McEwen drops 1-2 qualifier to Bottcher at Montana’s Brier

Saskatchewan suffered only its second loss of the 2024 Montana’s Brier on Friday, but it can’t afford another one.

Mike McEwen’s Saskatoon Nutana foursome lost 9-7 to Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher in a 1-2 Page playoff qualifier in front of a close-to-full Brandt Centre.

The loss drops McEwen into a last-chance 3-4 Page qualifier against Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories on Friday evening. The loser of that game will be eliminated from the Canadian men’s curling championship.

In the other game Friday afternoon, Team Canada’s Brad Gushue downed Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers 9-7.

Gushue and Bottcher will meet in the 1-2 Page playoff game Saturday evening. Carruthers will face Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone in the other 3-4 qualifier on Friday evening.

McEwen had finished in first place in Pool B with a 7-1 round-robin record. Bottcher was second in Pool A at 6-2.

The 10th end of their game brought some controversy after an Alberta rock was burned by lead Ben Hebert.

As that shot played out, Alberta’s rock hit a guard a little off and knocked out both of Bottcher’s rocks that had been counting in the four-foot. But because the shooter had been burned just before it passed the hog line, all the rocks were replaced.

Bottcher said after the game that it wasn’t his first burned rock and likely won’t be his last.

“All you can do is take a breath and continue on,” he said.

He explained the rock had picked halfway down the sheet.

“On a peel-weight shot, we’re playing a Plan B and only had a couple seconds and the wrong guy was sweeping, so the guys just got a little bit tangled and knocked brooms when they were switching, and the two brooms hit and one of the brooms hit the rock,” he said.

Saskatchewan started out the game with the hammer and picked up one in the first after a draw to the button from McEwen on his last shot.

Alberta picked up two in the second end after the freeze McEwen was going for on his last rock failed to curl enough and sat out without backing. Bottcher threw an open hit to count his two.

A miss from Bottcher in the third gave Saskatchewan an opening to pick up two.

Bottcher was looking for a double across the house but hit the first Saskatchewan stone a little too full and ended up taking out his own stone. That left Saskatchewan sitting one and McEwen made an open draw for two, with the crowd’s cheering and clapping getting louder as the rock made its way down the ice.

In the fourth end Alberta traded off, picking up another two. Bottcher made a triple with his first rock, taking out the Saskatchewan stones counting in the back of the four-foot and another to the back of the house – that left Alberta sitting two.

McEwen went for a hit and roll on his last shot but rolled to the outside and left Alberta with shot rock, and Bottcher made a draw to pick up the deuce.

Saskatchewan was sitting two with two rocks splitting the house going into the last two shots of the end in the fifth. Bottcher threw a hit and his shooter sat about half under cover and McEwen made a hit on that rock to score two for Saskatchewan.

Alberta again picked up two points in the sixth end with a simple hit and sit from Bottcher on his last stone.

Saskatchewan blanked the seventh end. McEwen made a hit on a rock out of the rings to get rid of the only counting rock – Bottcher had thrown it to sit just at the very edge of the 12-foot, half-hidden behind another of its own rocks.

McEwen was likely hoping for a big end in the eighth but it didn’t come together. A lot of rocks ended up crowding the house, lined up top to bottom just to the left of the button.

For his first shot, Bottcher threw a bump to sit on the button, and McEwen tried to answer with a hit but it didn’t curl enough and the Alberta rock jammed on another stone and McEwen’s rock rolled away.

For his second shot, Bottcher made a draw that just barely covered the pin. McEwen tried to bump the outside edge of the only Saskatchewan rock that was in the mix but missed, leaving Alberta with two points.

Saskatchewan made up a little ground in the ninth end. McEwen doubled two Alberta stones with his first to sit two for Saskatchewan, with one under cover.

Bottcher hit the shot rock and rolled just under the other Saskatchewan rock at the edge of the eight, but it was still shot. For his last shot, McEwen managed to pick the Alberta rock out and stick around to pick up two points.

After the situation with the burned rock, Saskatchewan didn’t manage to get its momentum going and McEwen missed his last shot, knocking into a guard, and Alberta took the point.

“Out of my hand, I liked how I threw it … (It) just missed by half an inch or so,” McEwen said after the game.

The McEwen team was rushing after the game to get ready for the 7 p.m. contest. Third Colton Flasch said the team just needs to keep doing what it’s doing.

“We’re playing well. (To) come out (with) maybe a little better start tonight would be good and just let her go,” he said.