Team Carruthers holds on to win championship

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This article was published 10/02/2025 (233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — Reid Carruthers let out a large exhale as Braden Calvert’s double-takeout in the 10th end narrowly missed.

What appeared like a runaway victory at one point for Carruthers, who built a 6-1 lead through four ends, slowly dwindled to a one-point lead by the final frame of the Manitoba men’s curling championship.

In the end, it was the veteran skip from Winnipeg who hung on to successfully defend his provincial crown with a 9-7 victory over Calvert at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie on Sunday.

With recently acquired third BJ Neufeld, second Catlin Schneider and lead Connor Njegovan by his side, Carruthers will wear the Buffalo jacket for the ninth time at the Brier in Kelowna, B.C. (Feb. 28 – March 9).

“That was a wild game,” said Carruthers, who finished 7-1 overall in the tournament. “Getting the big four points to put us up, you almost take the foot off the gas, and they’re a very good team so, for us, I don’t know if it was a little lack of focus in a couple of ends but we all had a couple of shots that we’d want back and, lo and behold, we were only up one coming home.”

Carruthers joins fellow Winnipegger Matt Dunstone as the two Manitoba-based teams at the men’s national championship. Dunstone pre-qualified for the tournament before the season, based on his standing in the Canadian Team Rankings System, along with Alberta’s Brad Jacobs, Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen and Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue, who will represent Canada at the event.

“Obviously, it feels amazing. The 100th (iteration of the tournament) is obviously special,” said Carruthers. “It was important to me. I’m all about the nostalgia, so I got caught up a bit throughout the week thinking about the great ones that have come through Manitoba and played in this championship. It’s pretty special to be the victor today.”

Carruthers defeated Brett Walter 6-5 earlier in the day to advance to the championship, avenging his previous loss to the Assiniboine skip earlier in the tournament. The squad from Granite didn’t skip a beat after a two-hour delay following its semi-final triumph.

Nothing came easy for Calvert’s squad while they settled into the contest, as the more experienced team was perfect out of the gates en route to a steal of two in the opening frame and a 2-1 lead through three ends.

As Carruthers scored four in the fourth end, Brendan Bilawka (who plays lead for Calvert) and Kyle Kurz (who plays second) mirrored a look of disbelief after watching a remarkable shot from Schneider displace all three of their team’s stones from the middle house, putting them between a rock and a hard place for a fourth-straight frame.

Bilawka and Kurz looked toward the heavens then at each other helplessly with sarcastic grins as Carruthers began to take a stranglehold of the contest.

“It can for sure,” Carruthers said of whether playing earlier in the day helped his team to a hot start. “Sometimes when you play on the ice in the game in the morning, it’s easier to probably get your feet under you in the game, especially being that it’s a big one, so it didn’t hurt us.

“Braden missed a shot that I’d say he normally makes, but it’s a tricky spot. Fortunately for us, we got two in the first end on the steal and we were able to kind of just keep going after that.”

Credit is due to Team Calvert, which, after giving up four, began to string some shots together. Calvert bounced back with a pair in the fifth end, held Carruthers to a single in the sixth and scored another deuce in the seventh.

Facing the threat of conceding three in the eighth, the Fort Rouge skip fired a bullet into the middle of the house where he successfully executed a triple takeout. Carruthers had to settle for yet another single to take an 8-5 lead into the ninth end. Calvert put up another pair to keep his hopes alive heading home.

“Disappointed, obviously,” said Calvert, who is still seeking his first trip to the Brier. “The goal for the season was to win that game, and when you come up short it stings for sure.”

For Calvert, the loss marked the second year in a row he finished as runner-up to Carruthers. Calvert lost 6-3 last year, but after going undefeated through seven contests, he thought this year could be different.

“I think we had a lot of confidence going into that last game and got caught off guard by some swingier ice early in the game and we were down 6-1 before we could blink,” said Calvert.

“We had to reel, and it goes to show what our team’s made of. We battled right to the end.”

Carruthers’ dominance within the province continues. He’s either won or been a finalist at the Manitoba playdowns in each of the last eight years. On Sunday, he became Manitoba’s all-time leader with 13 appearances in the final, passing legend Jeff Stoughton, and is now two away from tying Stoughton for the most provincial titles ever.

“I got a bunch greys in my beard, so I know that I’m a veteran now,” said Carruthers, who needs five wins next year to tie Kerry Burtnyk for second-most all-time in the Manitoba playdowns.

“You count your blessings. I never know when it’s going to be my last championship final. Fortunate to get to take one more trip to the Brier and who knows what the future holds.”

Carruthers, who has medalled three times at the Brier, including winning gold in 2011, will attempt to reach the podium for the first time since 2014. He will make the 13th appearance of his career at the national tournament.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam