For the Love of Mike!

McEwen’s hot hand leads Team Saskatchewan to Montana’s Brier final

The province of Saskatchewan hasn’t enjoyed a win by its team at the Canadian men’s curling championship in more than four decades, but the long drought could be coming to an end.

Skip Mike McEwen, 43, guided his Team Saskatchewan to the final of the 2024 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, by defeating Team Alberta-Bottcher, skipped by Brendan Bottcher, 7-3 in the semifinal Sunday afternoon in Regina.

The win springboards McEwen and his team from the Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon into Sunday’s championship game where they will attempt to put a Saskatchewan team back in the winner’s circle for the first time since 1980 when skip Rick Folk turned the trick.

To do it, they will have to deal with the formidable presence of skip Brad Gushue’s Team Canada of St. John’s, N.L. The defending champs will attempt to win a third straight Canadian men’s curling championship and become just the second team ever to win three straight Brier titles; Team Randy Ferbey of Alberta did it from 2001 through 2003. It would also represent a record-tying sixth Montana’s Brier triumph for Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker.

The final goes Sunday at 6 p.m. (All times Central Standard).

“I can’t imagine a more electric situation,”  said McEwen, supported by third Colton Flasch, front-end brothers Kevin and Daniel Marsh, alternate Pat Simmons and coached by Brent Laing. “Brad is so loved by Canadian curling fans, so to have that matchup in the final, that’s what everyone dreams of, both the athletes and the fan experience. It’s going to be wild tonight.”

Local fans have embraced McEwen – the import on the team – and roared their approval whenever he makes a clutch shot. And he made several of them against Team Alberta-Bottcher, much to the delight of a large pro-Saskatchewan crowd at the Brandt Centre.

McEwen, this year’s first team all-star skip and playing in his ninth Montana’s Brier, took immediate control of the game, opening the scoring with a well-played third end. It featured a raise-back double and then a tap-back in the four-foot for three by the skipper.

“Couldn’t control myself after made those two great shots,” said McEwen. “The second one being a total team shot. It was just too good.”

Team Saskatchewan increased its lead to 6-2 with another great shot in the seventh end. McEwen chipped out an Alberta corner freeze and stayed for three more points.

McEwen finished things off in the ninth with a lined-up, three-rock raise to kick out Alberta’s shot on the button.

“Obviously it was amazing to make some crazy shots,” said McEwen, “but you have to throw it good and you need a little bit of lady fortune on your side to get some of those angles right.”

McEwen feels he has the team to win.

“Grateful that after all the time I feel like I’m good enough, my team’s good enough,” he said. “Fifteen years of really believing you could win and that belief has never been higher. The belief and the desire definitely got higher the last 12 months.”

Team Saskatchewan hot shooting — they checked in at 97 per cent — was the story of the game and had Bottcher’s experienced team — featuring vice-skip Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert, and alternate Paul Webster – back on its heels.

It was a crushing loss for Team Alberta-Bottcher, the No. 1-ranked team in Canada and No. 2 in the world.

“They came out and played great out of the gate,” said Bottcher. “They got a big three-ender there and kind of set the tone for the game. Then they followed it up by making a ton of shots the rest of the game. They were a tough team to beat today and they’ll be a tough team to beat tonight.

“We had a few chances and weren’t able to capitalize and that’s what some of these games come down to.”

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/

TSN and RDS will provide complete coverage of the 2024 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule. Live coverage is also available for international streaming on TSN’s YouTube channel.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/?lang=fr