Down go the Champs!

Team Asselin ousts two-time defending PointsBet Invitational champions in Sweep 16

Being matched with the two-time defending champs, a team that had never lost a game at the PointsBet Invitational, might have seemed like a daunting prospect to many teams.

But Félix Asselin and his team of Quebec veterans saw it as an opportunity, and it was one they made good on Thursday night at the WinSport Event Centre in Calgary, stopping the three-peat bid of Team Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg with a dramatic 5-4 Sweep 16 victory at the 2024 PointsBet Invitational.

“We have confidence in our abilities; we knew we were just as favoured as they were in this game,” said Asselin. “We’ve played well already this year, so it was just about getting on the ice, playing our best and see what happens. It was a tight game, went down to the wire — that was a good one.”

Asselin is the youngster of the group at 29; he’s backed up by vice-skip Jean-Michel Ménard (48), second Martin Crête (38) and lead Jean-François Trépanier (35); they play out of the Glenmore, Valleyfield, Etchemin and Des Collines clubs.

Team Asselin broke open what had been a tight game by scoring the game’s first deuce in the ninth end, coming on the heels of Carruthers missing on a raise takeout.

But savvy veteran that he is, Carruthers came back with a deuce in the 10th to tie it and force a draw-to-the-button tiebreaker — reminiscent of the way his team won the 2023 PointsBet Invitational in Oakville, Ont., when it scored three in the 10th end, and Carruthers outdrew Matt Dunstone in the tiebreaker.

This time, though, Asselin was able to settle his nerves to make a perfect draw to bite the button after Carruthers landed in the back four.

I had good draws all game; I was confident in that turn,” said Asselin. “It was the (pre-game) shootout turn I took, so I was confident in throwing the outturn, even though it seemed like the whole end was played the other way.”

The 10th end could have decided the game had Asselin made a double takeout with his last rock, but he barely missed to allow Carruthers to draw for the pair.

Was it tough to forget the missed double that would have ended the game?

“I don’t know,” replied Asselin with a chuckle. “Maybe ask my girlfriend (Quebec women’s skip Laurie St-Georges, with whom Asselin won the 2022 Canadian Mixed Championship. “Maybe she’ll tell you I have a short memory, which is very true. But we played that whole game to have a chance, and we had one there and just missed a little bit. I knew I had my draw weight (for the tiebreaker draw), and I knew we were going to make it.”

With the victory, Team Asselin, seeded 11th in the 16-team field, advances to meet third-seeded Team Mike McEwen of Saskatoon in the Elite 8 Friday at 8 p.m. (all times Mountain).

The win earned Team Asselin $3,000, and it’ll have a chance to add $6,000 with a win over Team McEwen.

“Mike has played a lot this year; I think he has two wins already (the Saville Shootout in Edmonton and the ATB Okotoks Classic in Okotoks, Alta.), so it’s a good test again,” said Asselin. “But that’s why we’re here, it’s why we came all the way from Quebec — to play good games on good ice. and we’ll happily play Mike tomorrow.”

In other games Thursday night, Team McEwen raced to an 11-3 win over No. 14 seed Team Kenan Wipf of Calgary; the second-seeded Team Brad Jacobs (Calgary) turned back No. 15 Team Jacob Horgan (Etobicoke, Ont.) 9-2; and 10th-seed Team Owen Purcell (Halifax) was an 11-6 winner over No. 7 Team Aaron Sluchinski of Airdrie, Alta.

The 2024 PointsBet Invitational continues with the women’s Elite 8 draw at 1 p.m. and the men’s Elite 8 at 8 p.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 PointsBet Invitational are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS will provide coverage of the 2024 PointsBet Invitational. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2024 PointsBet Invitational, go to www.curling.ca/2024pointsbetinvitational/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2024pointsbetinvitational/nouvelles/?lang=fr