Another year, another historic performance for Brad Gushue and company as Team Canada defeated Saskatchewan for the 2024 Brier title on Sunday night.
The win marked the second time in Canadian history that a rink won three straight Brier titles, joining Randy Ferbey’s squad (2001-03) as the only ones to do so.
“This moment is awesome, this is what it’s all about,” said Gushue to Curling Canada staff after the win.
“This is why I play the game and I love this moment.”
After winning their first Brier in 2017 in front of their home fans in St. Johns, NL, skip Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker join Randy Ferbey as the only players to win six Canadian men's titles.
“It isn’t about how many,” added Gushue, “it’s about this moment right here.”
The victory ended an exhilarating tournament that saw the Brandt Centre in Regina roar at times with a packed crowd.
It is a packed house tonight at the @BrandtCentre and the atmosphere is already electric ⚡️ ⚡️ #Brier2024 pic.twitter.com/bD4j9SPbCV
— Curling Canada (@CurlingCanada) March 11, 2024
Team Saskatchewan, skipped by Mike McEwen, made a run for the ages in an attempt to win the province’s first Brier title since 1980 – meeting Team Canada in the final.
After a blank first end, Gushue got on the scoreboard with a deuce in the second frame.
McEwen answered back with a single in the third, But Gushue kept up his stellar performance and put three points on the board in the fourth end.
The crowd then had lots to cheer for as McEwen scored a single in the fifth and a deuce in the sixth to bring the game within a single point.
But Gushue eventually regained control of the game, making a double in the seventh and ninth end to win the match.
“It hurts that we didn’t have our best game,” said McEwen.
“You could tell both teams were struggling with the ice, but Brad was stellar the first four ends.”
Team Gushue will now represent Canada on the international stage at the upcoming LGT World Men’s Curling Championship in Switzerland.
The rink will look to go all the way, as they have finished in second place at the past three world championships.
“Lost last three finals, so hopefully we can take it one step further,” said Gushue.
“The world championships are getting tougher and tougher to win. We’re going to have to play like we did at the end of this week and still catch a few breaks.”
The team will also earn a spot at the 2025 Canadian Curling Trials, pending a top-six finish at the world championship, and they become the first team to qualify for the 2025 Brier in Kelowna.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
