ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — St. John's skip Brad Gushue delighted the packed house at Mile One Centre on Saturday with an 8-6 win over Alberta's Brendan Bottcher at the Tim Hortons Brier.

Gushue broke a 5-5 tie with a draw to score three in the eighth end and ran Bottcher out of rocks in the 10th for the victory in the round-robin opener.

Gushue is trying to become the first Newfoundlander to hoist the Brier Tankard since Jack MacDuff in 1976.

In other early games, Manitoba's Mike McEwen topped Saskatchewan's Adam Casey 6-5 and Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs outscored British Columbia's John Morris 9-7.

Nova Scotia's Jamie Murphy earned the last spot in the 12-team main draw with a 9-6 victory over Yukon's Craig Kochan in the qualification final.

Round-robin play continues through Friday morning. The medal games are scheduled for March 12.