen and his mates win out, they will finish first in Pool B.

“We lost a game to probably (a team) which may not affect us as much,” McEwen said. “If you’re going to lose one — it sucks and we wanted that one — but we have the head-to-head against Gushue.”

In the morning draw, aside from Jamie Koe’s win over Gushue, Manuel defeated Alberta’s Aaron Sluchinski 6-2, Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith beat Nunavut’s Shane Latimer 10-3, and Quebec’s Julien Tremblay defeated Alberta’s Kevin Koe 11-6.

In the afternoon, Ontario’s Scott Howard beat Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Symonds 7-3, B.C.’s Catlin Schneider downed New Brunswick’s James Grattan 6-3, Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone beat the Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin 15-2, and Bonot beat Bottcher 6-5.

In the other evening draws, Jamie Koe defeated Latimer 9-2, Gushue defeated Kevin Koe 8-3 and Smith defeated Sluchinski 8-5.

Saskatchewan will try to bounce back against Sluchinski on Tuesday at 2 p.m.