Geoff Walker (pictured second right) and Team Gushue celebrate fourth Brier championship.Photo: Curling Canada Facebook/Twitter

By Shane Clausing

Geoff Walker

Beaverlodge’s Geoff Walker reflects on winning unforgettable fourth Brier championship

Mar 14, 2022 | 12:57 PM

Beaverlodge’s Geoff Walker added a fourth Brier championship to his resume on Sunday as he and Team Gushue defeated Alberta 9-8 to win Canada’s national curling championship.

This victory for Walker and the Gushue rink will be one they won’t forget anytime soon.

After finishing pool play with a perfect 8-0 record over the first week of the competition, teammate Mark Nichols began to feel ill on the Friday before the playoff round.

He ended up testing positive for COVID-19 and was forced to self-isolate for the remainder of the tournament, leaving the Gushue rink to play in the playoff round with just three players.

“It was wild,” said Walker. “It is still hard to comprehend that we were able to pull that off three-handed. Obviously, it was very unfortunate when Mark went down.”

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“We were playing really well at the time thinking we had a good shot to win the event. When that happened, it was obviously a big blow, but we were all able to step up and bring it home. It was really amazing.”

Walker says this wasn’t the first time he had to play in a curling game with just three players, but he adds he never had to do it at a level like the Brier.

Walker tells EverythingGP being down to three players presents quite a few different challenges.

“It changes a few dynamics. Obviously, sweeping and calling lines, it’s a bit tougher to be precise when you only have the one sweeper,” he explained. Throwing the rocks sometimes you can get into a little bit of a groove when you are throwing three rocks in a row, especially with you are playing good.

“There are obviously pros and cons with it (playing with three players), but most of them are cons. It can be mentally and physically grueling.”

Most teams do carry an alternate with them, however, this time around the Gushue rink’s coach/alternate because he was committed to coaching the Newfoundland and Labrador team that qualified for the Brier. Team Gushue went in as a wild card and is the first wild card team to end up winning the Brier.

Luckily for Walker’s team, everything worked out to be fine.

This Brier victory by Walker and Team Gushue also looks that much more impressive by the fact it comes less than a month after they won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.

While it has been a grueling schedule for the Gushue rink, Walker felt his team was well prepared coming into the tournament.

“Going in we figured we might be on half a full tank of gas, but we also had the advantage that a lot of the teams were rusty and hadn’t had a lot to play in,” he said. “It was just a matter of keeping the energy and momentum going into the playoffs as well as we could and luckily, we seemed to gain momentum as the week went on.”

With the Brier victory, Walker and Team Gushue will represent Team Canada at the Men’s World Curling Championship in Las Vegas April 2-10.

Walker mentioned they’ll take some time off before the worlds.

“I think we are all looking for a little bit of time off and recharge the batteries again. It’s going to be nice to (have) another opportunity to go play against the top teams in the world. Hopefully, we’ll get on that podium and get a gold.”

After the worlds, Walker and Team Gushue will be participating in The Players Championship in Toronto, along with the Champions Cup in Olds.