SATURDAY SPORTS: OPENING NIGHT DRAMA AT THE MONTANA’S BRIER

REGINA – Host Saskatchewan eked out a tense win and defending champion Brad Gushue won a game that included an unpleasant interaction with a spectator to open the Canadian men’s curling championship Friday.

Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen fought off a persistent Prince Edward Island team skipped by Tyler Smith to win 7-6, while Gushue prevailed 7-4 over Nova Scotia’s Matthew Manuel.

In other Montana’s Brier games, Aaron Sluchinski doubled Kevin Koe 8-4 in a battle of Alberta, and Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe opened with a 7-4 victory over Quebec’s Julien Tremblay.

Before Gushue threw his final stone of the ninth end, the skip and his second E.J. Harnden complained to officials about comments by a spectator situated in the first row of seats outside their ice sheet.

Umpires asked the man to leave. He and his companion did so.

“There was a gentleman that was down by the ice,” Gushue explained. “He was there for quite some time, but in the ninth end he got a little more aggressive than he had been.

“E.J. asked him to kind of keep it down and then they kind of got into it and it was time to get him removed. There was probably one too many (beers) in his system.

“I’ve had people chirping me when they’re up in the stands and I think that’s all well and good, but when you’re that close and you’re leaning over the boards it’s kind of like ‘come on, give us a break, go sit down.'”

The last Saskatchewan team to win a Brier was Rick Folk’s in 1980.

McEwen, Colton Flasch and brothers Kevin and Daniel Marsh out of Saskatoon’s Nutana Curling Club passed an early test against P.E.I. at the Brandt Centre.

“They pushed us really hard and early,” McEwen said. “When you make a big shot, you could tell the crowd was really into it. It’s the best feeling in the world. I could get addicted to that all week.”

McEwen has skipped host provinces Manitoba (2019) and Ontario (2023) in his eight previous Brier appearances.

Flasch has played in six and the Marsh siblings two. They’re seasoned competitors, but McEwen’s teammates are also representing the host province for the first time in their careers.

“There was so much more energy than the other two Briers I’ve been in,” said Kevin Marsh. “Not that to say that the other two weren’t fantastic and well-run, but this is next level. Probably about 10 times.

“We’ve just got to work with that all week and embrace it, because it’s really fun.”

NHL

Dylan Guenther’s power-play goal at 4:18 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and lifted the visiting Arizona Coyotes to a 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Michael Carcone, J-J Moser, Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli also scored for the Coyotes, who had their 14-game losing streak halted. Vladimir Tarasenko, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto scored for the Sens, who have lost three straight.

Frank Vatrano scored twice and Lukas Dostal made 51 saves as the Anaheim Ducks knocked off the visiting New Jersey Devils 4-3. Adam Henrique and Max Jones also scored for the Ducks who won their second game in a row. Timo Meier, Jack Hughes and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Devils, who outshot the hosts 54 to 23.

In the lone other game Washington clubbed Philadelphia 5-2.

WHL

The Toronto Blue Jays surrendered six runs in the second inning en route to an 8-4 loss at the hands of the New York Yankees in spring training action in front of eight-thousand-788 fans in Tampa, Florida. The Jays, who have lost five of seven pre-season games, scored twice in the first inning and added singles in the third and fifth. Davis Schneider and Daniel Vogelbach hit home runs for the Jays, and Ernie Clement had a triple.

NBA

Stephen Curry scored 25 points, Jonathan Kuminga had 24 and the visiting Golden State Warriors beat the Toronto Raptors 120-105 on Friday for their eighth straight N-B-A road victory. The Warriors have won three in a row and 13 of the past 15. R-J Barrett scored 23 points for the Raptors, who slipped to 22-and-38.

NFL COMBINE

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels arrived in Indianapolis as Heisman Trophy winners. Drake Maye is seeking to add to his family’s impressive athletic legacy.

And the only player who might prevent those three talented quarterbacks from going 1-2-3 in this year’s NFL draft appears to be All-America receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

On Friday, the four top prospects attended the league’s scouting combine, and for the next eight weeks, they will be vying for the No. 1 spot.

“I think I’ve put in all the hard work, the time, the effort, the energy into being that. I don’t think of a Plan B,” Williams said. “That’s kind of how I do things in my life. I don’t think of a Plan B, stay on Plan A. When things don’t work out, I find a way to make a plan work.”

Now, however, there are nagging questions about Williams. He has heard concerns over his size, how he handled the team’s struggles in 2023, his mentality, even some rumored contract demands.

Yet on Friday, instead of addressing those questions, he may have raised another issue. Williams, who had already said he wouldn’t work out in Indy, surprisingly said he was also opting out of medical exams at the combine.

“Not 32 teams can draft me. There’s only one of me,” Williams said. “The teams I go to for my visit, those teams will have the medical and that will be it.”

Harrison also has taken an unconventional approach to the draft. He did no combine-specific training and doesn’t intend to work out in Indy or at Ohio State’s Pro Day.

Could their decisions affect the top of the first round? Perhaps.

Chicago owns the No. 1 pick and has Justin Fields, once thought to be its quarterback of the future. There is speculation that the Bears would either take Williams and trade Fields or keep Fields and pair him with Harrison.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles said earlier this week he’d hopes to make a decision about Fields soon, but Williams’ approach to the combine could result in a delay.

(Associated Press/Canadian Press)