Curling

Brad Gushue and his team from St. John's, Nfld., won't get a chance to defend their title in Vancouver.

The reigning Olympic champions were knocked out of contention for Canada's Olympic curling trials on Friday at the Road to the Roar in Prince George, B.C., where they suffered their third loss in the triple elimination bonspiel.

Booking their tickets to Edmonton for next month's Roar of the Rings were Krista McCarville and her team from Thunder Bay, Ont., and Pat Simmons' foursome from Davidson, Sask., who won their B finals.

Gushue was knocked out after dropping a 7-5 decision to Jean-Michael Menard of St-Romuald, Que.

"Very disappointing," Gushue said after the loss. "But the way the format is right now, it all comes down to one weekend, and you have a bad weekend here and you go home. Unfortunately, that's the situation we're in."

On the women's side, McCarville became the second female skip to secure a berth to December's Olympic trials. There are four on the line for each of the men and women. 

"I just cannot believe that this is happening right now," McCarville said, grinning, after her 6-3 win over No. 1 seed and 2007 world champion, Kelly Scott. 

McCarville had a baby a couple of months ago and only recently returned to action along with teammates Tara George, Kari MacLean and veteran Lorraine Lang. 

"Just a month ago I stepped for the first time on the ice, and you know, I've practiced as much as I can and tried to shoot as much as I can to practice up for this, and it's just an amazing feeling," McCarville said.

Crystal Webster's Calgary team became the first to secure a place in Olympic trials after winning the A final on Thursday against Scott. 

Scott has now missed out on two chances to earn an Olympic trials berth. She'll have her third and final shot on Saturday against No. 2 seed Sherry Middaugh and her team from Coldwater, Ont.

Simmons and teammates Jeff Sharp, Gerry Adam and Steve Laycock, on the other hand, made good on their second attempt to advance to the Road to the Roar.

A day after Simmons lost in the A final to Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg, he clinched a berth by winning the B final, defeating Mike McEwen of Winnipeg by a score of 7-5.  

"We're thrilled, obviously," Simmons said. "The boys played really well, and we had a good week, there was a lot of close games, a lot of good battles."

Earlier Friday, Simmons beat Wayne Middaugh 7-6 in extra ends to earn that second shot at Olympic trials.  

"The game this morning was the gut tester for sure, you know, coming off that loss last night," Simmons said. "The boys played really well this morning, and you know, the way we played this morning gave us confidence going into tonight.

"Mike (McEwen)'s team is fantastic, we had to play well again."

Eliminated Friday was 2001 Olympic trials runner up and 1995 world champion, Kerry Burtnyk of Winnipeg.

Burtnyk was in a do-or-die matchup against No. 12 seed Jason Gunnlaugson of Beausejour, Manitoba, who forced an extra end with a steal in the 10th.

Burtnyk's last stone looked like it was going to secure the victory, but his third Richard Daneault slipped and hit the rock, and it was game over. Gunnlaugson, 25, escaped with a 9-7 win.

He'll play McEwen on Saturday in the first of two men's finals with a trip to the trials on the line.  

Kelowna's Bob Ursel, who beat Ted Appelman of Edmonton 6-5 on Friday, will play in the other final. Ursel will meet the winner of Menard and Middaugh, who face off in the morning, for that final Olympic trials berth.

On the women's side, Rachel Homan of Ottawa, who staved off elimination in the morning with an 8-2 victory over Sherry Anderson, was in the driver's seat heading into the final end against Marie-France Larouche of St-Romuald, but the Quebec skip stole two to secure an 8-7 win.

Larouche will play Amber Holand of Kronau, Sask., in the second ladies' final on Saturday. Holland won earlier Friday in a do-or-die match, eliminating Canadian champion Cathy King with a 10-4 victory over nine ends.