Manitoba-Carruthers third Reid Carruthers delivers a rock while playing Yukon during the Brier, in Regina, Thursday, March 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
REGINA – Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers clinched a playoff spot at the Canadian men’s curling championship Thursday.
Carruthers, whose team is skipped by Brad Jacobs, scored five points in the second end against Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin en route to a 6-4 win in the morning draw.
Carruthers, Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone were all 6-1 atop Pool B, with Carruthers and Bottcher squaring off in the evening draw.
Dunstone beat Northern Ontario’s Trevor Bonot 8-3 to drop the latter to 5-2.
Victories over Dunstone and Bonot earlier in the week assured Carruthers would be among the three teams advancing from that pool into Friday’s round of six.
Extra-end wins over both Bonot and Ontario’s Scott Howard on the Brier’s third day were pivotal for Carruthers.
“Hopefully . . . saving our best for towards the end,” Jacobs said Thursday.
“We’re kind of playing boring curling right now. That’s what it feels like. We’re just making a lot of the basic shots.
“We’re making timely opportunistic shots. It hasn’t been flashy at all.”
Bottcher beat B.C.’s Catlin Schneider 9-3 in the morning.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Andrew Symonds downed New Brunswick’s James Grattan 10-4.
Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen (6-1) had already clinched the top seed in Pool A heading into the afternoon draw.
Defending champion Brad Gushue and Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith (5-2), Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe and Aaron Sluchinski (4-3) were the other contenders in that pool.
Jacobs skipped Northern Ontario teams at the Brier for over a decade. His teams won Canadian and world titles in 2013 and an Olympic gold medal in 2014.
Jacobs took a step back from curling when his team disbanded in 2022, although he played a few events for Carruthers the following season.
Carruthers was the team’s skip when Jacob’s joined as full-time third this season. Carruthers and Jacobs swapped positions in December.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good spot here,” Jacobs said. “We’re playing loose. I have no expectations. We have standards that we’re trying to achieve, but I’m not expecting us to win the Brier. Not even thinking about that.
“We’re here to just continue to play curling and hopefully make more shots than the other team and just stay calm and relaxed.”
The top three teams from each pool of nine advance to Friday’s playoffs when Saturday’s four Page playoff teams will be determined.
Tiebreaker games were eliminated from the national men’s and women’s curling championships this year.
Head-to-head results followed by the best cumulative scores in the button draws that precede each game to determine hammer was the formula.
Sunday’s winner represents Canada at the men’s world championship March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland and returns to the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C., as defending champion.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2024.
