Howard laments inconsistent play at 18th Brier

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Glenn Howard admits this hasn’t been his best Tim Hortons Brier.

Team Ontario picked up their second win of the event Wednesday morning, 7-3 over Newfoundland and Labrador, but won’t make the playoffs with a 2-4 record and two games remaining in the round robin.

Three close losses to heavyweights Brendan Bottcher, Matt Dunstone and Kevin Koe to start the event proved too big of a hole to dig out of.  

The 59-year-old Howard says his game just hasn’t been where it needs to be in Lethbridge. He is shooting 78 per cent this week which is 10th among skips.

“You can’t have a skip playing average at this level,” Howard told TSN.ca.

To be fair, the four-time Canadian champion hasn’t been fully healthy. He’s still dealing with a nagging knee injury that forced him to miss last month’s Ontario Tankard.

“I truly believe if I had played to what I normally play, we’d definitely have a different record. I felt a couple of those games we would have won for sure in my mind. I missed some shots I shouldn’t miss,” explained Howard. “The knee is playing on me a little bit. It’s a little sore. I think about it a little too much in my delivery and it tweaked a bit. But then other times it hasn’t bothered me. I’m not using it as an excuse, I just haven’t played as well as I would have liked too.”

The Ontario Tankard might have been a glimpse of what Team Howard could look like in the future. With the elder Howard sidelined, his 31-year-old son, Scott, filled in at skip and performed admirably, leading the rink out the Penetanguishene Curling Club to a 7-1 record, including three wins over provincial John Epping to punch their ticket to the Brier.

The time calling shots piqued an interest in the younger Howard.

“It’s