Brad Gushue is the odds-on-favourite to defend his title at this week’s provincial Tankard men’s curling championship in St. John’s, but you’ll have to excuse Shawn Adams if he isn’t intimidated.
While Adams obviously respects Gushue’s talent, he has no plans to play any differently against the perennial provincial champion.
“We don’t approach a game against Brad any differently than our other games,” said Adams.
“Brad puts a lot of time into his game and he’s going to be at his best, but,” added Adams, “on any given day, he can be beaten.
“I’ve played Brad and the Glenn Howards and Kevin Martins of the world, so I don’t let it bother me,” Adams said.
The provincial bonspiel, which opens 7 p.m. today the Re/Max Centre (St. John’s Curling Club), features six-time champion Gushue along with skips Colin Thomas, Jeff Thomas, Ken Peddigrew, Andrew Symonds, Brian Mercer, Keith Ryan and Adams, who made it to the 2005 Canadian championship where he eventually lost to Alberta’s Randy Ferbey in the final.
One advantage Gushue has, according to Adams, is that Gushue has played a lot more than his rink this year.
Adams’ Re/Max Centre rink includes Jamie Korab, who threw lead stones for Gushue’s gold medal-winning Canadian team at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Rick Rowsell, Randy Turpin and Craig Dowden.
Asked what the strength of his team is,” Adams laughed and said, “We’re still trying to figure that out.
“All five of us have a had some national experience,” said the 38-year-old who has been curling for 25 years.
“My first Brier was in 2000 and Rick was at that Brier,”he noted.
That year, Rowsell skipped a rink which included Peter Hollett, Ken Ellis and Downton out of the St. John’s Curling Club.
Adams said while he and Rowsell will stay in their positions, he plans to rotate the front end among the other three.
“We haven’t really decided who will be our fifth man in the opening draw. Maybe we’ll flip a coin,” he said with a laugh.
“We’d like to have a fresh man in the lineup each day to help us get through the long grind of the schedule,” added Adams, who feels the key is to avoid a big end against Gushue.
“We’re going to have some misses, but you can’t make too many mistakes against Brad. You try to keep the big number off the board.
“We know Brad’s going to make a lot of shots and, essentially, we’ve got to come out ready to play and be at our best every time we play him.
When Adams goes up against Gushue, he won’t go in with a passive or defensive game plan.
“I’ve found out over the years that if you are on the defence, you tend to get into more trouble,” said Adams.
“To be honest, when I play Brad, I try to be a bit more offensive and try to get him out of his comfort zone.
“You are better off going on the offence against him.”
Adams, a native of Bridgewater, N.S., who has been to four Briers, moved to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011 where he took up the position of Labatt Brewery sales manager.
Gushue will be looking for his 10th Brier appearance in 11 years.
While the current edition of the Gushue rink hasn’t been doing all that well lately on the mainland, it has been untouchable on the local scene when it comes to the provincial playdowns in recent years.
Gushue won his sixth straight provincial men's Labatt Tankard curling championship with a 9-3 victory over Ken Peddigrew last season at the Carol Curling Club in Labrador City.
Gushue's dominance was evident throughout last year’s Tankard as he went undefeated and only one of his games went the distance.
This year’s Gushue team includes third Adam Casey, second Brett Gallant, replacing Ryan Fry, and lead Geoff Walker.
There are two draws, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., Wednesday and three draws,10 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday’s. Play continues Friday and Saturday with tie breakers and the Page playoff rounds with the final set for 1 p.m.
The provincial winner will represent Newfoundland and Labrador at the Tim Hortons Brier March 2-10 at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
jbrowne@thetelegram.com
Teams entered in the 2013 provincial Tankard men’s curling championship
Skip: Brad Gushue
Third: Adam Casey
Second: Brett Gallant
Lead Geoff Walker
Club: Bally Haly Curling Club
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Skip: Colin Thomas
Third: Cory Schuh
Second: Chris Ford
Lead: Spencer Wicks
Coach: Jeff Thomas
Club: Re/Max Centre
–––––
Skip: Jeff Thomas
Third: Lorne Henderson
Second: Paul Harvey
Lead: Wayne Young
Club: Re/Max Centre
–––––
Skip: Ken Peddigrew
Third: Dave Noftall
Second: Jeff Rose
Lead: Keith Jewer
Club: Re/Max Centre
–––––
Skip: Shawn Adams
Third: Rick Rowsell
Second: Randy Turpin
Lead: Craig Dowden
Fifth: Jamie Korab
Club: Re/Max Centre
–––––
Skip: Andrew Symonds
Third: Mark Healy
Second: Cory Ewart
Lead: Jamie Danbrook
Club: Re/Max Centre
–––––
Skip: Brian Mercer
Third: Kirk Foster
Second: Jody Wentzell
Lead: Jonathan Brenton
Club: Carol Curling Club
–––––
Skip: Keith Ryan
Third: Mike Ryan
Second: Cory Hennessy
Lead: Dennis Langdon
Club: Carol Curling Club
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