Harnden off to winning start at the Brier

NEWS RELEASES

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

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Champs open with a victory Reigning Canadian and world champion Glenn Howard opened his title defence at the Tim Hortons Brier with a victory on a snowy Saturday afternoon at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

Howard and his Coldwater and District Curling Club foursome — third Richard Hart, second Brent Laing and lead Craig Savill — shook off a slow start to roll up an 8-4 victory over Bob Ursel of B.C.

The Lotuslanders had jumped out to an early 3-1 lead with a fourth-end deuce, but Ontario bounced back with singles in the fifth and sixth ends, a stolen deuce in the seventh and three more in the eighth and cruised home with the victory.

"That was a great character-builder, I think," said Howard. "I thought the first five ends, B.C. outplayed us. They played terrific, and we played OK. We missed a couple shots and they capitalized. We had our hands full. The thing is, we hung in there, put a little pressure on them and Jim (B.C.'s last-rock thrower Jim Cotter) missed a couple shots we didn't expect him to miss."

In other first-draw play, hometown favourite Kerry Burtnyk sent the fans home happy after knocking off Chad Cowan of the Yukon/Northwest Territories 6-5. Burtnyk opened the game with two in the first end — he had a chance at three but rolled out on an open hit — and never looked back against the Northerners.

Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden got out to a winning start; he stole a pair in the seventh end and hung on for an 8-5 triumph over Prince Edward Island's Peter Gallant.

In the other first-draw tilt, Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons scored four in the fifth end on the way to a 7-6 win over Brad Gushue of Newfoundland/Labrador.

Alberta's Kevin Martin, New Brunswick's James Grattan, Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse and Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard all had first-round byes.

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Perfect start for the home team The hometown heroes couldn't have asked for a better start to the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship in Winnipeg.

Kerry Burtnyk's Manitoba champs capped a perfect 2-0 day at the MTS Centre with a 6-3 triumph over Peter Gallant of Prince Edward Island in a game in which Burtnyk was scored at 92 per cent while vice-skip Dan Kammerlock was at 91.

Burtnyk and Co. stole singles in the first three ends en route to the victory, marking a dandy debut for the three rookie members of the team — Kammerlock, second Richard Daneault and lead Garth Smith.

"I was very impressed with the way they curled today," said Burtnyk, a two-time Brier champion. "Not only Brier rookies, but curling in front of their hometown crowd, I think they really answered some questions today."

The Islanders dropped to 0-2 with the setback.

Manitoba shares the lead with Ontario's Glenn Howard, who moved to 2-0 by taking down Brad Gushue of Newfoundland/Labrador 8-1. Ontario stole a pair in the third end when Gushue was heavy on a draw, and added a fifth-end deuce to put the game out of reach, dropping Newfoundland/Labrador to 0-2.

In other Draw 2 play, Alberta's Kevin Martin opened the Brier with a solid 6-5 win over 2006 champ Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec, a game in which Martin was scored at 93 per cent while third John Morris was at 96 per cent, despite breaking a bone in his throwing hand two weeks ago. It was the opening game for both teams.

In the other evening-draw game, Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse made a runback double takeout to score three in the fourth end and hung on for an 8-7 victory over James Grattan of New Brunswick in the first assignment for both squads.

Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden (1-0), Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons (1-0), B.C.'s Bob Ursel and Chad Cowan of the Yukon/Northwest Territories (0-1) all had byes in the late draw.

Play at the the Tim Hortons Brier resumes Sunday, with games scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. (all times Eastern; curltv.com will show the morning draw, while the latter two draws will be on TSN. ***********************************************************