OTTAWA - Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue appears to have everything in place to make a run at capturing that elusive Tim Hortons Brier title.
He has picked up some big wins this season and is skipping the top-ranked team in the country. Gushue is off to a great start at the national men's curling championship and looks primed to be in the mix come playoff time.
His 13th career Brier appearance may prove lucky. Gushue improved to 3-1 on Monday with a 7-5 victory over Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock.
"I think whoever wins is going to get some breaks and obviously play well," Gushue said. "It would be really nice to win with a field like this because you know you've beaten all the best teams."
This year's field is considered one of the most stacked in recent memory.
Gushue opened with a 5-4 victory over Manitoba's Mike McEwen before dropping a 4-3 decision to Ontario's Glenn Howard. He bounced back with a 6-3 win over Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories before topping Laycock.
There are no lighter draws in round-robin play, which continues through Friday morning.
"In my career in the Brier, you always get two or three games where you may not have to play your best to win. We don't have that this week," Gushue said. "It's more like a (Olympic) Trials or a Canada Cup in that every game is going to be a grind. It's going to be a really exhausting week I think, mentally, physically and emotionally.
"You're going to have some losses and you've got to deal with those and just try to come out at the end of the week."
Gushue reached the curling pinnacle in 2006 by winning Olympic gold at the Turin Games. He has come close at the Brier on occasion, taking silver in 2007 and bronze in 2011.
Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker are finishing their second full season together as a foursome.
"He's just got that fire to go and be the best," Nichols said. "There's no fear to play against any teams. He knows that he's good enough to keep up with anyone out there and he knows that our team is good enough to keep up with any other team out there too.
"That makes a big difference."
After six draws, Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs was the lone unbeaten team at 3-0. He was followed by Gushue, Canada's Pat Simmons and Alberta's Kevin Koe at 3-1.
Manitoba's Mike McEwen was next at 2-1 while B.C.'s Jim Cotter and Howard were at 2-2.
Simmons suffered his first loss on Monday afternoon, dropping a 6-4 decision to Adam Casey of Prince Edward Island (1-3).
"In this Brier, if you give an inch — and we gave a few out there — they're going to bite you," said Canada third John Morris. "It doesn't matter what team you're playing."
In the other afternoon games, Cotter beat Howard 9-5 and Kevin Koe edged Jamie Koe 8-7 in an extra end.
"I think we're one of the favourites, one of a group of four, five, six or seven teams," Gushue said. "It's nice to be in that but I don't think we're coming in here with people gunning for us.
"I think they're gunning for everybody."
The playoffs start Friday and the medal games are scheduled for Sunday. The Brier champion will represent Canada at the men's world curling championship next month in Basel, Switzerland.
Notes: Team Canada wore camouflage uniforms for both draws Monday on Support Our Troops Day at TD Place. Many fans wore red clothing to show support for the Canadian Armed Forces. ... Announced attendance was 3,436.
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