Could this be Gushue's year?

Brad Gushue has been the centre of attention this curling season.

He has turned heads with his success on the ice, made headlines for a nasty fall at the Masters of Curling event and helped to get his hometown of St. John’s the 2017 Brier.

This season has definitely been an interesting one for the 35-year-old skip.

Gushue’s rink has won six times on the World Curling Tour — namely the Shorty Jenkins Classic in Cornwall and the Grand Slams’ The National in Oshawa — and sit atop the money list with over $100,000 in winnings.

The 2006 Olympic gold medallist isn’t taking all the credit for the success though. Gushue says the play of third and longtime friend Mark Nichols has made a huge difference.

“Mark has really played great this year. I think he’s really stepped up his game,” Gushue told TSN.ca in a recent interview. “I think if you ask a lot of the elite players that played us, they’d say that Mark struggled a bit last year.”

Gushue and Nichols played together for 10 years and won a gold medal at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Italy. Nichols left in 2012 to play front end for Jeff Stoughton’s rink for three seasons before coming back to join Gushue last season.

The skip thought Nichols felt uncomfortable last year being the “new guy” on the team and never found his groove. Things have been different this season and the captain has had an easier time throwing skip stones.  

“Mark has played like Mark Nichols is capable of playing. He’s played one of the best thirds, if not the best third, in the game this year,” explained Gushue. “He’s really made my job pretty easy. I haven’t had a whole lot of difficult shots and when I have had some I’ve been able to come through and make those.”

Nichols, 35, has also been more vocal on the ice with the added comfort, leading to better communication, a key factor to the success of a curling team.

“He’s giving a lot more feedback out on the ice which is good because he’s a smart guy,” Gushue said. “Last year he was quiet because I’m sure he didn’t know when he should chime in or not.”

Gushue also praised the performance of the team’s strong front end duo of 29-year-old Geoff Walker and 25-year-old Brett Gallant. Both have been playing with Gushue since 2012 and have matured into their roles. Having fit and strong sweepers is a must to win in elite curling these days, Gushue said.

“There’s a big difference when you have a 190 or 200-pound guy who is in great shape compared to a 160-pound, out-of-shape, beer-belly old man,” he said. “There’s a huge difference with what you can do with the rock. I feel our front end is right up there with any front ends as far as sweeping strength and judging.”

The foursome that plays out of the Bally Haly Country Club in Newfoundland is looking to keep the good times rolling as they prepare for the Home Hardware Canada Cup from Dec 2-6 in Grande Prairie, AB.

The Canada Cup is a very important event for Olympic qualification as the winner gets an automatic entry to the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings, something Gushue has missed twice since his triumph in Torino. He was on the outside looking in at the 2009 Pre-Trials and lost to Brad Jacobs, the eventual Olympic champion, in the second qualifier of the 2013 Pre-Trials.

“It’s definitely one we had highlighted this year,” Gushue said of the event. “We want to make sure we get that Trials spot as early as possible.”

You can catch all the action throughout the week on TSN, starting with Draw 1 on Wednesday, Dec 2 at 10:30am et/7:30am pt as Mike McEwen battles Pat Simmons and John Epping takes on Steve Laycock.

Brier Dreams

Gushue has done a lot of great things in his curling career, but Canada’s championship, the Brier, still eludes him.

He fell to Ontario’s Glenn Howard in the 2007 final and had an impressive round robin in Calgary last year, finishing with a 9-2 record, but lost three straight in the playoffs and went home empty handed.

“My team played incredible in the playoffs, all three games. They played so well. Probably the best three games they’ve played all year,” Gushue said. “And I personally played really poorly. I was the reason why we lost those games. There’s no doubt about it.

“I did some pretty honest self-evaluation and I’ve made some changes in how I prepare for games and even prepare for events.”

Gushue remains confident Brier glory will eventually find his rink if the foursome keep playing like they have been this season, maybe at the 2016 championship in Ottawa. Winning his first Brier there would be perfect timing as Gushue would represent Team Canada at the 2017 Brier in his hometown of St. John’s, just the second time the city has hosted the event.

“That would be extra cool because that means there would be another team from Newfoundland there,” explained Gushue. “I think it would be so special for that event. It would be an awesome eight or nine days for everybody involved. I think the fans would get a good kick out of it.”