By Jonathan Brazeau
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — A big seventh end helped Winnipeg's Team John Epping propel past Edmonton's Team Brendan Bottcher 9-4 during the opening night of action Tuesday at the P&H Masters.
Tied 4-all, Epping capitalized on a couple of misses from Bottcher to score a huge five-count that brought out the handshakes.
It could have been more, as Bottcher misfired an angle raise takeout attempt that left Epping an open hit for six. Epping hit and rolled out with his last, but the five points were good enough to put the game to bed.
The matchup was the first meeting between the two teams after an off-season of roster shakeups to begin the Olympic cycle. Bottcher returned to skipping after two years throwing second stones for Brad Gushue. He retained lead Geoff Walker and added brothers Jake and Tanner Horgan to play third and second, respectively.
The Horgans had moved on from Epping, who stuck with lead Ian McMillan and linked up with third B.J. Neufeld plus second Ryan Wiebe.
"We know they're going to be tough every time we play them," Epping said. "Great team, obviously, played with the brothers, they're great players, and they're going to do really well with Brendan. There's no doubt there.
"We kind of feel like the Canadian pool, where we've got a bunch of Canadian teams and teams that we're going to see at the big events. It's just good to get some games against them, really."
The scoreboard was close until Epping broke the game open in the seventh.
After settling for a single in the first, Epping stole two in the second for an early 3-0 lead. Bottcher clipped a guard and accidentally promoted another Epping stone in for the double steal.
Bottcher got it all back, recovering with an open draw for a deuce in the third and stealing one in the fourth when Epping's hit into the cluster of rocks in the house connected too thick.
After Epping was forced to one point in the fifth, Bottcher was looking for a multiple score in the sixth. Aiming for a double, Bottcher only grazed the second stone to settle for a tying single.
"Those first games (at) these events are difficult. You're trying to figure out the ice, mainly, and that's one thing. You know that kind of throw that you can get away with out here for the week, and how that's going to look, and that's what we kind of focused on," Epping said. "We had some chances. We got a bit of a fortunate steal in two on Brendan's last one. Other than that, even the end that we gave up the steal, we had a lot of good opportunities in the middle of that end to put them in a world of hurt. We didn't, and then, of course, my last one didn't end up as it should have.
"I mean, you get a couple of breaks. That's curling. That's what you need. Overall, though, I thought we started to play some really good ends and get some draw weight. That's the one thing with us. When we can draw well as a team, then we're going to start to really be at the top."
A three-week marathon of curling in October helped push Epping into the top 10 in the world rankings. His team finished runners-up at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, then immediately flew out to Victoria for the season's first event of the Grand Slam of Curling presented by Molson Canadian series, the Co-op Invitational, where they reached the quarterfinals. They capped it off with a title win at the Henderson Metal Fall Classic in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, defeating Team Joël Retornaz in the final.
After finally enjoying a week of rest, Epping is riding the wave of momentum into the P&H Masters.
"Yeah, it was funny. When we won the final in the Soo, we looked at each other, we were like, 'That was a must-win game.' After you lose two finals, you want to (win your first one together), and that was really nice to do," said Epping, who was also a finalist earlier in the season at the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic in Cornwall, Ontario. "What a grind those three weeks were. It was not our intention to play three in a row, but we weren't sure we were going to be in Victoria, and got the Satellite spot. If you would have told us at the end of that run that we would have been in two finals and made a quarterfinal at our first Grand Slam together, we would have taken it in a run.
"What a stretch, and it just gives us lots of confidence going into this middle half and really a Slam season right now for us. We're in the next couple of Slams, which is always great. Everything's kind of heading in the right direction."
No rest for the world's best
Grant Hardie and his Scottish squad are doing their best to shake off the jet lag, arriving in Medicine Hat straight from winning gold at the European Curling Championships on Sunday in Ostrava, Czechia.
Team Hardie might be operating on Low Power Mode, but it was good enough to steal three times during a 5-2 victory over Winnipeg's Team Jordon McDonald in Tuesday's evening draw.
"It was a struggle today, but to be honest, we knew what we'd signed up for," said Ross Whyte, who throws fourth stones on Team Hardie. "We knew that we had to bring the energy in those games, and we did that tonight, so that was great.
After a single in the first, Hardie swiped a point in the second when McDonald's draw shot rolled heavy. McDonald regrouped with a hit for one in the third and forced Whyte to draw for a single in the fourth, but back-to-back misfires in the fifth and sixth gave Hardie a four-point lead.
McDonald drew for one in the seventh before shaking hands.
"Yeah, we're very pleased," Whyte said. "We knew it was going to be a tough grind tonight. Those boys are very good at curling. We're very pleased to come out with a bit of energy and, yeah, very happy."
Hardie defeated Italy's Stefano Spiller 6-5 in the European final. It's funny how things worked out, as they happened to draw into the same pool and will meet again on Wednesday.
With Team Spiller beating Team Hardie during pool play at the Europeans, the rubber match is set.
"We played them twice last week, and they played really well, so we know it's going to be a really tough one," Whyte said. "Both teams are in the same situation with the jet lag, so you just have to get up for it."
Jacobs outduels Spiller in shootout
You would have been hard-pressed to guess Spiller was playing in his first-ever Grand Slam game against Brad Jacobs and the reigning Olympic gold medallists from Calgary.
Although third Amos Mosaner and second Sebastiano Arman are no strangers to the Slams, having won four titles during their time with Retornaz, their new 20-year-old skip and his twin brother, lead Cesare Spiller, were making their series debuts.
Spiller took Jacobs to the distance in a shootout, but that's when the veteran outshone his opponent. Jacobs parked his rock right on the button, and Spiller was nowhere near the lid on his draw.
With the series tweaking shootout points structure ahead of the event, Jacobs earned two points in the standings, while Spiller, who wouldn't have had the hammer if there had been an extra end, ended up with none.
