Day 1 at the Brier: How's the Gushue-Bottcher dynamic holding up?

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On paper, it seemed they would be unbeatable.

After all, they are two decorated skips — having accounted for the last four Brier titles — now together on the same team.

What could go wrong — this coming together of Brad Gushue and Brendan Bottcher?

“It’s never easy,” said Gushue, with a chuckle, just hours ahead of the 2025 Brier in Kelowna, B.C.

“I think sometimes if you strike lightning in a bottle, it can be easy,” continued the affable skip from St. John’s, N.L. “But you know … there’s always a bit of a give and take, and especially when you bring in someone that skipped their whole career. You want to provide them an opportunity to have as much say as they can, because they’ve had that in their other teams.

“But you’ve also got to make sure that you kind of stick with what has worked for you over the long run.”

You’ll recall Bottcher — the 2021 Brier champ in the Calgary curling bubble — joined Canada’s three-time reigning kings back in mid-October, just days after the departure of second E.J. Harnden from Gushue’s rink.

It all followed Bottcher’s former Calgary rink-mates of the previous two seasons choosing to go a different direction at skip last April.

But the joining of Bottcher with Gushue and his reigning three-time Brier henchmen — third Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker — hasn’t come off without a hitch.

The results haven’t been overwhelming — or at least up to Gushue standards — including what was an 0-4 record at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters last month.

However, it’s not just because there’s a new guy in the hack for the team that’s won the last three Briers.

“There’s still work,” Gushue said. “I think off the ice, Brendan’s fit in great. Brendan’s a great guy. He’s good to be around. You know, we have lots of laughs — a real good time.

“I think on the ice, there’s still some adjusting to be done,” continued Gushue. “You know, Brendan’s skipped his whole life, so trying to play a different position and for us to learn being out with him on the ice and what our capabilities are and this style of game that we want to play, we’re still figuring that out.

“And I think for us, it’s staying patient. I think we’ve had a little bit of a rocky road since we’ve done this, but we’ve got the skill. It’s just a matter now of kind of figuring out what works for us and what kind of team we’re going to be. There’s no doubt in my mind that’s going to come.”

If anybody can make it work, it’s Gushue.

After all, he’s got history in a two-skip scheme.

Back in 2006, he brought aboard Russ Howard — then a two-time Brier king and two-time world champ — for a run at Olympic gold. That kind of blueprint was unheard at that time.

And, of course, they won at the 2006 Turin Winter Games, with Howard throwing second stones, just as former skip Bottcher is these days on Team Gushue.

“The dynamic Russ and I had almost 20 years ago worked well because we respected each other and gave each other that leeway,” said 44-year-old Gushue. “That’s certainly what we’re attempting to do with Brendan, and to be honest, I think we’ve done a really good job of that.

“I think where we’ve fallen short is just literally in on-ice performance. We just haven’t made as many shots. It’s not because we’re not doing the right things or we’re not running the team the right way. It’s just we haven’t made the shots when it’s mattered.

“But … you know … that will come. Obviously, we’re too good not to make those shots on a regular basis.”

That came quickly in the Brier spotlight, as they opened the bid for the ‘Roar For Four’ late Friday with a 9-2 drop of the other St. John’s squad in the field — this year’s Newfoundland and Labrador champion, skipped by Brier first-timer Ty Dilello.

Then on Saturday’s Day 2 (9:30 p.m. ET), they get B.C.’s Cameron de Jong, another first-visit rink at the Brier.

“I keep preaching patience to everybody,” added Gushue, who is buoyed by some strong lead-up weeks of training and togetherness ahead of the Brier. “But really, I’m preaching patience to myself and to my team more than anybody else.

“Because these things do take time and we just ideally want to make sure we’re ready for the Brier.

“But more importantly, we want to be ready for November when the Olympic trials come around.”

EXTRA ENDS

The Brier’s other opening games late Friday saw: Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers (1-0) edge B.C.’s de Jong (0-1) 6-5 with one in the final end; Northern Ontario’s John Epping (1-0) use an extra end to top New Brunswick’s James Grattan (0-1) 7-6; and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (1-0) limit Alberta’s Kevin Koe (0-1) 6-2 in a superbly curled game … Saturday’s Day 2 features Draws 2 and 3 — all times ET and on TSN — at 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. respectively … The round robin then continues Sunday through Thursday with three draws daily — all times ET and on TSN — at 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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