For over a week, Kingston has hosted the best curlers in the country, if not the world. But all good things must come to an end, and that was the case Sunday night as the 2020 Brier came to a close.
A packed Leon’s Centre witnessed the championship final in which Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador defeated Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher 7-3. The victory marks Gushue’s third Canadian title in four years.
“Once we went up four to one, for us, it felt like we had all the momentum then, and it was just a matter of not taking the foot off the gas, and we didn’t do it. We kept it down and forced them to make some shots,” Gushue said after his team’s win.
“We never took any crazy chances and really never got into any situations where we were in a lot of trouble.”
As for Bottcher, he’s now lost three straight Brier finals.
“We did everything we needed to do to be ready, we just didn’t come out and play our best,” Bottcher said. “He (Gushue) played great; we gave him some pretty easy shots. I just think me and the guys needed to shoot a little bit better.”
Besides Gushue, the winning rink included third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker. Nichols says he enjoyed his time in Kingston.
“The setup, the venue was packed. Fans were loud — you come into the event, walking out, and everyone’s cheering. That’s what you want,” Nichols said. “You want loud, enthusiastic fans, Kingston did an unbelievable job, we’re so happy we’re part of it.”
The Gushue foursome will now represent Canada at the upcoming men’s world championship in Glasgow, Scotland from March 28 to April 5.