Tim Hortons Brier 2020: Updated Curling Draw, Schedule After Saturday's Results
March 8, 2020
A berth in the Tim Hortons Brier gold-medal match was up for grabs Saturday in Kingston, Ontario.
Alberta, which owned the best overall record (10-1), faced off with Saskatchewan in the playoff round. The winner would move on to the final, with the loser dropping to the semifinal.
That left one more berth available as Ontario, Team Canada, Wild Card, Northern Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador all fought to stay alive.
Saturday Results
Draw 20
Ontario def. Wild Card 7-6
Northern Ontario def. Canada 8-3
Draw 21
Alberta def. Saskatchewan 9-4
Northern Ontario def. Ontario 8-4
Draw 22
Newfoundland and Labrador def. Northern Ontario 7-4
Sunday Schedule
Draw 23 (12 p.m. ET)
Saskatchewan vs. Newfoundland and Labrador
Draw 24 (7 p.m. ET)
Alberta vs. TBD
Saturday Recap
Alberta jumped out to a 4-1 lead on Saskatchewan after the sixth end in Draw 21. The teams exchanged points over the next two ends before Saskatchewan clawed two points back to make things interesting heading into the 10th and final end.
But Saskatchewan skip Brendan Bottcher secured four points for his team to win 9-4.
Bottcher was runner-up with Alberta at the 2018 Brier and then again with the wild-card squad one year ago. He knows the job isn't done yet in order for the province to repeat as Brier champions.
"I want it bad," he said, per the Canadian Press (via the CBC). "You don't know how many chances you're going to get in moments like this."
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, will meet Newfoundland and Labrador in the semifinal.
Skip Brad Gushue and his squad, which captured the Brier title on home soil in 2017, earned a 7-4 victory over Northern Ontario in the day's last draw.
Newfoundland and Labrador drew first blood with a point in the opening end and never trailed. Northern Ontario tied the score on three occasions but couldn't find a breakthrough. Three points for Newfoundland and Labrador over the final three ends were the difference.
Saskatchewan faced off with Newfoundland and Labrador on Friday. Matt Dunstone bested Gushue after getting two points in the 10th end. Another evenly matched battle should be in store Sunday.