#Brier2023 Parting Rocks

 #BetweenTheSheets: Brier 2023 Parting Rocks

Saying goodbye to a #HIStoric Brier in London

See the #STOH2023 Parting Rocks blog post? 

"The more things change, the more they stay the same?"

The Brier competition was fierce. New look teams emerged as front runners.

A young sheriff brought his crew to London looking to regain order of the past and put Manitoba back atop the Canadian curling world.

And a handful of young players emerged, breathing new life into the sport and making many excited for the future.

But the end result remains the same.

As we saw in Kamloops with the Scotties, Team Canada once again emerged atop the podium when the last rock stopped spinning.

We saw change. We saw a glimpse into the future. But we also saw the present is not passing the torch quite yet.

Welcome to the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier Parting Rocks blog post.

For those unfamiliar with this blog topic, the "Parting Rocks" post summarizes highlights (or lowlights) of the competition.

Consider a quick and dirty summary, hopefully leaving some food for thought.

Bring on the 16 (16 rocks in play per end, get it?!) #Brier2023 Parting Rocks!

#PartingRocks

🥌 #DefendTheIce ✅

Team Gushue once again proved to be the dominating men's curling team we have come to expect over the past few years.

At times during the RR portion of the event, Brad Gushue did not look like himself.

He was open about his injury struggles and trying to get his body to perform at the top level he, and we, expect at the Brier.

And while the wins didn't come as easy as perhaps he, and we, expected...the wins still happened.

The team finished the RR with a 7-1 record, first place in the pool and then went into dominant playoff mode.

They handed Manitoba's Team Dunstone their only 2 losses of the event, in the 1 vs. 2 PPG and the championship final.

E.J. Harnden stepped into the new team with flawless results, as expected.

And Team Gushue led Team Canada to a 3rd Brier title (2015 - Team Pat Simmons, 2018 - Team Gushue).

Lets not forget the winner's cheque as Team Gushue takes home $108,000 for their victory.

🥌 #5Alive

For Team Canada members Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols and Geoff Walker, the 2023 win marks their 5th Brier title together. And all within the past 7 years!

The trio won their first Brier championship in 2017, repeated the feat in 2018, reclaimed the title in 2020, did so again last year and defended the ice for a second time this year.

For Gushue, he now stands alone atop the record books for the most Brier titles as a skip, breaking the tie with Randy Ferbey, Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe and Ernie Richardson.

Gushue and Nichols also lead the way in career games played at the Brier, with Gushue sitting at 246 and Nichols at 233.

Gushue also won his 5th Hec Gervais Playoff MVP Award, breaking the tie with David Nedohin for most all-time.

🥌 #DunnyIsMoney

Matt Dunstone may have come up just short in his first Brier final but the future is VERY bright for the young 27 year old.

Dunstone has competed in 5 Brier's and owns 1 silver (2023) and 2 bronze (2020, 2021).

For comparison, Gushue has competed in 20 Brier championships and won his first medal (silver) in his 4th appearance (2007). Gushue has reached the podium in 8 of 20 appearances.

Dunstone is already sitting at 3 podiums from 5 appearances. His record is on track to be one of the most consistent, and winningest, ever.

Dunny was money all week. He curler 88% for the week, second behind Gushue (89%), was named First Team All Star (also receiving this vote from TwineTime) and led his team to an 8-0 RR record.

And while Dunny is not new to Brier ice and Brier success, this one felt different.

He was more confident. He looked to be having more fun. And his taste for the title was greater.

Add all of those factors up and you have yourself a future Brier champion folks.

Thank You Team Dunstone for adding an extra layer of excitement into the 2023 Brier. Curling fans enjoyed every runback, every peel, every draw, every shot through a small port and every other shot in between.

And THANK YOU Matt Dunstone for bringing pure emotion to the ice, in times of victory and defeat. Those emotions hit on many levels and for many reasons.

It is a slide in the right direction when we encourage and support men having emotions, especially in hard times of loss or sorrow or grief. Men have emotions and it is ok to showcase them, all of them. And Matt Dunstone is a great example of why we need to encourage this more often.

And congrats on not only winning the silver medal but taking home a nice cheque of $60,000.

