Saskatchewan falls to Team Canada in Brier final

Team Saskatchewan came up short against Brad Gushue’s Team Canada rink at the 2024 Montana’s Brier.

“It hurts we didn’t have our best game. Tough conditions,” explained Saskatchewan skip, Mike McEwen. “I think you could tell that both teams were struggling with the ice but Brad was stellar you know the first four ends. You know he nailed us the first four ends.”

Team Saskatchewan’s third, Colton Flasch, commended his teammates for their effort in the final.

“I’ll have to look back at it. Came out a little flat unfortunately but the boys battled hard in the second half,” he said. “I mean it was great [this experience]. I mean the fans are awesome, I couldn’t ask for much more. We had a great week.”

Saskatchewan did defeat Canada in the round robin. However, the 9-5 loss on Sunday night was decisive.

“We beat them Saturday night and unfortunately he’s the defending champ and he’s hard to put away on Sunday night. We have everything to be proud of, what we did in six months,” McEwen explained, referring to the team only beginning their journey together six months ago.

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After Canada blanked the first end they opened the scoring in the second with a draw for two. 2-0 heading into the third end as Saskatchewan was about to get their first crack with the hammer.

Saskatchewan settled for one with hammer in the third end to cut Canada’s lead to one.

It got tougher for Saskatchewan in the fourth end as McEwen’s last shot left none of his red stones in the house and Gushue was able to tap back one of his own and land his final stone in for a score of three. That lengthened the lead to 5-1 heading into the fifth.

Another tough bounce awaited Saskatchewan in the fifth end – as even with hammer they were only able to add one more to their total. It was then 5-2 with five ends remaining.

It was an exhilarating sixth end as McEwen made a very impressive final draw to try and land three but Gushue answered back by just slightly edging out one of the stones.

The move forced the measuring stick to come out and determine if Saskatchewan would steal two or three.

The result was two but shortened Canada’s lead as it was now 5-4 heading into the seventh end.

“We missed it on the steal of three. That would’ve tied them game. Mismanaged, it was tough,” McEwen noted.

However, Gushue answered back with a massive double takeout on his final throw of the seventh to take two and lengthen the lead once again. It was now 7-4 for Canada after seven ends.

It was another tough bounce for McEwen’s rink in the eighth end after Flasch’s attempt at a double takeout was unsuccessful – leading to Saskatchewan only garnering one to make it 7-5 with two ends to go.

The ninth ended with Gushue landing two more and that was the end of the game as Canada walked away with the 9-5 victory and what marked Gushue’s sixth career Brier title.

“This moment is awesome. This is what it’s all about,” Gushue remarked. “This is why I love the game and I love this moment. To see it all come to fruition after all the hard work this week. This is so cool and it isn’t about how many. It’s about this moment right here.”

Even the loss proved to be a magnificent feat for Saskatchewan – given the fact the team made it to the gold medal game against the defending champs.

“It’s our first year together so I expect good things from this team to come in future and I think we’re just going to get better from here,” Flasch said. “I can’t wait to hopefully get back to Brier again. We have another event this year. Hopefully we can finish up strong.”

“This is a great team and we’re not done yet,” McEwen shared. “There’s a lot of people and just the fans of Saskatchewan and there were a lot of people I was playing for. So it wasn’t pressure for me, it was an honour. Regardless of how this week turned out for us, it was an honour to play here.”

Gushue was also ecstatic about the opportunity to play in another Brier in Regina and adding another gold medal in this city.

“I love Regina. It’s a great curling city and the fans were awesome here today. Obviously they were on Saskatchewan’s side and rightfully so,” he said. I enjoyed playing in that and I thought they were really respectful to us and it was a very cool environment. Kudos to Mike and his team. They had an incredible week, especially Mike he was awesome.”

Gushue’s team will go on to represent Canada at the Men’s World Curling Championships in Switzerland.

The team has placed second in back to back world championships and was adamant they have some unfinished business to take care of this year.

As for Saskatchewan, their Brier championship drought continues as they will have to wait until 2025 to try and seal their first win since 1980.