By Murray McCormick, Postmedia News.
Nobody is about the concede the 2011 Canadian men’s curling championship to Kevin Martin or Glenn Howard.
Martin and Howard are the favourites to reach the final at the Tim Hortons Brier on London, Ont., and while they’ve earned that respect, 10 other teams aren’t about to throw in the towel before the first rock is even thrown on Saturday.
“There is a long week of curling to go through,” said Pat Simmons, who throws fourth stones for Saskatchewan’s team at the Brier.
“There are a lot of teams taking part who are capable of beating them. It’s not easy to do and we all will be hard-pressed to do that,” said Simmons, who’ll be attending his fifth Brier with Saskatchewan. “There is some depth in the field and if they have a bad day, they can lose two games. I’m sure if you ask Kevin or Glenn they would respond the same way.”
It was Kevin Martin making a shot against Kevin Koe in this file photo.
Photograph by: Lorraine Hjalte, Calgary Herald
Martin is back at the Brier after missing the 2010 event to concentrate on representing Canada at the Winter Olympics and ultimately winning the gold medal. He opens play on Saturday against Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs riding a streak of 26 consecutive wins heading back to the 2008 and 2009 Briers.
Howard, meanwhile, is representing Ontario for a record sixth consecutive year.
“The reason (Martin and Howard) are so good is they never take teams lightly,” Simmons said. “They are they most the consistent out there at doing that and that’s why they are favoured.”
Howard also knows that Martin will be the one to catch.
“Kevin and the boys seem to always play pretty well all the time and they rise to the occasion and play that much better when the big game is on the line,” Howard told the Edmonton Journal. “That’s the sign of a great team. Anybody who can do that will do well and they seem to be able to do that and have done it the last few years.”
With that in mind, here’s a look at the Brier field that is gathering in London. The championship runs through March 13 with the winner representing Canada at the Ford men’s world championship, April 2-10 in Regina.