McEwen, Flasch team up for new Saskatchewan-based rink
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After a single season in Ontario, Mike McEwen is headed back to the prairies starting next season.
The 42-year-old will skip a Saskatchewan-based rink consisting of third Colton Flasch and the front-end duo of Kevin and Dan Marsh, who are brothers.
McEwen, who had spent his entire career curling for Manitoba, formed a new Ontario-based squad this season, featuring veterans Ryan Fry and Brent Laing. Jonathan Beuk began the season as the team's lead before he was replaced by Joey Hart ahead of the Ontario Tankard.
At the Tim Hortons Brier in London, Team McEwen posted a 6-2 record in the round-robin and defeated Kevin Koe's Alberta squad in the quarterfinal before losing to Team Brendan Bottcher in the 3 vs. 4-page playoff.
Fry announced he was stepping away from the game at the end of the season, leaving the future of Team McEwen in doubt.
Curling out of Manitoba, McEwen made seven appearances at the Brier from 2016 to 2022.
Team Flasch, meanwhile, struggled at the Saskatchewan playdowns in February and did not have a high enough ranking on the CTRS to earn a wild-card berth to the Brier.
Earlier this week, Team Flasch announced that third Catlin Schneider would be "going a different direction," and leaving the team.
Flasch, 32, will move from skip to vice on the new-look Team McEwen. He's competed in six Briers, including winning the Tankard with Koe back in 2019 before finishing second at the World Men's Curling Championship.
The 2024 Brier will take place in Regina.
Saskatchewan will look to end a 43-year long drought as the province hasn't won the Tankard since 1980 when Rick Folk accomplished the feat.