Sure it is not easy taking your only losses of the event in the playoffs (and to the same team) but if you have to lose at a national championship, you want to lose to the champion.

We look forward to seeing you in Regina for the 2024 Brier!

🥌 Blue(nose) Is The New Black

We saw what Christina Black and her Nova Scotia team could do during their run at the Scotties.

And while expectations may have been a bit lower for a rookie team at the Brier, Team Manuel certainly showed promise in their results.

Yes, a 3-5 record may not amaze the casual curling fan but for those fans who watched their games, you saw bright flashes of potential for the future.

Nova Scotia has a rich curling history. From Colleen Jones to Mark Dacey as champions to many other top notch main contenders (Paul Flemming, Shawn Adams, Mary-Anne Arsenault, Heather Smith).

It has been awhile since Nova Scotia found a spot on the Brier podium. The last example was 2005 when Adams lost the final to the Ferbey Foursome.

Team Manuel lived up to their seeding (something that is not always easy to do) and curled a very respectable 83% overall as a team.

And lets remember, Nova Scotia did sweep the Canada Games podium this year.

2023 may be looked back as the year Nova Scotia reinserted itself back into the national curling championship picture.

🥌 #BrotherlyLove

If Philadelphia is the "City of Brotherly Love" perhaps London should be the Canadian version.

This year's Brier welcomes a plethora of family bonding opportunities. In fact we saw 6 brother combinations competing on the ice this year.

Saskatchewan's Kelly and Trent Knapp.

Quebec's Felix and Emile Asselin.

Alberta's Kevin Koe and NWT's Jamie Koe.

WC1 Marc Kennedy and NWT's Glen Kennedy.

Northern Ontario's Tanner and Jake Horgan.

And of course the Brier Battle of Brothers in the final: Canada's E.J. Harnden and Manitoba's Ryan Harnden.

Special mention to Alberta's Tyler Tardi and B.C. Jacques Gauthier, who are cousins.

The 2023 Brier truly was a family affair!

🥌 #NextGen

The Next Generation of curling athletes made their mark on the Brier ice in London.

Matt Dunstone. Colton Lott. Tyler Tardi. Jacques Gauthier. Matthew Manuel. Nathan Young. Tanner Horgan. Karsten Sturmay. Kyle Doering. Felix Asselin.

And the list goes on and on.

Some had Brier experience. Others were making their debut. All left a lasting mark on the competition.

If these are the names we are going to be seeing at future Brier championships, bring it on! The sport is in good hands.

Props to Tanner and Jacob Horgan. The brothers made their Brier debut and reached the playoff bracket. And they were able to not get distracted with the pre-event retirement announcement of lead Colin Hodgson.

The attention to the #FearTheMoose team seemed to be more focused on Hodgson and vice/skip Darren Moulding for different reasons when the attention should have been on the debuting brothers.

Hope we see the Horgan boys at a future Brier where they can soak in the Brier attention they truly deserve for play on the ice...and not the story off of it.

🥌 A Change Will Do You Good?

Residency! Residency! Residency!

Where do we go from here?

Leading into the Brier, curling fans become very aware of the "special rule" for Team Gushue.

We all know the import rule, allowing one per team. We also can quickly speculate Team Gushue has two imports: Geoff Walker and E.J. Harnden.

Sure Harnden could be "taking up residency" in Gushue's basement but we all know that for what it is.

What happens with the residency rule now? Especially with Gushue winning the Brier title once again.

Will Curling Canada be making a change in the off-season? Will the change be as simple as allowing two imports per team? Or will it be a much larger discussion and rule change?

Whatever ends up being decided, can we have the discussion and make the change in this offseason?

And then, again whatever the "new" rule becomes, can we leave it as is until the end of the upcoming Olympic cycle?

We seem to be getting into a routine of injecting new rules and making changes to existing rules mid-season and mid-Olympic cycle.

For all the talk about distractions and fielding the best team possible to compete for world and Olympic titles, rule changes and off ice distractions are not a key to success.

🥌 #TeamArctic HIStory

You go Nunavut!

After 38 Brier games played, Nunavut entered their 39th game perhaps expecting a similar result to the previous 38. Another loss.

