Quebec grabs last playoff position in Brier

SPORTS (Tim Hortons Brier) — One moment Jean-Michel Ménard was getting ready for an extra end and the next he was in the Page playoff 3-4 game at the Tim Hortons Brier, presented by SecurTek.

The Quebec skip had his team up 7-5 against Kevin Koe of Alberta in the 10th end today but figured he was heading for a tiebreaker game against Steve Laycock of Saskatchewan, who was leading New Brunswick 7-6 with the hammer coming home.

But Laycock’s last-rock draw slid through the house, allowing James Grattan to steal three for a 9-7 win that left Quebec just needing a win to avoid the tiebreaker.

“Coming home up two we were getting mentally ready to give up two and have to win the game in overtime,” said Ménard.

“Against a team like Kevin Koe, he knows how to generate offence. But when he went to throw his first rock we saw right beside us, Steve Laycock went right through and (third) Martin (Crête) and I just looked at each other, didn’t say a word. I thought I think I’ve got a good sniff at it.”

Moments later he made a double takeout of two Alberta stones to secure his 8-5 win and a playoff berth.

The Alberta loss means they will play first-place British Columbia in the 1-2 game at 6:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. final. Quebec will play Manitoba in the 3-4 game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with the winner playing the loser of the 1-2 game in the semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

In the other morning games Eddie MacKenzie of P.E.I. beat Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories/Yukon 11-7 and Greg Balsdon of Ontario beat James Murphy of Nova Scotia 9-6.

The results left Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba tied with 9-2 records. The draw-to-the-button results gave B.C. first place and Alberta second. The rest of the final standings saw Quebec at 7-4, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Newfoundland-Labrador at 6-5, Ontario 5-6, P.E.I. 4-7, Territories/Yukon 3-8, Northern Ontario 2-9 and Nova Scotia 0-11.