Usually, teams that are ahead by healthy margins or with few ends to play don’t surrender the lead. Most world-ranked rinks can finish off a game in which they lead by a few points. But on occasion, they slip up, allowing for a memorable comeback. Here are a few notable ones:
• In 1970, the ice at the Brier in Winnipeg was horrendous, and it contributed to a tremendous comeback by Hec Gervais. The ice was extremely heavy, and after four ends, Ontario’s Paul Savage was leading 8-1. Starting in the fifth end, Gervais began calling for his team to draw to the outside rings, but they kept coming up light—or so thought Savage. Gervais intentionally placed the rocks in front of the rings, fooling the youthful Savage as the Alberta team rallied to a 12-9 win. “I was thinking, ‘These guys can’t make a draw,’” recalled Savage. “Big mistake. I found out a few years after these were corner guards and did they ever work.”
• Heading into the final three ends of the 2004 Brier, Nova Scotia’s Mark Dacey trailed Randy Ferbey by four points and appeared to be headed for a silver medal. Certainly he was an underdog. Ferbey was gunning for his fourth consecutive Brier crown and seemed in control of this final. Undaunted, Dacey rallied for three in the eighth before surrendering a single in the ninth to trail by two heading home. But a combination of tremendous shots by the Nova Scotia rink and some stunning misses from the Ferbey team allowed Dacey to draw the four-foot for three points and a 10-9 victory.
• In the 2001 Canadian Olympic trials Russ Howard, trailing by three points with one end left, contemplated conceding a game against John Morris. The wily veteran, however, decided to play out the final frame, and what followed was a case of experience winning out over youth. Howard used a corner guard to hide several stones, and rather than removing the guard, Morris tried to pick out the Howard stones, but missed each time. Eventually, Howard took four points, winning the game and sending Morris storming off the sheet, ripping his shirt into shreds in the process.
• Playing the tenth end of the final of the 1985 Brier in Moncton, New Brunswick, Pat Ryan was leading 5-3 and appeared in complete control of the final frame. In fact, after his last shot, he came down the ice with his broom in the air, already starting to celebrate what he thought was a Brier victory. However, that proved premature. Northern Ontario’s Al Hackner played what is regarded as one of the greatest shots in Brier history when he made a thin double takeout to score two points. He then led his team to a steal of one in the extra end for the win and the Canadian championship.
• Ontario’s Jenn Hanna was set to celebrate a victory in the 2005 Scott Tournament of Hearts in St. John’s, Newfoundland. With just one rock left to be thrown, Hanna led by three points and had shot stone buried on the button. Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones sat second, third, and fourth shot but had only one hope of getting to Hanna’s stone—that was to redirect her shooter off a stone sitting almost off the sheet. She called the shot, played it, and watched as it hit and then went on a perfect angle to remove the Ontario stone and give her team four points and the national title.