When you put the top men’s curling rinks in Canada on the same sheets of ice, the difference between reaching the playoffs or heading home early can be razor thin.
Pool B is proving that, as multiple rinks are still in contention, looking to claim one of the top three spots available and a shot at the Brier Tankard.
“Your margin of error is very small against the very best in Canada,” Team Manitoba skip Mike McEwen said.
“You need to have a really good performance to win against those teams.”
After losses to Brad Gushue’s wild card rink and Team Manitoba, Northern Ontario has a 5-2 record. With one more game to play in Thursday’s late draw, skip Brad Jacobs is feeling good heading into the final day of the round robin.
“Love the fact that we have two one-game days back to back to finish off this round robin. We should be refreshed and ready to go,” Jacobs said.
As the playoff picture becomes clearer and each draw more important, McEwen wants to ensure his rink’s fate rests in their own hands.
“Our plan was to try and split against the top two seeds in our pool,” McEwen said. “We’re looking at Northern Ontario and Team Gushue. (We want to) go 6-2.”
But there are no easy wins at the Brier.
“At this point in the week, it’s important to dig deep and keep grinding,” Jacobs said.
The level of competition might be making wins hard to come by, but Jacobs is enjoying the challenge in Lethbridge.
“Even as a curler and a competitor here, I’m even in awe of some of the shots that have been made this week.”
Round-robin play ends with Thursday’s late draw. Northern Ontario faces Nova Scotia, Manitoba will play Quebec and Team Gushue’s round robin ends with a meeting against B.C.