While the most recent Grand Slam of Curling event didn’t go their way, Team Gushue still came out of the Players’ Championship as winners. The two-time Brier winning rink, which includes Beaverlodge’s Geoff Walker, earned this year’s Bonus Cup.
The $75,000 prize goes to the overall Grand Slam season series points champion. The team won two GSOC events earlier in the season, and made it to the semifinals in Toronto.
“The first job we had here this week was to win the [Bonus] Cup, that was the most important thing,” Gushue says. “It’s about season-long success and being the best at the Slams all year, which is the best-on-best. We’re pretty proud of it.”
Just like in the world championship final just six days earlier, Brad Gushue was ousted from the competition by Sweden’s Niklas Edin. Up next is the Humpty’s Champions Cup, which is the only one he hasn’t won.
“Certainly after the last week and this week it’s been some pretty disappointing finishes for us,” he says. “If we can muster up enough energy, we’re not going to get much practice in between now and the Champions Cup, but certainly I’d like to win and finish off all seven of them.”
Kevin Koe took the Players’ Championship men’s title.