Harnden suffers a pair of losses on Monday

NEWS RELEASES

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

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Newfoundland/Labrador getting into the hunt Newfoundland/Labrador's Brad Gushue is starting to make some noise at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship in Winnipeg.

After losing their first two games at the MTS Centre, Gushue and his St. John's foursome — third Mark Nichols, second Chris Schille and lead Dave Noftall — have put together a three-game win streak, including Monday night's 10-7 extra-end win over Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard.

Newfoundland/Labrador found itself down 5-2 after five ends, giving up a steal of two in the third end, but rallied to tie the game with a 10th-end deuce. And in the 11th, Gushue made a double takeout and forced Menard to attempt a wide inturn draw to bite the button that failed to curl enough, giving Gushue a steal of three.

"It was really bad at the beginning, but again we seemed to hang tough and made some real big shots in the extra end," said Gushue. "That was a big one; not exactly the way we wanted to do it, but once you do it that way, it's pretty satisfying. Those are the games you need to win championships. We had them at the (2005 Olympic) Trials, we had them at the Olympics and even at the provincials. You need to squeak a few out and maybe win a couple you're not supposed to win."

In other Draw 8 play, B.C.'s Bob Ursel capped a two-win day by doubling Chad Cowan of the Yukon/Northwest Territories 10-5. B.C., 2-3, opened with deuces in the first and third ends before taking control with four in the fourth end. The Territories dropped to 1-4 with the loss.

Prince Edward Island's Peter Gallant earned his first win of the Brier, stealing three in the sixth end and scoring six more in the eighth in a 13-3 win over Brian Rafuse of Nova Scotia, leaving both teams with 1-4 records.

And in the other late-shift game, New Brunswick's James Grattan made a delicate come-around tap with his final rock of the 10th end to score the winning point in a 9-8 victory over Eric Harnden of Northern Ontario. New Brunswick improved to 2-3 with the win, while Northern Ontario suffered its fourth loss in five games.

The top four teams in the standings — Ontario's Glenn Howard (5-0), Alberta's Kevin Martin (5-0), Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk (4-1) and Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons (4-1) all had byes in Draw 8.

Play at the the Tim Hortons Brier resumes Tuesday, 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.

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Ontario, Alberta on top of the pack It's down to two teams with unblemished records at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

While defending champ Glenn Howard of Ontario was handing Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk his first loss of the round-robin, Alberta's Kevin Martin kept pace with a victory over Peter Gallant of P.E.I. in Draw 7 play Monday afternoon.

Ontario stole single points in the second and third ends, and never gave Manitoba a chance to generate offence, en route to a 7-2 victory that gave Ontario a 5-0 record, while Manitoba dropped to 4-1.

"It was uncharacteristic of Kerry; he was missing shots that Kerry Burtnyk doesn't miss," said Howard. "But it was a nice time for us for him to have an average game."

Alberta, meanwhile, opened the game with a deuce and added four more in the third and never looked pack in handing the Gallant foursome its fourth straight loss.

"That was a strong effort," said Martin, who plays Ontario on Thursday morning. "I don't know that there were any misses the first five ends. But I think I can play a bit better myself."

In other Draw 7 play, Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons bounced back from a morning loss to Alberta by beating Brian Rafuse of Nova Scotia 8-5. Saskatchewan improved to 4-1, tied for third place with Manitoba, while Nova Scotia dropped to 1-3.

And Newfoundland/Labrador's Brad Gushue got to the .500 mark with a 9-5 win over Chad Cowan of the Yukon/Northwest Territories. Newfoundland/Labrador is at 2-2 while the Territories dropped to 1-3.

B.C.'s Bob Ursel (1-3), New Brunswick's James Grattan (1-3), Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden (1-3) and Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard (1-3) all had byes.

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Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario remain on top Four teams entered Monday's morning draw at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship with unbeaten records, but only three survived.

Alberta's Kevin Martin knocked off Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons 7-4 in the first showdown of the Brier, a battle of 3-0 teams at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

Martin and his Edmonton foursome, third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert, opened the game with back-to-back stolen points, then stole two more in the fifth end en route to the victory.

"Well, it's Saskatchewan," said Martin. "Simmons is good, and we were pretty keyed up this morning. Everyone was feeling it in the dressing room. That's pretty important. And we played well. Good, solid effort."

Ontario's Glenn Howard, meanwhile, kept pace with Alberta by taking down Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden 9-4. The reigning Canadian and world champs put up deuces in the third and seventh ends, sandwiched around a three in the fifth end to improve to 4-0. Northern Ontario dropped to 1-3.

"You can't get any better than that, and that's a good thing," said Howard. "I'm really pleased; we're playing well, we're doing what we have to do in winning games."

That set up an afternoon clash with Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk, who also improved to 4-0 by beating James Grattan of New Brunswick 8-3 on Monday morning.

"We have to play well," said Howard. "They're 4-0 and we have our hands full. Kerry is a wily veteran, and they're a great team, so we have to be on the top of our game."

New Brunswick dropped to 1-3 after the loss.

In other morning play, B.C.'s Bob Ursel picked up his first win in four games with a 6-5 win over Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard, leaving both teams with 1-3 records.

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