SASKATOON — As long as the Grand Slam of Curling has existed, Brad Gushue has been a part of the series.
For 25 seasons, the skip from St. John’s, N.L., has competed in at least one Grand Slam event every year. Right from the start, Gushue played in the inaugural Masters tournament in his home province in January 2002.
Gushue took his lumps in those early Slams, missing the playoffs in his first five appearances, before making the final of the 2005 Players’ Championship in his hometown. Gushue lost that final to Kevin Martin, but the new kid on the block had arrived. Less than a year later, he was an Olympic gold medallist.
Gushue’s legacy is intertwined with the Grand Slam of Curling as one of the most decorated skips in series history.
He has captured 15 Grand Slam titles, ranking second on the all-time list behind only Kevin Martin (18) among men’s skips. Gushue is one of seven skips to complete a career Grand Slam (win all four majors) and became the first and only skip to win seven different event titles in the series. He played in 29 men’s finals, more than anyone else, and set a record when he qualified for the playoffs in 27 consecutive events, a streak stretching from March 2018 to October 2023.
"It's really helped me become the curler I am," Gushue said. "I think these were the events you look forward to every year because you're playing on great ice against great teams, great venues, and we've had some incredible crowds over the years, too. I always look forward to the Slams.
"Hopefully, these continue for future generations. If we can continue to grow the Slams and make them bigger, they're certainly in a better position over the last five or 10 years than they were when I first started to play. To see that growth was exciting and hopefully, we can get that for generations to come."
With Gushue ready to retire from men’s curling at the conclusion of this season, the end was inevitable, albeit a bit earlier than anticipated. There’s still one more Grand Slam of Curling event on the schedule, next month’s Crown Royal Players’ Championship in Steinbach, Man., but Gushue was too low in the world rankings to receive an invitation.
That meant this week’s HearingLife Canadian Open would be his final Grand Slam event.
His last dance received an encore as he qualified for the playoffs, but the music stopped after the quarterfinals as his team was eliminated with a 9-4 loss to Team John Shuster of the United States.
The matchup was tied until the fourth end when the sharpshooting Shuster fired a double angle raise to score three points and hold a 5-2 lead. That had Gushue in desperation mode coming out of the break, and an angle raise of his own in the fifth end that sailed through the goal posts results in a steal of two and a five-point hole.
Down but not out, Gushue showed he’s still near the top of his game with a double takeout in the sixth to score a deuce as the "nice shot" banner flashed on the scoreboard.
Shuster, turning back the clock and playing his best he's ever played in the series, matched right back with a pair in the seventh, leading to early handshakes.
The Saskatoon crowd saluted Gushue with a standing ovation as he stepped off the ice. Classy to the end, Gushue returned the favour, sticking around to sign autographs and take selfies for all the fans at ice level.
"We played great in the round-robin, to be quite honest. Today wasn't our best game. We made some mistakes, and John punished us. He made some good shots," Gushue said.
"The shot he made in four, the double raise on an angle, was a pretty awesome shot, and certainly, that changed things around. We went from a tie game to down three. Then we were just trying to fight back and put ourselves in a tough position, so the game got out of hand.
"Disappointing that we played the way we played, but certainly, to see the appreciation, the crowd react to us all week, that made me feel pretty good. I would have liked to put on a bit of a better performance, but you can't help but feel pretty special after you get a standing ovation when you walk off the ice."
Gushue said he’s going to take some time off and enjoy the holidays before he focuses on his next event, the Montana’s Brier, which begins in late February in his backyard at the Mary Brown’s Centre. It was at the venue in 2017 when Gushue captured his first Canadian men’s curling championship. Once elusive, Gushue has won a record six as a skip and is aiming for one more.
"The guys may play one (tournament) in February, but I'm just going to be gearing up for the Brier and getting ready for that," Gushue said. "I want to put on a good show at home and hopefully, finish with a bang."
Before the HearingLife Canadian Open, the last time a Gushue and a Shuster stepped on the ice together in a Grand Slam of Curling event, they were teammates. No, not Brad and John, but their children. Brad’s daughter, Marissa, and John’s son, Luke, teamed up to play with the Hellman twins, Carter and Tucker, in the first Jr. GSOC U15 event during the CO-OP Tour Challenge two months ago in Alberta.
As one Gushue was winding down their Grand Slam career, another Gushue was beginning theirs.
