Curling: Olympic bronze medal-winning skip Brad Gushue wins fourth Brier title with three men

Brad Gushue has made the last month one to remember after he backed up his Beijing 2022 curling bronze medal with a record-tying fourth Brier title as skip defeating Albert’s Kevin Koe 9-8 in a thrilling final in Lethbridge on Sunday (March 13).

The 41-year-old and his rink of Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker were without their vice Mark Nichols for the final weekend after he returned a positive COVID-19 test result, meaning their victory as a trio is also a championship first.

“This is pretty amazing,” Gushue told The Canadian Press afterwards. “I never thought this would happen when Mark went down. It’s a bit of a shock for us.”

The St. John’s-based team, who previously won Tankards in 2017, 2018 and 2020, entered the tournament unfancied Wild Cards having just returned from the Games in China with a third-place finish.

But as the games ticked by, and the results began to add up, soon Gushue and his rink were on a roll.

After going a man-down, the trio stepped up to deliver in a string of must-win games. First defeating Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch in the 3-4 Page playoff and then defending champion Canada’s Brendan Bottcher in the semi-final to line up Koe for the top prize.

“What the three of us pulled off here the last few days, man oh man, it’s pretty crazy,” continued Gushue. “I never thought a team of three could through a gauntlet of Koe, Bottcher and Flasch in a Brier playoff.”

Tim Hortons Brier 2022: Fairytale championship for three-man Team Gushue

Before their dream ending was realised Team Gushue were first put through the ringer by a determined Team Alberta led by PyeongChang 2018 Olympian Koe.

Both teams got off to shaky starts.

In the second end Team Wild Card’s Gallant missed a critical take-out which allowed Koe to later open with a deuce to go 0-2 up.

The heat then fell on the Alberta skip in the third after a double take-out attempt came up short gifting Gushue the opportunity to draw for three and inch ahead 3-2.

A blank fourth end was then proceeded by a score for two for Team Koe handing the four-time Brier winners a 3-4 advantage at the mid-way point.

Straight after the break it was Gushue back in front after the Tokyo 2020 bronze medal-winning skip picked up a three-point end courtesy of a failed triple-takeout attempt by Koe.

Bothered, but not rattled, Koe responded with a hit for two to tie the game 6-6 in the seventh.

Forced to draw for one in the eighth following a fantastic double takeout by the Alberta skip, Gushue re-took to the lead and in the ninth was afforded to chance to extend it with a steal of one after pouncing on another Koe mistake.

Down by two, but with the hammer, Team Alberta needed to at least tie the score and force an extra end and keep their hopes of a fifth Brier alive.

Sure enough, when Gushue left Koe with an open hit for two, the two-time world champion made the shot to push the game into an extra end. However, in doing so, he relinquished the hammer to Team Wild Card.

In the eleventh the Olympians worked hard to deny their rivals any chance of clinching the steal, and after tight tussle from very the start, in the end, it was a Gushue clear and stick for the win.

World curling men's championships now 2022 await Team Gushue

Speaking once more to The Canadian Press after the final, a despondent Koe admitted he had not predicted the outcome:

“I thought this one was ours for taking,” he said. “We were playing good.”

Meanwhile for Gushue, Gallant and Walker it was all smiles and an overwhelming sense of disbelief.

In addition to marking their astonishing tournament victory as three-man team Team Gushue became the first wild-card entrants ever to win the Brier:

“I’m definitely on a high right now,” Gallant said. “This is exciting. I can’t believe we got that done. I’ll on cloud nine for a few more days."

Though Nichols was out of action, the vice, who was part of the Canadian team skipped by Gushue to win Olympic gold at Turin 2006, lived and breathed every second of the action from his hotel room.

He uploaded a series of posts on social media detailing his emotional turmoil as he watched his rink make history:

"Is it warm in here?!? Shirt is soaked," shared Nichols during the tenth end. Before then later updating everyone with his own surprise as team came out on top: "Is this really happening?!?"

Team Gushue's triumph nows means that their whirlwind 2022 adventures continue. The winner of the Brier typically goes on to represent Canada at the world men’s curling championships which will begin next month in Las Vegas, America.

For now each member will take a well earned break before taking to the ice again for even more curling glory.