Not this time said skipper Jake Higgs.

Higgs curled light's out in the 2023 Brier opener and led Nunavut to their 1st ever Brier win, defeating Newfoundland and Labrador's Team Young 7-4.

Sure Nunavut would go on to lose their remaining RR games and finish the competition with a 1-7 record BUT they finally put a 1 in the W column.

And we had a Brier where every team collected at least 1 win. An accomplishment we have not seen since 2017, which happened to be the year before inserting the wildcard game and under the old format of one round robin pool for all teams.

The afternoon of Saturday March 4 truly will be remembered as a draw of #HIStory.

🥌 Do We Still Have A Problem?

As Canadian curling fans shift their attention from national championship ice to chasing world championship glory, the old question will arise once again.

If Canada is unable to capture the world championship, is it a reflection of the national representation program?

Should Gushue not win the world title on home ice in Ottawa, is it because the Brier, as the world championship qualifier, is the problem?

Win or lose, from Gushue and Team Einarson, this "concern" still appears to be a red herring.

Can anyone say Gushue has not been the best team in Canada the past 7 years? 5 championships seem to back up the claim.

But coming away with only one world championship (2017) is because of the Brier? The format? The "field of strength"?

If Gushue was to win the Canada Cup, the event many argue should decide our national rep for the world championships, in the Fall but have similar results on the world championship ice, what would be the issue then? A new "red herring" argument would emerge, no?

Maybe the REAL issue is there is no issue.

Gushue and company are amazing curlers. They represent Canada extremely well internationally, win or lose.

Why are we putting pressure on Gushue (and Team Einarson) in saying if they fail to win a world title, we have to place blame somewhere?

Maybe we just got beat by a better team on a certain day.

And losing world championships to Niklas Edin and Silvana Tirinzoni/Alina Patz is really not a major cause for concern folks. They are beating EVERYONE!

I understand this argument has more legs under it, from funding to designated "professional" curlers without other jobs and so many other factors, but sometimes we look too hard for excuses.

It is sport. Someone wins. Everyone else loses.

And sometimes we do not need to place "reason" or "blame" for success and/or failure.

Are you good at your job? Yes. Are you going to be perfect every day in your job? No.

Should you "blame" someone for a bad day? Give a specific "reason" for a good day? Nope.

Sometimes the simplest answer is the best, "It is what it is!"

🥌 Wildcard Whelping...AGAIN!

See #STOH2023 Parting Rocks.

As mentioned in the post-Scotties blog post, we see a similar argument post-Brier.

In Kamloops we saw 1 of 3 wildcard teams advance out of pool play.

In London, the same statistic.

The Brier results are a little more positive towards the wildcard position, by comparison.

We saw a wildcard team win the title last year (WC1 Team Gushue).

We saw a wildcard team reach the final in 2021 (WC2 - Team Koe).

And we saw a wildcard team finish third this year (WC1 - Team Bottcher).

But do we still need the 3 wildcard team system?

In 2021, 2 of the 3 teams advanced to the Championship Pool (WC2 Koe, WC3 Middaugh) with one (WC2) reaching the final.

Last year, Gushue's WC1 won the final while WC2 (Dunstone) lost a TB and WC3 (Gunnlaugson) won a TB but lost the page qualifier.

And this year, only 1 wildcard team (WC1) reached the playoff bracket while WC2 (Carruthers) and WC3 (Sturmay) missed out, finishing with 4-4 and 3-5 records respectfully.

Is the three team wildcard format really needed?

Brier results over the past few years would show the wildcard addition has been a positive but maybe we only need one wildcard team? Throw it back to the original "new" format?

This year's Brier showcased what the injection of young, new teams can bring to the field and for the fans. And, in the end, we ended up with the best teams in Canada competing for the title in the playoffs.

The wildcard format allowed Team Bottcher to be here. And they backed up their name with a podium finish.

But maybe the 3 wildcard teams and new playoff format is not the answer.

Did everyone really hate the 1 wildcard team and Championship Pool format? I don't think so...especially after watching this "new" format the past few years.

Sometimes we think change is needed when, yet again, is it just a red herring for discussion.

