Ryan Harnden came flying out of the hack at practice on Friday afternoon, promptly lost his footing and slid on his belly from about the button in the delivery end to past the hog line.
The Canadian lead and his teammates and coaching staff all had a good chuckle.
Hopefully, it鈥檚 not a sign of things to come as Ryan, his brother E.J. Harnden at second, third Ryan Fry and skip Brad Jacobs will face Denmark鈥檚 Rasmus Stjerne in this morning鈥檚 Page Playoff 3-vs.-4 game at 11 a.m. at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The winner moves on to face Scotland, which lost Friday night鈥檚 Page 1 vs. 2 game, in the semifinal at 4 p.m. and the loser will have to sit around and stew for a day before playing for bronze.
Jacobs and crew have no intentions of doing the latter.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never done things the easy way, our team,鈥� Jacobs said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 mind having to play. If you can get some momentum going throughout the playoffs you can really get going from the 3-4 game, too. We鈥檙e still alive.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 huge is having a full day off to just relax and rest. Rest the body, rest the mind.鈥�
It was a comfortable looking crew that took to practice, laughing off the slip-up and getting right down to work, matching rocks for today鈥檚 effort.
鈥淒estiny is in our own hands,鈥� said Jacobs. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to fight as hard as we possibly can to win this thing.鈥�
The group has done it before, winning the Brier last month in Edmonton from the same fourth-position, fighting through three playoff games without last-rock advantage.
It鈥檚 a tall order, but one they are prepared to face yet again.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 better for us,鈥� said Ryan Harnden. 鈥淲hen our backs are against the wall is when we usually bring out our A game. We鈥檙e confident, for sure. If we play our game, we should be there in the end.鈥�
Even with a 7-3 loss to Stjerne fresh on their minds from Thursday鈥檚 afternoon game, sa国际传媒 believes it鈥檚 ready to bounce back.
鈥淲e know what we have to do to win this thing,鈥� said Jacobs. 鈥淲e need to make everything because lately it seems that everything has been made on us. These teams have been phenomenal.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see what happens,鈥� he added. 鈥淕oing through the playoffs is a little different than the round-robin. There is no hiding once you鈥檙e in the playoffs. You鈥檙e the only game on the ice. The ice might change. There鈥檚 a bit more pressure. It鈥檚 all eyes on you.
鈥淲e know what it feels like to be in that position and I think we鈥檙e going to revel in that position and we鈥檒l see how the other teams, that maybe don鈥檛 have that experience, deal with it.鈥�
Jacobs spoke from the heart and had a look of confidence as the team prepared to attempt to defend three straight Canadian championships at worlds.
鈥淲e have to come out with a lot of intensity and a lot of focus and make everything,鈥� he insisted. 鈥淲e need to get on that same sort of roll that we had at the Brier. If we can do that, we鈥檒l be looking good on Sunday. You can鈥檛 think that far ahead. This game [today], we need to come out and light it up.
鈥淚 can guarantee you we鈥檙e going to be giving it all we have throughout these playoffs, no matter what we鈥檙e playing for,鈥� Jacobs added.
Stjerne, the 2009 world junior champion, is expecting a big push.
鈥淲e know they鈥檙e going to come out strong and [we need to] just try and prepare our game as best we can. Try and force it our way, as we did in the round-robin game,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a high price on both teams. The title is on the line now. Things change in the playoffs, you have to re-dial the focus.鈥�
And he knows the crowd will be on sa国际传媒鈥檚 side.
鈥淲e had success against the crowd in the round-robin game,鈥� said Stjerne, who is attempting to win a medal like his father and coach Tommy Stjerne did back in 1990 (bronze). 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure we can pull the same stunt off when it鈥檚 fully packed [today]. But we want to go out and make ourselves proud and at least give ourselves a chance to win in a tight game.鈥�
