ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Greg Smith was brutally honest just minutes just after he and his teammates won the final game of the provincial men’s curling championship Sunday afternoon at the Re/Max Centre (St. John’s Curling Club).
After slipping past Colin Thomas 9-8 in a double-extra-end thriller to secure a trip to the Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary in March, Smith went so far as to say, “we didn’t deserve this one.”
But, of course, he’ll take it.
“We were resilient, and we got a good break,” said Smith, who will be making his second trip to the Brier as Newfoundland and Labrador’s skip.
We are now Team Newfoundland & Labrador at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary, AB in March!
— Team Smith (@TeamGregSmithNL) January 31, 2021
What a battle and amazing resilience in that game and throughout the week. #TeamAsham pic.twitter.com/Q2neP5UJMp
That break came in the first extra end, the 11th, and while it certainly benefited Smith’s team, it might haunt Thomas for a while.
With last rock and a draw to an open house, Thomas’s final shot was millimetres heavy, just creeping through the rings.
With a chance he wasn’t expecting, Smith took advantage, stealing a point in the 12th end for the win.
Smith who skippers a team comprised of lead and second Evan and Alex McDonah of Truro, N.S., and vice-skip Greg Blyde, went 7-1 overall in this year’s Tankard, claiming first place in the round robin and a bye straight to the final. But no one can say Smith, the 2018 Tankard champion, had an easy time of it Sunday at the Re/Max Centre, his co-home club along with Bally Haly, the other curling rink in St. John’s.
Thomas held a slim 3-2 lead at the fifth-end break, but Smith scored two in the sixth.
That set the stage for a big four-ender from Thomas in the seventh, giving him a 7-4 lead.
“We were resilient, and we got a good break." — Greg Smith
“That was a huge punch in the gut,” said Smith. “I was hair heavy on my last shot (in the seventh end), and there was no curl. Actually, my last two shots were thrown well. But what do you do? That’s curling sometimes.
“We reminded ourselves we were only down three, with hammer in eight.”
Smith said the team has been working with coach Leslie Anne Walsh on mental toughness throughout much of the season... and that came into play Sunday.
Smith responded with two in the eighth end. Thomas scored one in nine, but Smith forced an extra end with a clutch deuce in 10, making it 8-8 and setting the stage for the extra-end excitement… and, for Thomas, extra-end disappointment.
Thomas, also from the Re/Max Centre and a three-time former provincial junior champ, had to win three times Saturday to get to Sunday’s championship game. He defeated Nathan Young in their final round-robin contest, downed 2019 Tankard champ Andrew Symonds in a third-place tiebreaker and ended the day with a semifinal victory over Ryan McNeil Lamswood.
That put him up against Smith in what would become one of the more memorable games in Tankard history,
Final Standings
x Greg Smith (6-1)
Ryan McNeil Lamswood (6-1)
Colin Thomas (5-2)
Andrew Symonds (5-2)
Nathan Young (3-4)
Trent Skanes (2-5)
Keith Ryan (1-6)
Simon Perry (0-7)
x — Awarded first place by virtue of win over McNeil Lamswood in round robin
Playoffs
Third-place tiebreaker
Thomas 6, Symonds 4
Semifinal
Thomas 7, McNeil Lamswood 3
Final
Smith 9, Thomas 8 (12 ends)
No matter how he won, Smith is excited to get back to the Brier being held in Calgary March 6-14, where he’ll join the Brad Gushue team from St. John’s, returning to the national championship as Team Canada.
“This means everything to me,” Smith said of a second trip to nationals. “In 2018, I knew we weren’t some one-week fluke. I knew we deserved to be there (at the Brier) because we are one of the top teams in the province.”
Smith opened a lot of eyes at the Tankard in 2018, going unbeaten at the Re/Max Centre.
At the Regina Brier, his team — which included none of his teammates this year — was 1-6, but feels the team played better than that record indicated.
“We could easily have been 3-4 or 4-3,” he said. “That’s where experience comes into play, and that experience in Regina will help us in Calgary.
Smith is in for an especially long stay in Calgary. He’ll remain there at the end of the Brier for the national mixed doubles championship, which follows immediately. He’s teamed up with Mackenzie Mitchell on this province’s entry.
Robin Short is The Telegram's Sports Editor. He can be reached at [email protected] | @telyrobinshort
