No lead is safe as jaw-dropping shots making for memorable Brier
Just when you thought you watched the best shot of the Brier, another best shot of the Brier appears.
That’s how this year’s championship in Kingston, Ont., has gone. And there’s still so much more to come.
Canada’s top men curlers have provided some of most electrifying shots you’ll ever see.
Coming into the event, many had called this year’s Brier field the best ever — they’re certainly living up to it.
It’s been a nonstop barrage of jaw-dropping granite throwing greatness that has fans and players wondering what they just watched and how it could possibly happen.
And it’s meant no lead is safe and no top team is safe.
While there are sure to be more highlight reel moments as the rest of the competition plays out, here’s a look back at the top three Brier moments to this point.
Gunnlaugson’s double runback double takeout for the win
Down 8-6 against Prince Edward Island in the final end, Manitoba skip Jason Gunnlaugson wasted no time lining up the angles on a number of rocks, confident that if he hit all the granite exactly in the right spot he’d end up with a scintillating shot and score of three for the victory.
Gunner, as he’s called, said that if he hit the first yellow P.E.I. stone, it would careen back onto his red rock in the top-twelve foot, that rock would then scream back toward two yellow P.E.I. rocks around the button, double them out and leave him sitting three red rocks.
Easy, right?
Gunnlaugson settled in the hack and then blasted out toward the mass of granite.
He yelled wildly — and then just like he drew it up, hit every rock perfectly giving him an improbable win.
The shot is one of the best you’ll ever see. So too was Gunner’s celebration. He jumped into the air, hugged his teammates and pumped his fist.
A fitting reaction to one magical curling shot.
Matt Dunstone’s blast for 4
Rarely does a curling team surrender four points in the final end.
But that’s exactly what happened to British Columbia against Saskatchewan on Monday at the Brier.
Down 8-5 with one end to play, Saskatchewan mounted a stunning comeback. They managed to jam the house with yellow stones setting up Dunstone for some late-game heroics.
The Saskatchewan skipper fired his last yellow rock down the ice toward his own yellow rock in the eight foot — that rock smashed into a B.C. stone.
B.C.’s red rock then went zooming back into two other red rocks.
When all the granite settled, four yellow Saskatchewan stones were sitting in the house giving Saskatchewan a remarkable 9-8 victory.
Dunstone pumped his fist wildly after the shot, making for another memorable curling celebration.
Koe’s wicked triple for the win
How many times has Kevin Koe wielded curling sorcery with his last rock to escape defeat?
The answer is too many times to count.
And he did it again on Tuesday afternoon at the Brier against Wild Card’s Mike McEwen.
Down 2-1 in the final end with the hammer, Koe could have played it safe and draw for a single point and take his chances in an extra end.
Instead, true to Koe form, he decided to play a seemingly impossible triple to score two for the victory.
The four-time Brier champion rifled his yellow rock toward the red Wild Card stones in the house, hitting every red rock on the perfect angle and removing every McEwen stone for victory.
Unlike Gunnlaugson and Dunstone’s bombastic celebration, Koe’s reaction was much more subdued.
Just what you’d expect from Kevin Koe.
