Mike McEwen ready for first Brier

WINNIPEG — The 2016 Brier begins on Saturday in Ottawa and fresh off winning his first provincial men’s curling title Mike McEwen is now setting his sights on Brier glory.

“A little bit of a roller coaster kinda last couple weeks,” McEwen said. “We’re doing our best to stay sharp and prep as a team, so yeah everything has kinda of been condensed as far as time and trying to get ready for the biggest event that we’ve played in other than a trials.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A little bit of a roller coaster kinda last couple weeks," McEwen said. "We're doing our best to stay sharp and prep as a team, so yeah everything has kinda of been condensed as far as time and trying to get ready for the biggest event that we've played in other than a trials."

The week of curling will actually be a change of pace for McEwen who was Mr. Mom last week with his wife Dawn curling at the National Scotties.

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“Having a wife that competes at such a high competitve level, it’s a baby swap now,” McEwen said. “So now I get to have less parenting duties and try and gear up for a major event. It’s just amazing how much family support that we need to do this.”

It’s a loaded field for this year’s Brier. Team Manitoba will have a very tough schedule at the start of the week with their first three games all against either Olympic or World champs. McEwen opens against Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue in Draw one, followed immediately by Ontario’s Glenn Howard and Alberta’s Kevin Koe.

“I’m not nervous yet, but I’m sure I’ll feel it, especially that first game.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I'm not nervous yet, but I'm sure I'll feel it, especially that first game."