As Team Canada has shown here and in Kamloops this season "The more things change, the more they stay the same?"

Lets go back to the "same" from the past, ok?

🥌 #MagicMike

Nothing screamed March Madness more than the incredible run to the playoffs by Mike McEwen and Team Ontario.

From a team who looked out of sorts earlier in the season to booking the final ticket into the Ontario Tankard and then giving the home province fans something to cheer for all week en route to a 4th place finish, Team McEwen was the true #TeamUpset of Brier 2023.

March Madness always talks about the Cinderella team in the field. The Bracket Buster who overachieves.

Team Ontario fit the bill...and watching Mike McEwen revert back to the Magic Mike days of the past was fun.

We saw fist pumps and "Lets Go" yells and even a few smiles along the way.

Of course we heard the regular F-bombs from Ryan Fry and others but that is part of the sport and doesn't feel as "wrong" as many used to make it seem in the past.

We don't know what the future holds for this team and McEwen in particular but hopefully this Brier run shows him there is still competitive juice left in the tank and we see him on Brier ice again.

🥌 Passing Of The Torch

While we celebrate Team Gushue's success and talk about the Magic Mike Experience, we also must recognize 2023 could go down in #HIStory as the passing of the torch Brier.

The greats like Gushue, Kevin Koe, Jamie Koe, Mike McEwen, Ryan Fry, Reid Carruthers, Ben Hebert, Marc Kennedy are still here but they may be entering the sunset phase of their curling careers.

And, if so, we saw the sunrise phase of future champions like Matt Dunstone, Tyler Tardi, Jacques Gauthier, Sterling Middleton, Matthew Manuel, Tyler Smith, Nathan Young, Karsten Sturmay and Kyle Doering.

Do not be surprised if names from that list of Brier 2023 competitors becomes the second wave of the Triangle of Terror in the future.

🥌 Triangle of Terror

Speaking of Canadian curling's version of the "Triangle of Terror", once again the triangle emerged victorious and claimed 2 of the 3 podium spots.

Brad Gushue. Brendan Bottcher. Kevin Koe.

Joel Krats and I talked about the Triangle of Terror domination in the Brier preview podcast and the trio held court once again in 2023.

Since 2016, the only names to top the Brier championship list are Gushue, Koe, Bottcher.

In fact, this year marked the first time the trio did not round out the championship final.

Matt Dunstone is the first non-trio name to be in the final since 2015. And he knocked off one of the trio members, Bottcher in the SF, to get there. But he was unable to take down 2 members of the triangle.

This is quite an amazing feat for the trio. A stat line we may never see again either folks.

All 3 have cemented their legacy as future Curling Hall of Fame members.

And the Triangle of Terror lives on....

🥌 #StealPants 

The blog talks about #StealPants being an important factor in the sport of curling. When you put on those #StealPants, good things are bound to happen.

The 2023 Brier certainly showcased this fact...in a number of ways.

How about Team Dunstone? They stole a total of 17 ends in the RR en route to their 8-0 record.

Notice how the steals started to disappear for them in the playoffs though. They recorded only 1 stolen end in the playoffs, in the 10th end of their SF victory over WC1 Team Bottcher.

A #StealPants FTW!

Also notice how Dunstone gave up his first stolen ends in the playoffs as well.

Bottcher stole in end #2 of the Page Playoff Qualifier but Dunstone was able to get the W in 10.

Gushue wore the #StealPants in 10 of their 1 vs 2 PPG FTW.

Bottcher stole again in the SF in end #4 but Dunstone returned the favour in 10 of course.

And there were no stolen ends in the final. The difference maker perhaps?

The #StealPants really were what got Dunstone into the final. The pants were nowhere to be found in the final. And the result was a L.

We should give props to Saskatchewan and Yukon as well. While both missed the playoffs with 4-4 and 2-6 records, respectfully, both wore the #StealPants almost as often as Manitoba with Team Knapp collecting 13 stolen ends and Team Scoffin picking up 10.

Of course the entire argument could be thrown out the window when you consider Team Canada only scored 6 stolen ends in the RR, tied for 3rd lowest (with NWT and NB) in the field, ahead of only PEI (5) and Nunavut (4).

