Day 5 at the Brier: Mike McEwen says, 'Put some pressure on us, and we’re ready'

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Mike McEwen and his merry band seem mentally ready to take this thing one step further than last year.

But physically fit in a push for the crown at the 2025 Montana’s Brier?

Maybe ask the Saskatchewan skip in a few days, once he’s fully kicked aside a nasty cold that’s been dragging him — but surprisingly not his game — down at the Canadian men’s curling championship in Kelowna, B.C.

“Really good (start), because I was just struggling physically,” admitted McEwen, after the first few days of action at Prospera Place. “I just (had to get) through opening weekend.

“Silver lining is I’m assuming I’m not going to feel like this closing weekend. So better (being sick) now than later.”

Indeed, that’s a silver lining he hopes to turn into gold come the closing weekend.

Or perhaps more apropos, McEwen and his Saskatoon squad hope to turn last year’s silver medal into this year’s gold, marking a first-ever Brier championship for the talented skip and twin brothers Kevin and Dan Marsh, McEwen’s second and lead, respectively.

“It’s always beware of the sick player,” said McEwen’s third, Colton Flasch — the only member of the Nutana Curling Club foursome with a Brier title, after winning with Kevin Koe in 2019 Brandon. “Skipper will be 100% ahead of the closing weekend.”

They will need it to take that one more step to glory, although it certainly seems in them already given their performance all season long and to this point at this winter’s gala.

“We’re playing well enough,” declared Flasch. “We know as long as we bring our ‘A’ game, we have a chance to beat every team out here and have a good chance to win this thing. We’ve been here before — similar position as last year. We just have to take it one game at a time.”

And carefully … reminds the skipper.

“Yeah … you’ve got to be a little bit careful with expectations,” said McEwen, whose crew qualified for this Brier as a high point-earner on the Canadian Team Ranking System’s board. “I’m not saying our expectations are not high. But sometimes when you lean into that too much, that’s where you can be a little susceptible to frustration or things start not going your way.”

So far, it has gone their way.

Through five games, McEwen & Co. were perfect atop Pool B, scoring wins over Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith, Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell, Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek, Quebec’s Felix Asselin and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin — the latter early Tuesday in 7-5 fashion.

They then made it a 6-0 start — and a virtual lock on a playoff spot — with a 14-2 triumph late Tuesday over Northwest Territories’ Aaron Bartling.

“Technically and fundamentally, we’re throwing the rock well,” McEwen said. “And we’re pretty open to adversity. At some point, we’ll have to deal with adversity this week, so we’re ready for that. Put some pressure on us, and we’re ready for that. So I think we’ve got the right kind of mindset.

“I think the biggest thing with our group is we don’t have to do anything different — we don’t have to play to a level that we haven’t played before to get this done,” continued the 44-year-old native of Brandon, Man. “So we can take comfort in that. We just do what we do, and if we can do that consistently throughout the week — and sometimes you need a break or two to win a championship — we can be right there at the end.

“So we’re not reaching for some level we haven’t attained before.”

Truth is, they’ve been playing at a pretty high — and consistent — level all season.

It began with gold at Curling Canada’s PointsBet Invitational back in September in Calgary, spurring them on to a No. 3 ranking entering these nationals.

“We kind of had a really good end of last season there, with the good Brier run,” reminded Kevin Marsh, of a championship that saw them finish 7-1 in the round robin and roll on through to the final, in which they lost 9-5 to Canada’s Brad Gushue. “And we had a good run at the Players’ Championship to end the season.

“We carried that through into September with that big win the PointsBet. All the way through the season, we had some really high finishes, despite not winning.

“We still had some good semifinal finishes and some finals in there, too. So good consistent season.”

Capped, they hope, by a Brier win come Sunday night, completing that one step from last year’s silver lining.

“Last year was our first year together, so I would say we were more in building mode,” added Marsh. “But we were still confident that we could win the Brier.

“But I would say this year we have that one little extra ounce of confidence, which really helps after last year’s run.”

EXTRA ENDS

Alberta’s Jacobs (5-0) also stayed unbeaten in Pool B with a 7-3 beat of Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell (2-3) late Tuesday after doubling up Saskatchewan’s Rylan Kleiter (3-2) 6-3 early in the day … Kleiter then got back in the win column with a key 9-4 defeat of Ontario’s Mooibroek … The other evening match saw: Yukon’s Scoffin (2-4) upend P.E.I’s Smith (0-6) 8-5 … Also early Tuesday, it was: NWT’s Bartling (0-5) nearly earning its first ever Brier win but surrendering three in the 10th end in a 9-8 loss to Québec’s Asselin (3-2); and Nova Scotia’s Purcell topping P.E.I.’s Smith 10-6 … Tuesday’s afternoon action in Pool A saw: B.C.’s Cameron de Jong (0-5) earn a first Brier win with a 10-3 decision over Nunavut’s Shane Latimer (0-4); Gushue (5-0) remain unbeaten with an 8-3 result over New Brunswick’s James Grattan (2-3); Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers (5-1) down Northern Ontario’s John Epping (4-2) 8-6 after scoring three in the final two ends; and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone (4-1) needing an extra end to defeat Newfoundland and Labador’s Ty Dilello (1-4) 5-4 … The Brier continues with round-robin action Wednesday — all times ET and all on TSN — in Draw 13 (11:30 a.m.), Draw 14 (4:30 p.m.) and Draw 15 (9:30 p.m.).

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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