Jacobs earns page playoff spot

A quick start led to a strong day at the Tim Hortons Brier in Regina for Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his team representing northern Ontario.

The Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden and alternate Tanner Horgan, scored six in the opening end en route to an 8-1 win in six ends over Mike McEwen, the tournament’s wild card entry.

The victory moved the Jacobs rink to 8-1 and means the Sault-based rink is one of three teams to have clinched a page playoff spot. The other two teams, also sitting at 8-1, are Ontario’s John Epping and Team Canada’s Brad Gushue.

“We have a massive desire to win another Brier. That’s our sole goal. Now the difference is we’ve been through it as a team. Every which way you can possibly to win a Brier and lose Briers. It comes with a sense of calming and you just basically go out and try your best … and let chips fall where they may,” Fry said in a story by Curling Canada.

At 7-2, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher can clinch the other page playoff berth with a win in one of his two remaining games, one of which is in Friday’s evening draw against Jacobs.

The Jacobs rink is scheduled to face Gushue in Friday’s afternoon draw.

Jacobs opened action on Thursday with a 6-4 victory over Nova Scotia’s Jamie Murphy.

Trailing 2-1 after two ends, Jacobs would score one in the third to tie the game before a steal of two put the northern Ontario rink ahead to stay. Jacobs would take a 6-2 lead thanks to steals of one in each of the seventh and eighth ends.

The championship round represents a new format at the Brier that was approved over the summer.

The 16 teams were divided into two, eight-team pools with the top four teams in each advancing to the championship round with their round robin records carrying over.

“The way the championship pool is every game is important. It’s good to have momentum going forward,” Jacobs told Curling Canada. “At first when we got out there today I looked around and said, ‘Here we go. This is where all the fun and entertainment is really going to start.’ I’m just really pleased to have an opportunity to play for this championship.”

The championship round then is used to determine the four teams that will participate in the page playoff on the weekend with the championship set for Sunday.