Saskatchewan skip Steve Laycock watches a rock as they play Northern Ontario at the Tim Hortons Brier at the Brandt Centre, in Regina, on March 6, 2018.Andrew Vaughan
Suspenseful quiet punctuated by explosive cheering signalled a shift in atmosphere on Thursday at the Canadian men's curling championship.
Under the new format introduced this year, the eight teams with the best records after the first five days of the Tim Hortons Brier carried those records into the championship round.
The top four from that group advance to the playoffs.
That Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock was among the teams still in the hunt for the national title this year thickened the Brandt Centre tension in the championship round's first draw on Thursday afternoon.
Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs, Ontario's John Epping and defending champion Brad Gushue remained the front-runners at 7-1 while Alberta's Brendan Bottcher fell behind that group at 6-2.
Laycock, an 8-6 winner over Alberta, was tied at 5-3 alongside Manitoba's Reid Carruthers and wild-card team Mike McEwen of Winnipeg.
Nova Scotia's Jamie Murphy dropped to 4-4 after a 6-4 loss to Jacobs.
"At first when we got out there and I looked around at the teams that were left, I kind of thought to myself, 'Here we go. This is where all the entertainment and the fun is really going to start,'" Jacobs said.
"Especially since Saskatchewan was on this draw and are in the championship draw, a big supportive crowd. They were pretty loud out there a few times during that game."
In an effort to include all provinces and territories, a Northern Ontario team, a defending champion and have an even number of teams for two pools, Curling Canada instituted this format at both the national men's and women's championships this year.
The Gushue foursome from St. John's handily beat Manitoba's Carruthers 7-2.
Ontario's Epping stole two points in the 10th end for an 8-7 win when McEwen was heavy on a draw.
A Saskatchewan team hasn't won the Brier since 1980. Laycock feels he can't afford another loss if his team is going to end that drought.
The winner of Saturday's Page playoff between the top two seeds advances directly to Sunday's championship game.
The loser drops to the semi-final to face the winner of the Saturday playoff between the third and fourth seeds.
The semi-final will be played earlier on Sunday, so the bronze-medal game has been eliminated.
Sunday's champion represents Canada at the world championship in Las Vegas from March 31 to April 8.
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The Canadian Press