Glenn Howard, Jennifer Jones book spots in Canada Cup finals

Glenn Howard advanced to the men's final at the Capital One Canada Cup curling competition with a 9-6 victory on Saturday night over Mike McEwen.

The world champion from Coldwater, Ont., opened the semifinal with three points in the first end and led Winnipeg's McEwen 6-1 after four ends.

Howard will now play Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg in Sunday's final. Stoughton earned an automatic berth to the final after topping the round robin with a 5-1 record.

"It's going to be another final against Jeff Stoughton, one of the best players on the planet. We've got to come out and play like we did today. If we do play like we did today, I like our chances," said Howard. "If not, we probably won't win."

McEwen survived a 9-7 win in the tiebreaker against Calgary's Kevin Koe earlier Saturday before falling to Howard.

"We started so well this morning, and then it was like we forgot how to curl," said McEwen. "A lot of mistakes early on. We looked like night and day."

Meanwhile, Team Jennifer Jones defeated Heather Nedohin of Sherwood Park, Alta., 9-5 in the women's semifinal to earn a spot in Sunday's final against Stefanie Lawton of Saskatoon.

Kaitlyn Lawes is handling skip duties for Jones's Winnipeg rink since Jones gave birth to a baby girl two weeks ago and is also recovering from knee surgery.

"It was a great team game — they set me up very well," said Lawes. "It was great to keep it close. Heather's is such a great team and we always have such great games against them."

The men's and women's champions will receive one of the six automatic qualification spots for the 2013 Roar of the Rings — the tournament that will determine Canada's entries at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.