Jacobs 2-0 at latest Grand Slam event

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs is off to a strong start at the latest Grand Slam of Curling event, the National, which began on Tuesday night in Conception Bay South, Nfld.

The Jacobs rink, who won the last Grand Slam event, the Tour Challenge, in early-November, is off to a 2-0 start through two days of the six-day National.

Jacobs picked up a 7-3 win over Winnipeg’s Braden Calvert on Wednesday night to remain unbeaten.

The Jacobs rink shuffled its roster for the event as E.J. Harnden, who normally serves as the second for the Jacobs rink, has moved into the position of third for the Grand Slam.

Harnden told TheGrandSlamOfCurling.com’s Jonathan Brazeau on Tuesday night that he was excited to serve as the third for the event.

“I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little bit excited and a little bit nervous at the same time,” Harnden. “Obviously, not wanting to play third under the circumstance but just taking advantage of the opportunity, trying to do as best as I can and enjoy it as best I can. I think step one is complete. Get the win under our belt, get comfortable out there calling line and having some fun and we did that today.”

Matt Wozniak, a mainstay with Mike McEwen’s Winnipeg-based rink for years, is serving as second for the event and Harnden called the veteran “a perfect fit.”

“When we knew we’d have to find someone for this Slam, we wanted to find someone that we could have a lot of fun with and enjoy our time on the ice with,” Harnden said. “Obviously, a really good player at the same time and Matt was a no-brainer and a perfect fit for this team. I know I’ve battled against Matt at second for so many years, he’s a great player, so it’s nice to be on his side this time.”

The Jacobs rink, which also includes Ryan Harnden as lead, competed with Marc Kennedy as its third for the recently-completed Canada Cup in the absence of Ryan Fry.

Holding a 2-1 lead through four ends against Calvert on Wednesday night, Jacobs stole a pair in the fifth to increase his lead to 4-1.

After Calvert cut into the lead by scoring one in the sixth and stealing one in the seventh, Jacobs sealed the win with three in the eighth end.

In his opener on Tuesday night, Jacobs picked up a 7-5 win over Scott McDonald of Kingston, Ont. 

Trailing 5-4 after surrendering steals in the fourth and fifth ends, McDonald scored one in the sixth to tie things up and set the stage for a hit by Jacobs in the seventh to take the lead before running McDonald out of rocks in the final end.

The National features 15 men’s and 15 women’s teams split up into three pools of five teams each for the round robin.

The top eight teams qualify for the playoff round.

The tournament winners earn invitations to the Champions Cup at the end of the season.