It was almost exactly 12 months ago that Jacques Gauthier made one of the toughest decisions of his life.
Fresh off losing to his cousin, 91原创-based player Tyler Tardi from Cloverdale, in the men鈥檚 gold-medal game of the 2019 New Holland Canadian Junior Men鈥檚 and Women鈥檚 Curling Championships, Gauthier was asked if he would serve as the alternate for Team Tardi at the 2019 World Juniors 鈥� a role he had in 2018, resulting in a gold medal.
But Gauthier told his cousin 鈥渢hanks, but no鈥� 鈥� if he was going to win another world junior championship, he wanted to do it as a player, not an alternate.
Gauthier will get that chance; backed up by vice-skip Jordan Peters, second Brayden Payette, lead Zack Bilawka and coach John Lund, Gauthier skipped the Manitoba #2 team from Winnipeg to an 8-6 win over Newfoundland/Labrador鈥檚 Daniel Bruce in the men鈥檚 gold medal game at the New Holland Canadian Junior Curling Championships Sunday at the George Preston Recreation Centre.
鈥淲hen we won the worlds in Scotland, I didn鈥檛 touch the trophy,鈥� said Gauthier, with the Canadian championship gold medal around his neck. 鈥淚 was very proud of the accomplishment by the boys, and I felt like I played a role in it. But it still wasn鈥檛 mine, you know what I mean? So coming back here, and winning this, and having a chance to win to pick up that (world championship trophy), that鈥檚 what means the world to me.鈥�
Gauthier鈥檚 team will get the chance to follow up on the two gold medals won by his cousin when the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships get underway Feb. 15 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Manitoba had two teams in the 2020 New Holland Canadian Juniors because Nunavut and the Yukon couldn鈥檛 field teams; B.C. got a second team as the host province, while Manitoba got a second team as the 2019 runner-up.
Congratulations to 's Jacques Gauthier, Jordan Peters, Brayden Payette, Zack Bilawka and coach John Lund on winning the 2020 Canadian Junior Men's Curling Championship!
鈥� Curling Canada (@CurlingCanada)
Manitoba #2 never trailed on Sunday, taking one in the first end, stealing two in the third and one more in the fourth.
Bruce made a game of it with a magnificent angle-raise takeout to score two in the seventh end and cut the lead to 6-4, but Manitoba #2 replied with a deuce of its own in the eighth end and never looked back.
There were two significant wake-up calls along the path to gold for Gauthier鈥檚 team; the first came in the Manitoba junior men鈥檚 final a few weeks ago in Dauphin, where Gauthier entered the final against former teammate Brett Walter with an unbeaten record, but lost his first game when it mattered most.
鈥淭hat was a wake-up call for how to play in a championship game,鈥� acknowledged Lund. 鈥淭oday it showed that they knew how to do it.鈥�
The second came in the team鈥檚 first game in 91原创, during which Manitoba #2 fell behind 6-0 after three ends to Quebec鈥檚 Greg Cheal before rallying for a 10-9 extra-end victory.
鈥淵ou need breaks to win, right?鈥� said Gauthier of that dramatic win. 鈥淲e just took it a shot at a time, made it a close game and ended up winning in an extra. So who knows how our week goes if we don鈥檛 win that one?鈥�
RELATED: VIDEO 鈥� 2020 New Holland Canadian Junior Championships officially begin
Sunday afternoon鈥檚 victory capped a magnificent day for Gauthier and the province of Manitoba; earlier, Mackenzie Zacharias skipped Manitoba to victory in the women鈥檚 gold-medal game, with Gauthier鈥檚 girlfriend, Karlee Burgess, throwing third rocks for the winners.
鈥淥h, it鈥檚 awesome,鈥� said Gauthier. 鈥淚 was an absolute wreck watching their game this morning; I was screaming at the TV like a psychopath. Obviously I wanted to go to Siberia with them, but the biggest thing with me was making sure she won, and she did that.鈥�
READ MORE: VIDEO: Manitoba wins 2020 New Holland Canadian Junior Women鈥檚 Curling Championship in 91原创
Having experienced a gold-medal victory at the world level, and by virtue of wearing the Maple Leaf on his back in Russia, Gauthier鈥檚 team will be among the favourites next month. But the 21-year-old University of Manitoba student said nothing will change from the approach he took entering the New Holland Canadian Juniors.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 change my mindset at all,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t the end of the day, it鈥檚 another tournament, and we just have to try to win it. We won鈥檛 have to try any harder than we did here; we just have to play really well and we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
It was an 11th Canadian junior men鈥檚 gold medal for Manitoba, behind only Alberta with 16 and Saskatchewan with 14, and the province鈥檚 first since Matt Dunstone prevailed in 2016.
The last time one member association swept both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 titles was in 2012 when Alberta鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher and Jocelyn Peterman claimed gold.
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