BRANDON, Man. – Mike McEwen and his Winnipeg team are finding their groove at the perfect time.

It’s still very early at the Tim Hortons Brier, but Manitoba has been one of the best teams on the ice over the first weekend at Westoba Place with impressive victories against Saskatchewan and Quebec.

UPDATE: Manitoba dropped a heart-breaker in the evening draw, blowing a 5-0 lead to Wild Card's Brendan Bottcher, eventually losing 9-8 in an extra end.

"Reid and I have to better than that. Just poor execution. We had to make easy ones and Reid and I missed two or three really easy ones. A couple outright flashes." said McEwen. "That's not to our expectations."

However, the road to get here has been a tough one for Team McEwen.

This squad was highly touted coming into 2018-19 after McEwen joined good buddy Reid Carruthers, as well as Derek Samagalski and Colin Hodgson, following the breakup of his long running team, also based in Winnipeg. At first, Carruthers called the game while McEwen threw last stones. The foursome made a couple of finals early on, but then hit a rough patch, failing to qualify in three of four events.

In early December, they made the decision to give McEwen full skip duties as the shot caller and last rock thrower. Not much changed as they proceeded to go 0-6 at the Canada Cup in Estevan, Sask., followed by a 1-3 performance at the Grand Slam’s National a week later.

It was time to talk it out behind closed doors.

“We had lots of team discussions,” Carruthers told TSN.ca after Manitoba’s win Sunday morning against Quebec. “Honest discussions, we’ll say.”

The 2011 Brier and world champion calls this group "Team Friendship," but was aware they needed to have some serious discussions off the ice to get things right.  

“Sometimes, we haven’t wanted to say things to each other, but I think with the encouragement of our coach and sports psychologist we were able to say constructive things that have gotten us to a better place,” said Carruthers.

Team McEwen put together a perfect run to claim the Karuizawa International in Japan right before Christmas and did same at the Ed Werenich Golden Wrench Classic in late January. They lost just once all week at the Manitoba playdowns.

McEwen says it was hard to get everybody on the same page while trying to deal with lineup changes during a hectic schedule to start the season. Now with more time spent together, they’re seeing their fortunes change for the better.

“We would probably reflect and say our schedule maybe could've been tweaked and we didn’t have the consistency with lineups,” said McEwen. “We definitely spent more time in the last month and half together.”

The improved communication on the ice has also been key to their recent success. The skip, who was a win away from representing Canada at the Olympics last year, says they might have been "tip-toeing" around each other at some points earlier this season.

“You want everybody to be happy, but there is some business-related things with the team,” explained McEwen. “I think it took us just a little bit of time to figure out how that looks like off the ice when you’re with your buddies, but you’re really trying to delve into some issues and grow the team.

“We had a couple pretty intense, heartfelt chats and here we are today. Those things can be uncomfortable, but at times, they're needed.”

Finding the right time to speak up has been a learning curve for Carruthers. The 34-year-old won a Brier and world title as Jeff Stoughton’s lead back in 2011 and started skipping in 2014.

“We’re trying to find the right balance,” said Carruthers. “Even for me as a third, I’m trying to not to say too much, letting [McEwen] do the talking. If I think I need to say something to help him make a shot, then I do it.”

An example of that communication came Saturday during the 8th end against Saskatchewan’s Kirk Muyres. 

Down 5-4, McEwen was facing an opposing shot stone frozen on the button. A crucial steal of one seemed imminent until lead Hodgson spoke up and pointed out a very difficult – and risky – angle raise to strong a single.

McEwen made the highlight-reel shot that could easily go down as the best of the week to send the Brandon crowd into a frenzy.

“I don’t know if [Hodgson] baited me to play it," said McEwen. "Even though I’m the guy who threw and Reid called the line, sometimes the extra little voices on the team can influence what happens out there. He coaxed me into playing it and it worked out.”

Carruthers says no one person’s opinion is more valuable than another's on this team, but at the end of the day, it’s integral the skip is comfortable with the final decision.

“We have to make sure we have one guy who has the final say and we’re playing something he wants to do and, in that case, it’s Mike, for sure,” he said.

Carruthers shot a scorching 99 per cent against Quebec, the highest shooting percentage by a Manitoba third in Brier history.

Hometown Favourites

Manitoba is the hometown rink this week in Brandon and you can already tell the crowd is fully behind the Buffalo crest-wearing foursome​.

“Let’s enjoy the fact that they’re cheering for us and not against us for once,” said Carruthers of the crowd. “I think the crowds have also been very respectful of the opposition, as well, which I think is really important.”

McEwen grew up in Brandon and had some of his finest moments on the rink at the Brandon Curling Club, just a stone’s throw away from Westoba Place.

 “It’s just a great place to grow up. It’s got just about everything you need,” said McEwen. “I was fortunate to have such a good community to go through 27 years of my life in Brandon.”

And that hometown pressure? McEwen says he’s ready to take it all on.

“Some people may look at it like it’s more pressure. I feel like we’re like underdogs, but the most capable underdogs you’ve ever come across,” he said.

Manitoba still has matchups against Yukon, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northern Ontario and Prince Edward Island left on their schedule.