1999 Brier
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1999 BRIER
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Moffatt steals for 2-0 record
Moffatt racked up his second win of the 1999 Labatt Brier when Robert Campbell of P.E.I. could not draw the eight-foot, slipping just deep.
The-extra end steal gave the soft-spoken bartender from Ottawa a 2-0 record. That's put him in the same company as Alberta's Ken Hunka, Nova Scotia's Paul Flemming and flamboyant Guy Hemmings of Quebec as the only undefeated teams after four draws.
"They played really well and we didn't play that great," said Moffatt. "We just kind of hung in there to give ourselves a chance to win. That's all you can hope for and it worked out this way. You're going to have to win a game or two this way. The ice is so fast, everybody's having trouble with it."
Needless to say, Moffat will take his 2-0 record and see what happens from here.
"We think we can play a lot better, with a lot more confidence and hopefully we can do that later this week," said Moffatt. "I thought he had an 80-90 percent chance of making that shot. He'd made a lot of nice draws earlier in the game."
Meanwhile, Russ Howard of New Brunswick bounced back from an opening-day loss to beat Bert Gretzinger of B.C. 8-6.
"Maybe the second 100 will be better, eh," said Howard, who dropped his 100th Brier start in a shootout with Flemming. "We're pulling our goalie a few too many times. We're scoring quite a few points, but we're giving them up pretty fast, too."
It took a while for Howard to master the slick ice at Edmonton's Skyreach Centre.
"I felt more comfortable," said Howard. "We were closer with our draw weight. Yesterday, we were heavy, all four of us. I've been know for liking fast ice and it even scared me. It's a good surface, but our team hasn't played on ice like this a lot. It's been an adjustment."
In other afernoon games, Northern Ontario's Scott Patterson got his first win, 11-3 over winless Orest Peech of the Territories. And, Saskatchewan's Gerald Shymko also hit the win column, beating Glenn Goss of Newfoundland 8-6.
All four undefeated teams play Sunday night and there will be at least one-up on the board as Hemmings and Flemming square off. Hunka faces Howard, his second straight game against a former world champ. And, Moffatt takes on winless Gretzinger.