Northern Ontario to return home with a 5-6 Brier record

NEWS RELEASE

CANADIAN CURLING ASSOCIATION

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Ontario vs Newfoundland in 1 vs 2 Game HAMILTON -- Ontario’s Glenn Howard will play Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue in Friday night’s page playoff 1 vs 2 game, while Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton will play Alberta’s Kevin Martin in Friday afternoon’s 3 vs 4 game.

The winner of the 1 vs 2 game will advance straight to Sunday’s Brier final, while the loser will get a second chance in Saturday’s semi-final against ther winner of Manitoba vs Alberta. The loser of Manitoba vs Alberta is eliminated.

Alberta’s Martin advanced to the 3 vs 4 game with a 7-6 win over Manitoba’s Stoughton on the final draw of the round-robin Thursday night.

With the win, Martin improved to 8-3 and avoided having to play a playoff tiebreaker game against Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons for the fourth and final playoff spot. Simmons improved to 7-4 earlier Thursday evening with a 8-5 win over Northern Ontario.

The loss to Alberta was costly for Manitoba. A victory would have given them a 9-2 record and propelled them into the 1 vs 2 game against Ontario, who finished at 10-1.

But with the loss, Manitoba finished the round-robin with the same 8-3 record as Alberta and Newfoundland. The three teams all had one win and one loss against one another so a second tiebreaker -- a pre-event draw to the button contest -- was employed.

Newfoundland had won that shootout and was awarded second place as a result.

Martin said he expects a repeat of Thursday night’s game in the 3 vs 4 battle against Manitoba.

“Another battle,” Martin said. “It will be right down to the last inch again.”

In other games on Draw 17, Ontario beat NWT/Yukon 7-2 and PEI beat Nova Scotia 7-6.

The 3 vs 4 game will be played at 2:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on TSN. The 1 vs 2 game will be played at 7:30 p.m. ET and will also be broadcast live on TSN. ************************************************************