One of the most fascinating stories of the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier so far has been the impressive play of the New Brunswick curling team skipped by James Grattan of Oromocto, New Brunswick. In the last two draws, Grattan has come away with two victories against teams that have a much stronger resume in recent years than his team does. As a result, New Brunswick has a surprising record of three wins and two losses after nine draws.
On Monday night, Grattan’s New Brunswick squad gave Ontario’s John Epping his first loss of the Brier with a shocking 7-4 win. Epping was the clear favourite as he was the 2019 Canada Cup champion and four-time grand slam winner of the World Curling Tour.
Grattan’s team that also includes third Paul Dobson, second Andy McCann and lead Jamie Brannen, had a commanding 5-1 lead on Epping after six ends. Epping’s Ontario team actually gave up three consecutive stolen ends in the fourth, fifth and sixth ends to go down by four points. It would be Epping’s first loss of the Brier so far as Ontario is now at three wins and one loss.
Then on Tuesday, Grattan’s New Brunswick team defeated British Columbia’s Steve Laycock 6-3. Laycock, who is originally from Saskatchewan, has teamed up with Jim Cotter’s team out of Vernon. Cotter finished second at the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials and the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier, while Laycock was the 2003 World Junior Champion and 2015 Brier bronze medalist.
It should be noted that Grattan has had success at the Brier. He finished third in Calgary as a skip in 1997 and then as a third for New Brunswick skip and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Russ Howard in Calgary again, in 2002. Howard won Olympic gold for Canada in men’s curling at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin.
Grattan was not the only New Brunswick skip that delivered an upset at a national curling championship in Canada this year. At the 2020 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Andrea Crawford of Perth, New Brunswick upset eventual champion Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba 13-7 in pool play.
