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Kevin Koe swung for the fences and connected, while Matt Dunstone pounced on a Brad Gushue gaffe in the Canadian men’s curling championship playoffs Friday.
Alberta’s Koe and Manitoba’s Dunstone will meet in Saturday’s Page playoff between the top two seeds at the Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, N.L.
The victor gets an express ticket to Sunday’s final. The loser must win the semifinal earlier Sunday for a rematch.
Four-time Brier champion Koe was a 7-4 winner over reigning Olympic champion Brad Jacobs on the strength of a pivotal three points in the seventh end.
Koe gambled with a thin double takeout to produce a three-pointer for a 5-3 lead.
“It was risky. We could have given up two or even one,” the skip said. “We knew it was there for three. I don’t think most of the time you make it for three. You make it for two.”
“When you’re playing them if you have a chance, sometimes you’ve just got to take it and make it because you don’t get those opportunities too often against them. They’re just a super good defensive team. We took the chance and it worked out.”
Up 5-4 coming home without hammer, six-time champ Gushue hogged his last shot of the 10th end attempting to put up a guard and block a path to the rings.
“That just does not happen,” Dunstone said. “We got massive break.”
It was 20 years ago that Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue won Olympic gold while representing Canada. Now, as his professional career winds down, he tells the CBC’s Jen White about the past, the future — and the Brier that starts this week on home ice.
Dunstone, who lost to Jacobs in last year’s Brier final, used his open lane to hit for a multi-point end and the win against the hometown favourite.
“Probably a moment I’ll remember for a very long time,” said Dunstone. “Ever since I knew this Brier was going to be in St. John’s, that’s the moment I wanted. Very cool.”
“Curling, oftentimes there’s not many home and away teams, arenas, matchups, things like that. Today we had one. We were the obvious away team.”
Gushue, playing in what he says is his final Brier, dropped to a Friday evening playoff game against Ontario’s Jayden King.
The Jacobs foursome, which captured Olympic gold in Italy less than two weeks earlier, was to meet Manitoba’s Brayden Calvert.
The winners of those games advanced to Saturday afternoon’s Page playoff between the third and fourth seeds for the right to advance to the semifinal. The losers Friday evening were eliminated.
Koe, 51, has turned back the clock in St. John’s after missing the playoffs the last two years.
The skip has carried his team at times when the middle of his lineup was outplayed by their opposing counterparts.
Koe was named the first all-star team skip Friday with a tournament-leading 89 per cent accuracy at his position.
“Kev is standing on his head out there,” said Tyler Tardi, who throws third stones.
“Sometimes breaks come and they’re helpful, but sometimes your skip just plays out of his mind and that’s helpful too. He’s back and it’s super cool to be on that side of it.”
Koe, who ranked second in all-time playoff wins with 17 behind Gushue (20), is a veteran of eight Brier finals.
He’s got there both winning and losing Page one-two games, as well as coming through the three-four game.
“I’ve played in every different playoff game there is here,” Koe said. “I know what it’s all about for sure, but your best chance of winning this is to win [Saturday’s] game, even though there’s no guarantees.”
Koe beat Dunstone 7-6 in pool play. Alberta will have hammer to start the game as the higher seed.
Rest, or lack of it, becomes a factor deep into this Brier.
The loss to Koe means Jacobs must take a longer road to repeat as Canadian champion after a draining Olympic Games.
Tardi, who was Jacobs’ alternate in Italy, was grateful for the extra rest Koe’s win afforded him.
“I still feel like I’m not full speed myself,” Tardi said. “Games are exhausting and the playoff games are ten times harder.
“It’s just all more demanding emotionally and there’s so much on the line.”
Sunday’s winner represents Canada in the men’s world championship March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah. They’ll also return to next year’s Brier in Saskatoon wearing the Maple Leaf as defending champion.
One of curling’s biggest media personalities is missing Brad Gushue’s retirement party. Devin Heroux is in Italy covering the Paralympic Games while the Brier is being played in St. John’s. But curling fans made sure Heroux was here in spirit.
Dunstone’s third Colton Lott, Jacobs’ second Brett Gallant and Gushue’s lead Geoff Walker were also named to the first all-star team.
Gushue, Jacobs’ third Marc Kennedy and Dunstone’s front end of brothers E.J. and Ryan Harnden were selected to the second all-star team.
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