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TSN Senior Reporter

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OTTAWA – Brad Gushue has been down this road before. He’s been to the playoffs at the Tim Hortons Brier, been in the hunt to bring the tankard to Newfoundland and Labrador.

And each time he’s come up short. Sometimes it’s been by a good margin and other times he’s been close enough to think about how the champagne might taste. He’s finished second in 2007 and third in 2011.

He’s tried different ways to approach the playoffs: get aggressive, play conservatively, tried drawing, and then hitting.

And this year, he’s got a new plan, one that he hopes will finally make him a Brier champ.

He’s going with boring.

By his own admission, Gushue has been pretty much the most boring player at this year’s championship. While others have been signing autographs, taking in the Patch and seeing some of the sights that Ottawa has to offer, the skip has done the opposite.

“I feel good this week because all I’ve done is slept, ate and curled,” said the 35-year-old after knocking off Prince Edward Island’s Adam Casey on Thursday afternoon.

“There’s so many things you could do, so many people want to meet you, so much time you can take doing a lot of other things. I’ve probably been a little bit selfish with my time this week. I just went back to the room and lay down and slept.”

But he probably watched curling on TV back in the room right?

“I haven’t watched any curling back in the room. I lie down and sleep,” he said.

But he probably watched some other TV shows back in the room right?

“I have not turned the TV on in my room. I literally just slept and I’ve slept a lot.”

Social media, you know, some Tweeting or Facebook?

“It’s been really boring because we’re trying to avoid all the social media stuff too. At times, you’re trying to find ways to kill time.”

Maybe a book? Or a magazine?

“I lie down and sleep, so probably a little bit selfish but as I said I think that’s what I need to do.”

Mr. Excitement then, Gushue is not. But if he’s the most rested curler come Sunday, he’ll be fine with that. He is trying to find a way to break through and capture just the second Brier title for his home province.

This year, he and his team of Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker have put in a rigourous schedule of events as well as serious training and practicing. They have left no stone unturned – or maybe bed unmade – as they attempt to win the Canadian title.

Gushue and Nichols do have some experience winning big games. They captured Olympic gold in 2006 in Turin, when Russ Howard famously joined their team.

And the skip knows that to make it through the playoffs and on to the top step of the podium, it could all be determined in a single moment.

“It will probably be a shot or a half-shot that determines who wins,” said Gushue. “The teams are so evenly matched.”

And that’s just one more reason why it’s been Bedtime for Brad this week.

“In the past, I found I got tired towards the end of the week,” he said. “I feel good this week because all I’ve done is slept, ate and curled. I think that’s going to pay dividends this weekend.”

Gushue’s combatants for the playoffs have been finalized. He’ll play Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs in the 1-2 game – they’ll also battle in the last round-robin contest on Friday morning, with the winner finishing first and getting last rock in the first end of the playoff game -- while Manitoba’s Mike McEwen and Kevin Koe of Alberta will tangle in the 3-4 match.

Certainly if the well-rested Gushue can pull this off and earn the elusive title, the sleepy strategy will have been worth it. And then, as they tend to do in Newfoundland and Labrador, they can celebrate in style.