The Brier: Jacobs, Gushue remain undefeated
Northern Ontario, Newfoundland open tournament 3-0
Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador and Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario opened the Tim Hortons Brier with three straight wins to top the standings Sunday.
Ontario's Mark Kean, Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock and Prince Edward Island's Adam Casey were tied at 2-1.
The six teams at 1-2 were B.C.'s Jim Cotter, New Brunswick's Jeremy Mallais, Alberta's Kevin Koe, Team Canada's John Morris, Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard and Manitoba's Reid Carruthers. Jamie Koe of Northwest Territories was 0-3.
The top four teams advance to playoffs and the winner will be crowned Sunday.
Gushue scored wins of 8-5 win over Northwest Territories and 9-7 over Team Canada, while Jacobs downed B.C. 7-5 and Alberta 9-5 on Sunday. Jacobs won both Canadian and world titles in 2013 before winning Olympic gold in 2014.
"We're playing decent. There's lots of room for improvement," the Northern Ontario skip said. "We're not quite as consistent as we want to be, but we're only three games in. We've played well enough to win and that's all that matters."
Alberta and Team Canada, both skipped by Calgarians, had shaky starts although Alberta's Koe rebounded Sunday night with a 7-3 win over Ontario.
Also in the evening draw, Saskatchewan downed Northwest Territories 10-6, Manitoba picked up its first win in a 9-5 decision against New Brunswick and P.E.I. won 6-5 over B.C.
Koe revealed he was struck with a stomach flu just prior to Alberta's first game. His shooting percentage over their first two losses was just 66 per cent, while his teammates were all plus-90. Koe upped his accuracy versus Ontario to 93 per cent.
"Luckily we bounced back with a big win tonight. We needed it," Koe said. "We're not used to losing a bunch in a row. It's nice to win some for the fans too."
Morris lost twice Sunday, including a 7-4 loss to Casey.
"We're probably playing 80 per cent curling and 80 per cent will get you a .500 record at the Brier," Morris said. "We need to boost it up a bit. Tough day for us."
Attendance was down significantly on opening weekend from 2009 when the Brier was last held at Scotiabank Saddledome. After five draws, attendance was 33,081 compared to 65,000 six years ago.