Harnden eliminated from Brier playoff contention

NEWS RELEASES

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

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Ontario Clinches 1-2 game; Newfoundland earns playoff berth HAMILTON -- Ontario’s Glenn Howard clinched a berth in the page playoff 1 vs 2 game and Brad Gushue clinched a playoff berth here at the Tim Hortons Brier Thursday afternoon.

Howard beat Northern Ontario’s Al Harnden 6-3 to improve his team’s record to 9-1 and clinch first place and a coveted berth in Friday’s 1 vs 2 game, where teams get two chances to get to Sunday’s Brier final.

“This is my favourite game -- the good old 1-2 game that I love to play,” Howard laughed afterward. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Gushue was also pretty happy Thursday afternoon after grinding out an 11-10 win over BC’s Dean Joanisse.

Joanisse appeared to take control in the seventh end with a four-ender that put him up 7-5, but Gushue stormed right back the next end with a three-ender of his own to retake the lead. Not to be outdone, Joanisse than made a quadruple takeout to count three in the ninth end to to take a 10-8 lead coming home.

But Gushue was equal to the task, taking a deuce in 10 and then stealing one more in the extra end to win 11-10.

“Did you see the way Dean played those last couple ends?” asked Gushue. “I thought he singlehandedly kept them in the game...We had a ton of pressure on him and he made two of the best shots I’ve ever seen.

“I can honestly say that.”

The win improved Gushue to 8-3 and guaranteed him a berth in Friday’s playoff round.

In other games on Draw 16, Quebec beat New Brunswick 9-6 and and Saskatchewan beat Yukon/NWT 11-2.

The win by Saskatchewan improved them to 6-4 and kept their playoff hopes alive, while the northerners fell to 5-5, like Northern Ontario, and are now eliminated.

The Brier continues with one final round-robin draw on Thursday evening. Yukon/NWT plays Ontario, Northern Ontario plays Saskatchewan, PEI plays Nova Scotia and Manitoba plays Alberta.

Manitoba, 8-2, could lock up the other berth in the 1-2 game with a win over Alberta. If Alberta wins, they'd clinch a playoff berth. A loss by Alberta and a win by Saskatchewan would set up a tie-breaker game of two teams at 7-4.

The draw is being carried live on TSN, beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. ****************************

Manitoba Clinches Playoff Spot

HAMILTON -- The playoff picture is beginning to come into focus here at the Tim Hortons Brier.

With a 6-4 win Thursday morning over Nova Scotia’s Mark Kehoe, Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton improved to 8-2 and clinched a berth in the page playoffs, which begin Friday.

Ontario’s Glenn Howard, 8-1, clinched his own playoff berth Wednesday evening. Howard was idle Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, both Alberta’s Kevin Martin and Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue clinched at least tiebreaker games with victories Thursday morning.

Martin beat PEI’s Peter Gallant 8-5 to improve to 7-3, while Gushue edged New Brunswick’s Paul Dobson 5-4 to also improve to 7-3 and a share of third place with Martin.

The victory over New Brunswick was Gushue’s sixth straight after opening at 1-3 but the skip wasn’t very happy with how his team played. “We’re going to need to play a lot better then we just did. I don’t think we’re going to get lucky like that again too many more times.

“We just came out flat.”

Martin also sounded grateful to get by his opponent. “That’s a big win for us and now it’s the Manitoba game tonight.”

Stoughton also got a tough test from Nova Scotia. “They played a great game and our guys played pretty good too.”

The stakes in tonight’s Alberta-Manitoba game are simple, according to Stoughton. “If we win, we’re in the 1-2 game. And if we lose, we’re in the 3-4 game.”

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Ontario Clinches Playoff Spot

HAMILTON -- Ontario’s Glenn Howard heads into the final day of the round-robin here at the Tim Hortons Brier in exactly the same position he’s been in since day 1 -- atop the standings.

Howard survived a late-end scare from BC’s Dean Joanisse to win 6-5 and improve to 8-1. Joanisse fell to 3-6 and has now been eliminated from playoff contention.

Howard will head into Thursday one game ahead of Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton in the standings. Stoughton, 7-2, was idle Wednesday night. Howard has guaranteed himself a playoff spot, while Stoughton can now do no worse than a playoff tiebreaker game.

More precarious are the playoff positions of Alberta’s Kevin Martin and Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue, who both head into Thursday tied for third with 6-3 records. The two teams need at least one victory each on Thursday to clinch a tiebreaker, while two wins would guarantee them playoff spots.

Martin defeated Quebec’s Pierre Charette 7-6 Wednesday evening to improve to 6-3. Newfoundland was idle.

Still alive in the playoff hunt but in need of help from other teams are Northern Ontario, NWT/Yukon and Saskatchewan, who all head into Thursday at 5-4.

NWT/Yukon’s Jamie Koe defeated Nova Scotia’s Mark Kehoe 8-5 Wednesday evening to pick up a much needed win, while Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons had his playoff hopes battered in a 7-4 loss to PEI’s Peter Gallant.

Gallant improved to 3-6, while Kehoe fell to 2-7.

The top four teams at the conclusion of the round-robin advance to Friday’s page playoffs. The first and second place teams play each other, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s Brier final and the loser advancing to Saturday’s semi-final.

The third and fourth place teams also play each other Friday, with the winner advancing to the semi-final while the loser is eliminated. ************************************************************