But also remember, Gushue stole back to back ends on Ontario in the Page Qualifier Game and in the 1 vs 2 against Manitoba.

Those stolen ends proved to be the difference makers in those games and resulted in wins. 

🥌 Hey Now, You're An All Star! Well not really...

Lets take time to celebrate our 2023 Brier All Star winners:

First Team: Matt Dunstone, B.J. Neufeld, Brett Gallant, Ben Hebert

Second Team: Brad Gushue, Tyler Tardi, Brent Laing, Geoff Walker

Overall, a solid All Star cast and hard to argue against any of these award winners.

I will say special shout out to Team Quebec lead Jean-François Trépanier. He curled 91% and helped his team to a 5-3 record, falling just short of the playoffs (Chalk another argument against the current format when a 5-3 team is eliminated).

Sure Hebert (95%) and Walker (92%) curled ahead of him and landed the All Star nods but Trépanier remains one of the best leads in the sport...and gets little attention and credit for his game.

For comparison, last year he curled 93%, the second best among leads, and still was not handed an All Star award. He lost out to First Team All Star Karrick Martin (94%) and Ben Hebert (92%).

And how about 2021? Trépanier topped all leads with 94% but was not named an All Star either, this time losing out to Hebert (93%) and Ryan Harnden (92%).

Honestly, what does a guy have to do to receive recognition here?

Three straight Brier appearances.

Three straight years of curling above 90% overall (91%, 93%, 94%).

Three straight All Star snubs.

You want to talk about an area needing improvement in our sport? How about these All Star awards?

Jean-François Trépanier is an All Star! And should be recognized as such.

On a positive note, props to #TeamGreen skipper Kelly Knapp on winning the Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award, as voted on by his peers.

Knapp is the 9th player from Saskatchewan to win the award and first since Scott Manners in 2012.

🥌 Welcome to Ottawa 

Team Gushue will now set their sights on the world championship field in Ottawa.

Familiar names will once again be their top opposition to reclaiming the top of the podium for Canada, a feat last achieved by Team Gushue in 2017 in Edmonton.

Sweden's Team Edin. Scotland's Team Mouat. Switzerland's Team Schwaller. Italy's Team Retornaz. USA's Team Shuster.

And watch out for Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Korea and Japan.

A welcome back for New Zealand. And a welcome to Turkey.

The #WMCC2023 will hit the ice at TD Place Arena from April 1 - April 9.

For those athletes competing, good luck and good curling.

Final Thoughts

ICYMI, TSN created a special video from select players competing in the Brier discussing how important qualifying for and participating in the national championship is. Check out the montage HERE.

A reminder of "What it means to play in the Brier" and why the history is so special to the sport of curling.

For all the teams and athletes who competed this past week, THANK YOU! We enjoyed every draw, every hit, every sweep and every slide.

And, as always, THANK YOU to the organizing committee, those who work tirelessly behind the scenes from Curling Canada and TSN and others and to all the volunteers who truly make events like the Scotties happen. 

Also, while Canada was captivated with Brier action in London, Ontario, wheelchair curling was the focus of the curling world in Richmond, B.C.

The World Wheelchair Curling Championship and World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship wrapped up play this past weekend.

China, the Paralympic Games champions, were able to #DefendTheIce in defeating Canada to win the #WWhCC2023 gold medal. Scotland won bronze after defeating Sweden.

A HISTORIC finale result was captured at the #WWhMDCC2023 competition as Latvia won their 1st world championship, defeating USA in the final. Canada took home bronze after defeating China.

It was VERY unfortunate these championships were not provided TV coverage as these athletes deserve equal representation to the men's and women's team and mixed doubles games.

As the sport continues to slide towards more inclusion and equality, hopefully we can see the wheelchair curling discipline receive increased awareness and coverage in the future!

#StayTuned

As we celebrate one Team Canada victory on home ice, we get ready to cheer on another on international ice.

Canada's Team Einarson heads to Sweden ready to take on the world's best at the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship.

The action heats up this weekend and #TwineTime will be back later in the week with a FULL PREVIEW of the competition...and some fun predictions.

Rest up folks...we have A LOT more curling to enjoy this season.