Gushue, with PEI native Gallant, beats Carruthers to take the National (GSOC)

(by Jonathan Brazeau)

OSHAWA, Ont. — Brad Gushue of St. John’s said at the start of the National he felt good enough to play in the event following his frightening fall on the ice just two weeks ago at the Masters.

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Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker with the Pinty’s GSOC National trophy in Oshawa, Ont. (Photo: Anil Mungal)

As it turned out, Gushue was good enough to win his fourth career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championship following a 7-2 victory over Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the men’s final Sunday at the General Motors Centre.

It’s the third Grand Slam title in the past two seasons for the team of Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second [PEI native] Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker. The foursome from St. John’s, N.L., captured the Masters and the Canadian Open last year.

Gushue, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist, said he got better as each day went on through the tournament.

“I had a few ups and downs, some games were better than others but I felt really good today, which is good,” he said. “I feel way better than I did on Tuesday night when we showed up. Time is going to heal it for sure and physically I feel really good.”

“I think the only issue for me right now is the psychological part and I’m still a little tentative and stepping over rocks and moving around rocks,” Gushue added. “I’m a little more careful than I normally am but I think with more time on the ice that will go away and I’ll get back to myself. I’m probably more of a danger to myself acting the way I am right now but as far as throwing the rock I feel pretty good. I felt comfortable out there today and the last couple days.”

Things in the final almost went sideways early for Gushue. Carruthers had a chance to score four in second but he needed to make a tricky tap back to eliminate Gushue’s stone. Carruthers’ shooter rubbed off of one of his stones and he wasn’t able to get the takeout and Gushue stole one to opening the scoring 1-0.

Carruthers faced two with his last shot in four but made the open draw to the button to score one and tie it.

Gushue capitalized in the fifth end after Carruthers missed on a double attempt, drawing to count two and go up 3-1.

Carruthers was forced to a single in six and Gushue got through the guards with his last shot in seven for a tap to retake the two-point lead. Carruthers faced three with his last shot in the eighth end but was wide and missed the mark.

Team Gushue have been on a tear this season winning five titles on tour as well as finishing runner-up in the Tour Challenge Tier 1 event in September. Gushue capped the National with an overall 6-1 record, sustaining his lone loss to Calgary’s Kevin Koe, who prevailed in a rematch of the Tour Challenge final during the round robin.

Carruthers lost his first round robin match to Toronto’s John Epping and cruised through to the final winning five consecutive games.

Team Carruthers, the reigning Manitoba provincial champions, were playing in their first Pinty’s GSOC final together. Coincidentally, Carruthers won a National championship with Nichols while the pair played on Jeff Stoughton’s team in 2013.

Click to read at the Grand Slam website

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