By Jonathan Brazeau
VICTORIA — Eight is enough. That's where the points cutoff line was Friday in the GSOC Co-op Invitational to make the playoffs.
Scotland's Team Grant Hardie entered the final day of the preliminary round on the outside looking in with five points and needed a regulation win over Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller to guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals.
Mission accomplished. Hardie upended Schwaller 6-2 during the early afternoon draw at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre to advance.
"Yeah, it's great," said Hardie, who lost 8-2 to Schwaller during their previous encounter in the Euro Super Series final in August. "I think we had a pretty rough start against them when we played them at the ESS. We didn't want them to think they were going to run us over every time, especially when we kind of had our backs up against the wall today. I think we knew we needed three points even going into that last day, and we were kind of thinking one wouldn't be enough.
"The boys really stepped up today, and I think we just got a lot of things we'd been speaking about right. We haven't quite been getting the team stuff right. We had a good chat last night, and it came out in a massive difference today, so that was really, really satisfying to see."
It was the first loss of the week for the world No. 1 Schwaller, who had already secured a playoff spot with three wins (two in regulation and one in a shootout) to start the tournament.
"Those guys are No. 1 in the world for a reason, so you know you're going to have to play very well to beat them," said Hardie, whose team sits right behind Schwaller in second place in the rankings. "Thankfully, we did that today, and we gave ourselves another chance in the playoffs now."
Hardie broke a 1-all tie in the third end with a key steal, as Team Schwaller's Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel jammed his last to give up a point.
After the teams traded singles in four and six, Schwaller conceded a point in seven to fall behind 4-2 and retain the hammer for the eighth end.
"We knew they would do that. The way the rules are now, that's probably the strategy they had to play," said Hardie, who tacked two more stolen points on the board. "We thought we had to get all three points, so we had to make sure they never got two for the shootout.
"We played that last end pretty aggressively for the first half and made eight good shots, which got us over the line."
Epping re-energized
John Epping and his Winnipeg-based club are still in it to win it.
What fatigue? Epping hasn't had a day off in over a week, with his team arriving straight from the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, finishing runner-up to Team Benny Kapp in Monday's final.
Despite the tight turnaround and a bit of a slow start, Epping improved to a 2-2 record (seven points) with a 5-2 win over Calgary's Team Kevin Koe to likely guarantee either a spot in the quarterfinals or a tiebreaker, pending the results from the remaining draws.
Even then, Epping only lost to Schwaller by one, 7-6, and picked up a point against Hardie in a shootout. Epping got into the win column Thursday morning after defeating Team Kyle Waddell 10-5.
"We knew what we had to do and win in regulation," Epping said. "I think we were guaranteed some sort of a tiebreaker, or if things go our way today, then maybe we're straight in. After the first two games, we kind of felt like we were in it all the way.
"First game, definitely we were exhausted after getting in at one o'clock the night before and jumping on the ice. Probably not our best performance. Then, to be honest, we started to get rolling against Hardie. We got a bad break when we looked like we were going to steal too, and they got a little bit of a break, and that's curling. I kind of feel like we deserved maybe a win in that game after that and then battled hard.
"A point is always important in these things when you lose in a shootout, and then we kind of knew that if we can get to seven (points), we'd have a sniff to maybe see something. I think in every Grand Slam, seven points has gotten something, so it was great. We keep getting better, and it’s just kind of the theme of this team. We're getting better every game we play. We're growing. We're still learning. I think we're a long way from that side of it to being, let's say, polished to what we want to be. It's going to be a learning curve for a while."
Epping and lead Ian McMillan joined forces with third B.J. Neufeld and second Ryan Wiebe this season. Although they weren't among the initial list of teams invited to the Co-op Invitational, Epping earned a ticket through the Satellite Events series, finishing runner-up to Hardie in the AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic last month.
"We're thrilled. We knew we had a tough pool. I mean, every game's tough here at the Grand Slams, but no, we were happy and a great test," Epping said. "Again, this is Ryan's first-ever Grand Slam, so it's great for him. He's got two wins in his first Grand Slam. He’s going to be guaranteed some type of a tiebreaker or playoff game, so that's exciting for him. It's going to bode well for his future, his learning curve and building that.
"It's always just good for us to keep playing well and putting ourselves in pressure games. It's never going to hurt us."
Epping is on double duty this week. He also coaches Xenia Schwaller's team along with Andi Schwaller, Xenia's dad, and has been on the bench with them when he can.
"I wish I could be there every game and all the time with them, but we have an understanding that my performance is important. It's not fair to my team, to my guys, if I'm out there on the bench in the morning, and then I’ve got to play later," Epping said.
"It's hard on the body. Coaching is tougher than what people think. You're sitting out there frozen. You have to stay so engaged in the game right now, the way that the new World Curling rules are, where you can interact with your team in between shots. You've got to stay very engaged because you really do play a big part. Xenia really relies on me for that side of it, and I want to make sure that I'm at my best when I'm on the bench for them.
"We've found a way that works, and as I said, I wish I could be there all the time for them, but they're very understanding. They're obviously doing great with me, and it's not like they're hurting with having Andi on the bench. He's such a veteran presence for them, and he's been around the game a long time."
So what's the scenario?
Here's how the men's playoff picture is shaping up, following the conclusion of Draw 14.
Qualified for the playoffs (five teams)
• Ramsfjell (3-1, 10 points)
• Jacobs (3-0, nine points)
• Hösli (3-1, nine points)
• Y. Schwaller (3-1, eight points)
• Hardie (3-1, eight points)
Still in it (three spots remaining)
• Epping (2-2, seven points)
• Dunstone (2-1, six points)
• Casper (2-1, six points)
• Bottcher (2-1, six points)
• Maeda (2-2, six points)
• Carson (1-2, three points)
Eliminated
• Mouat (1-3, three points)
• Yamaguchi (1-3, three points)
• Waddell (1-3, three points)
• Eriksson (0-3, zero points)
• Koe (0-4, zero points)
