(980 CJME file photo)

By CKOM News - Britton Gray

Curling

Saskatchewan opens the 2024 Brier with three straight wins

Mar 3, 2024 | 5:42 PM

Mike McEwen and his Saskatchewan teammates not only remained perfect on the weekend, but they also passed two of their biggest tests in the round-robin.

On Sunday at the 2024 Montana’s Brier, Saskatchewan knocked off Alberta and four-time Brier champion Kevin Koe with a 6-5 decision. That came after a 7-6 victory over Team Canada’s Brad Gushue on Saturday.

In Sunday’s game, it came down to the final stone thrown by McEwen as his double takeout did just enough to clear out both of Koe’s rocks and leave McEwen’s shooter there for the score — giving a crowd at the Brandt Centre who braved the elements a reason to let out a thunderous roar.

Saskatchewan now has a 3-0 record and remains in the driver’s seat in Pool B.

McEwen put the pressure on Koe early in the game, stealing a point in the second end to get on the scoreboard first.

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Koe got a deuce the next end.

McEwen, who made a number of great shots in Saturday night’s victory over Gushue, continued to have a hot hand in this game.

After Koe made a double, McEwen answered with his own to score two in the fourth. Koe got another two in the sixth with an open hit.

In the eighth end, McEwen had an open draw to get two right back.

In the ninth, McEwen was able to freeze right up to a Koe rock, which forced a draw for one from the Alberta skip.

There were blanks in the first, fifth and seventh ends.

In the morning draw, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher moved to 2-0 after a 8-3 win over the Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin, Trevor Bonot and Northern Ontario defeated Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Symonds 7-6, Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers beat Ontario’s Scott Howard 7-6, and Matt Dunstone’s Manitoba rink beat B.C.’s Catlin Schneider 8-5.

In the other games in the afternoon draw, Gushue beat Julien Tremblay of Quebec 9-7, the Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe downed Nova Scotia’s Matthew Manuel 8-7, and Alberta’s Aaron Sluchinski defeated Nunavut’s Shane Latimer 12-10 after being down 5-1 after three ends.

Saskatchewan (3-0) is next in action on Monday at 7 p.m. against Nova Scotia.