CALGARY, March 9, 2009 (CCA) — Alberta’s Kevin Martin kept rolling, Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton and Russ Howard got back on track and Saskatchewan’s Joel Jordison finally found the rails here at the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier Monday morning.
Martin defeated a feisty NWT/Yukon team 8-4 in a game that was closer than the score indicated; Stoughton bounced back from an upset loss to PEI on Sunday with a convincing 7-4 win over Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard; New Brunswick outscored Nova Scotia’s Mark Dacey 10-7 in what was a slugfest; and Jordison finally got into the win column with a 6-5 extra end victory over PEI’s Rod MacDonald.
Alberta lead Ben Hebert was asked if his team approached the game against the North’s Jamie Koe differently than one of the higher ranked teams in this field.
“Yeah, it’s a little bit different. You can get away with a few more things and get a few more misses,” said Hebert. “But it’s Monday morning, and everybody’s a bit groggy. But, you know what? It’s the Brier — you have to come out and play sharp. And Jamie’s very capable. He’s beaten us before; he actually knocked me out of the 2006 Brier in Regina. You have to come out and play good, regardless.”
The Manitoba victory was set up in the very first end when Menard sailed a last rock draw attempt to the back of the house and gave Stoughton a steal of three.
“It went well. We got off to a great start,” said Stoughton. “That was a big steal in the very first end.”
The Brier resumes here this afternoon when Manitoba plays BC’s Sean Geall, PEI plays Ontario’s Glenn Howard, Nova Scotia plays Northern Ontario’s Mike Jakubo and NWT/Yukon plays Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue.