Toronto skip John Epping has been firmly entrenched near the top of the Canadian rankings this season, is coming off a Canadian Open victory and appears to be peaking at the right time.

He's hoping to carry that momentum into the Ontario Tankard playoffs this weekend so that he'll have a shot at finally getting to his first national championship.

"The first thing I dreamed of as a kid was going to the Brier," Epping said. "So the Brier has been a big carrot. Now there is the Olympics obviously, that has become a huge carrot too. But the Brier, just the history behind it and representing your province — especially in Ottawa — being the hometown province with all your friends and family being able to come. Yeah, it makes you want it.

"And not going to one yet, makes me want it a little more every year. We've been close a couple of times. The Brier would be pretty sweet."

Epping, who currently holds the No. 5 position in the Canadian Team Ranking System, entered his ninth provincial playdowns this week as the favourite. However, with veteran skips Glenn Howard and Mike Harris in the field, it won't be easy to qualify for the March 5-13 Tim Hortons Brier in the nation's capital.

Howard is playing without injured vice-skip Wayne Middaugh, but he's still a 15-time provincial champion. Harris, meanwhile, the 1998 Olympic silver medallist, has also impressed in round-robin play and feels little pressure since his rink is playing a part-time schedule this season.

All three teams are on pace to reach the playoff round. It should make for a captivating weekend at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre in Brantford, Ont., with a Brier berth on the line.

"People have seen that we've had some good success the last couple months and I think everybody is going to bring their game up a little bit too," Epping said. "But the field is so good. Glenn Howard is here too and it's the same for him. He's won a ton of these. I always look at him as the favourite and I always have. So I don't even look at myself as the favourite. But the field is deep.

"Ontario has got a great set of curlers. I think this is one of the best provincials I've been at field-wise."

Epping followed up his Grand Slam victory in Yorkton, Sask., in December by taking the U.S. Open of Curling crown last month in Blaine, Minn. He feels that this season's lineup of third Mathew Camm, second Patrick Janssen and lead Tim March is coming together at the right time.

"It has all started to click," Epping said. "The last two and a half months have been rock solid. We seem to be peaking at the right time and we're still in transition, we're still learning. But we keep working hard to get better."

Epping, a 32-year-old native of Peterborough, Ont., has plenty of experience at top-flight events. He's a regular presence on the Grand Slam circuit and played at the Olympic trials ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Games.

But a Brier appearance has always proven elusive.

"We play in high-pressure weeks all year long," Epping said. "The Grand Slam series, the Canada Cup, those are high intensity and high pressure. So we use those to help us in these weeks to try different things to see what gets us to play our best ... we've been here a number of times.

"It's just a matter of closing the deal this time."

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