VICTORIA — Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., figured the Elite 10 final against Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers was going to come down to the final end or even another thrilling draw-to-the-button shootout.
Gushue might want to start picking lottery numbers because that’s exactly what happened enfolded Sunday afternoon at the Q Centre.
Both sides had won three ends and a stalemate in the eighth end pushed the match-play finale to a sudden death draw-to-the-button shootout mirroring their encounter in the opening round-robin draw. Carruthers rolled a bit heavy with his rock stopping at the back of the eight-foot circle and Gushue grabbed a piece of the button to secure his fifth Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championship with the 1-up victory.
“Stressful,” Gushue said. “We don’t do anything the easy way. Again we were 2-up and we sort of let things slip and let it go to a draw-to-the-button, which as I mentioned yesterday it really is a coin toss at this level. When Reid missed the four-foot I felt pretty confident I could get it in there. With everything at stake, it’s still a pretty nervy shot. Fortunately, we put it on the button and got the win.”
The team of Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker entered the Elite 10 coming off a physically and emotionally draining week at the Tim Hortons Brier where they came up short in the gold medal game against Calgary’s Kevin Koe for the Canadian men’s curling championship. Not dwelling on the moment too much and getting right back out on tour proved to be the right therapeutic remedy for Team Gushue posting an undefeated 5-1-0-0 record in the Elite 10 to earn $27,500 CAD. “After a disappointing finish last week it was probably a good thing to just get back out on the ice, keep playing,” Nichols said. “We probably didn’t play as well as what we would have liked but we found ways to win games. We’ve been pretty good at that this year. It feels good to win another one of these Grand Slam events.” Team Gushue has feasted in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling of late having won four titles over the past two seasons. The Elite 10 was also their fourth final appearance of 2015-16 through five events. “We love playing on good ice with lots of swing and against the top teams,” said Gushue, who also defeated Carruthers in the National men’s final in November. “This setting is fun. We enjoy this a whole lot more than playing in curling clubs in the middle of nowhere. Not to say that we don’t enjoy that, no disrespect, but obviously playing in front of 1,000 people, on TV, on great ice is a whole lot more fun and with curl. We enjoy it, we look forward to it and I think part of that leads to our success. I think when you’re having fun you enjoy it and you play a little bit better.”
Toggle Menu Join us for TCG All-Star 2025 at Tee Line Nashville News Elite 10 Team Gushue celebrates with the Elite 10 trophy in Victoria. (Anil Mungal) Brad Gushue wins GSOC Elite 10 title in shootout Posted: Mar 20, 2016 In: Elite 10 By: Jonathan Brazeau VICTORIA — Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., figured the Elite 10 final against Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers was going to come down to the final end or even another thrilling draw-to-the-button shootout. Gushue might want to start picking lottery numbers because that’s exactly what happened enfolded Sunday afternoon at the Q Centre. Both sides had won three ends and a stalemate in the eighth end pushed the match-play finale to a sudden death draw-to-the-button shootout mirroring their encounter in the opening round-robin draw. Carruthers rolled a bit heavy with his rock stopping at the back of the eight-foot circle and Gushue grabbed a piece of the button to secure his fifth Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championship with the 1-up victory. “Stressful,” Gushue said. “We don’t do anything the easy way. Again we were 2-up and we sort of let things slip and let it go to a draw-to-the-button, which as I mentioned yesterday it really is a coin toss at this level. When Reid missed the four-foot I felt pretty confident I could get it in there. With everything at stake, it’s still a pretty nervy shot. Fortunately, we put it on the button and got the win.” The team of Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker entered the Elite 10 coming off a physically and emotionally draining week at the Tim Hortons Brier where they came up short in the gold medal game against Calgary’s Kevin Koe for the Canadian men’s curling championship. Not dwelling on the moment too much and getting right back out on tour proved to be the right therapeutic remedy for Team Gushue posting an undefeated 5-1-0-0 record in the Elite 10 to earn $27,500 CAD. “After a disappointing finish last week it was probably a good thing to just get back out on the ice, keep playing,” Nichols said. “We probably didn’t play as well as what we would have liked but we found ways to win games. We’ve been pretty good at that this year. It feels
