OTTAWA – Second Brett Gallant of Newfoundland-Labrador led the field of eight curlers advancing into Saturday’s playoffs of the Ford Hot Shots competition at the Tim Hortons Brier.

“It doesn’t mean a whole lot,” Gallant said of his positioning after Friday’s preliminary round. “It’s nice to get into the final eight, but everything resets tomorrow so it’s a whole new battle.

“It is nice to get a few extra throws on the ice. We’re still learning at this point so it doesn’t hurt to get a few more shots.”

Gallant earned 27 of a possible 30 points in the annual competition that features curlers attempting six different shots: Hit and Stay, Draw the Button, Draw the Port, The Raise, Hit and Roll and Double Takeout. Each shot is awarded points on a scale from 0-5 depending on the end result of the shot.

Joining him in the playoffs will be New Brunswick third Scott Jones, skips Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario and Mike McEwen of Manitoba, all with 26 points; skips Brad Gushue of Newfoundland-Labrador and Mike Kennedy of New Brunswick, third B.J. Neufeld of Manitoba and second E.J.Harnden of Northern Ontario with 25 points.

Ford of Canada will provide the winner of the Ford Hot Shots with a two-year lease on a 2016 EcoBoost powered Ford Edge Sport SUV, with an approximate retail value of $49,789 MSRP.

The second-place finisher receives $2,000, while the third-place finisher gets $1,000.

The playoffs (Final Eight, Final Four, Final) begin at 11:30 a.m. (12:30 Atlantic) on Saturday.

Past winners at the Tim Hortons Brier have been Greg McAulay and Pat Ryan of British Columbia, Alberta’s Don Bartlett, Randy Ferbey, John Morris and Marc Kennedy, Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock and Kirk Muyres, Manitoba’s Steve Gould (twice), Northern Ontario’s Mike Coulter, Ontario’s Ed Werenich, Craig Savill, Wayne Middaugh, Glenn Howard and Richard Hart, New Brunswick’s Rick Perron, Jeff Lacey and Marc LeCocq, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Mark Nichols and last year’s winner, Colin Hodgson of Manitoba.