KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- The favourites going into the 2014 Canadian mens curling championship are the favourites coming out as the round robin draws to a close with Alberta, Manitoba and B.C. sitting one, two, three. Manitobas Jeff Stoughton and B.C.s John Morris won their final round-robin games Thursday night to finish the Tim Hortons Brier preliminary robin at 9-2. Albertas Kevin Koe sits at 9-1 with only one game left Friday morning, after a 9-6 win over Prince Edward Island Thursday afternoon. If he wins Friday, the final three in order will be Alberta, Manitoba and B.C. All thats up for grabs is the fourth and final playoff spot. Saskatchewan and Quebec, at 6-4, are leading the race but Newfoundland and New Brunswick are hanging in at 6-5. Saskatchewan and New Brunswick play Friday morning. "Theres still some hope," Quebec skip Jean-Michel Menard said of his chances to reach the three vs. four playoff game, although he has to face Alberta. One scenario could even see four teams needing to work through tiebreakers Friday, if both Saskatchewan and Quebec lose. "If both of the teams lose theres four teams at 6-5, which looks like a messy tiebreaker, so hopefully we dont have to go through that," Menard said. Saskatchewans Steve Laycock knows his path to the playoffs. "Win our last and either get some help from Alberta or play a tiebreaker," said Laycock. Morris said they will be happy to get into the playoffs through the three vs. four game. He got passed by Manitoba Thursday morning when he lost 7-6 to Stoughton in an extra end. "Were prepared to go through the three-four game were prepared to go to the one-two game, it doesnt matter," he said after his final game at night. "If we have to play a few extra games in this spiel, well get our moneys worth." Stoughton noted the strange way the tiebreaker system works that could actually change the order if Alberta loses to Quebec Friday. B.C. would move into top spot leaving Alberta in second and Stoughton in third. "Its kind of interesting, I mean Koe can actually pick who hes going to play," said the Manitoba skip and three-time Brier winner. He admitted that isnt a likely outcome, since Koe will be trying hard to win to get hammer and choice of rocks going into the page playoffs. Manitoba gave up three in the first end to Ontario Thursday night but quickly gained control again to come back and win 8-6. "It seems like the theme of the week but year. It was well played again, he makes what, a double raise double? There was nothing we could do about it." In his afternoon game, Koe had a similar experience. He started with a big four in the first end and a deuce in three but gave up a single and a three to keep the Islanders close. They even managed the rare occurrence at this Brier of a steal against Koe. "We got up early and then I just threw one bad shot and gave up a three ender (and) after that they started making a lot of shots," he said. "We definitely could have made it easier on ourselves." But with a win Friday in their final game against Quebec, he gets hammer and choice of rocks for the one vs. two playoff. Its an experience Koe says he has never had, either in 2010 when he won the Brier or in 2012 when he came second. "Itll be a different feeling, not having our backs against the wall," Koe said. Stoughton started the Brier with four wins -- though none were decisive -- before losing to Alberta and Quebec. He admitted both he and third John Mead needed to pick up their game. The Thursday morning game wasnt mistake-free for Manitoba or B.C., but the last and most costly miss was made by the hometown favourites. After exchanging deuces in the first two ends, it was singles until B.C.s Jim Cotter missed a key double with his last rock in eight, letting Stoughton draw to the button for two to go ahead 6-5. "It was a real tough double," said Morris. "We missed it by a hair." Cotter was a little happier Thursday night as they beat Laycock and Saskatchewan 6-3. "We bounced back," he said. "We had a solid team game. We were definitely a little better than this morning." Greg Balsdon and Ontario were sitting at 4-6 with one game left to play friday morning after losing to Manitoba. The Northwest Territories-Yukon team of Jamie Koe was tied with Eddie MacKenzie out of P.E.I. at 3-7 with one game left, Jeff Currie and Northern Ontario were finished at 2-9 and Nova Scotias Jamie Murphy was winless at 0-10 with their final game against Ontario Friday. Micah Hyde Jersey . Moments after scoring and setting off another wild celebration at Minsk arena, Platt leapt into the arms of Belarusian captain Alexei Kalyuzhny. Buffalo Bills Jerseys . Ortiz hit a pair of two-run homers, including his 400th shot in a Red Sox uniform, and drove in a career high-tying six runs to power Boston past the Houston Astros 10-7 on Saturday night. www.shoptheofficialbills.com/Elite-Andre-Holmes-Bills-Jersey/. The 90-plus minutes of play are about trends and approach. Doug Flutie Jersey . Coaches are now allowed to challenge both called and potential defensive pass interference fouls under certain conditions. John Miller Jersey . The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night.Stat of the week!!! Torontos back-up quarterback, third-year player from Edinboro, Trevor Harris, had two special teams tackles. Never a good thing when thats happening. Although Harris did show us 400-metre strength, speed and endurance while tracking down the speedy returner from West Virginia, Jock Saunders, on the missed field goal return of 121 yards. That play showcases how unpredictable and explosive our great brand of football can be here in Canada and also gives us an insight as to how you can make a bye week only two weeks into the season pay off. To ensure there were no blues, loss of continuity or complacency pertaining to the execution of schemes, the Stampeders coaching staff and players reloaded and actually extended their playbook. This was evident on Saunders missed field goal return. Coach Mark Kilam, in his tenth year coaching for the Stampeders, and fifth as special teams coordinator, had his return teams locked, loaded and dialed in, ready to pounce on this very opportunity. Anticipating a missed field goal, a wall return left was executed like clock work. Saunders, while making an acrobatic catch on the errant field goal attempt as he was tight roping the very back of the end zone, started to his left and quickly became the beneficiary of his teammates hustle and preparation. Before you knew it, Saunders, the first year Stampeder, was bursting down the sideline with Kilam himself not far behind. With sheer determination and athletic ability, Argonaut Harris, who was holding for third year kicker from Alabama-Birmingham, Swayze Waters, on the field goal attempt, somehow tracked down Saunders. Sometimes we see these extra effort and hustle plays pay off, but in this case the Stamps third year quarterback, from Eastern Washington, Bo Levi Mitchell cashed in quickly with a quick TD strike. Bang, ten-point swing just like that! Exciting and unpredictable. To have a designed missed field goal return implemented at this juncture of the season is one thing, but to be able to execute all the moving parts that are required in order to pull it off, is really heady stuff. Another example of how Calgary used the extra prep time to their advantage was the direct snap to Saunders, throwback to Mitchell, chunk it over the top to Anthony Parker. This early in the season, teams are working diligently to find rhythm and consistency in the basics of their respective systems, let alone trying to master plays like the flea-flicker. Maybe Saunders was the only running back who had the ability to throw it back to Mitchell, but to have that play in the game plan at this stage and the way it was executed, is an indicator that Calgary had the extra time and spent it wisely. If you still are not convinced that this extra week of prep time holds merit for teams and in this case the Stampeders, look to whom the Stamps had to replace in only their second game of the season. Missing was Jon Cornish, reigning Most Outstanding Player in the CFL and two electrifying receivers in Nik Lewis and Mo Price. The Stamps offence found a way to survive and even thrive. Second year receiver from Texas A&M,, Jeff Fuller flexed his athletic ability and found the end zone twice, picking up some of the slack.dddddddddddd Fourth year receiver from University of Calgary, Anthony Parker seemed well versed and more at ease performing his responsibilities, contributing four catches for 101 yards and a score. Third year running back, also from the University of Calgary, Matt Walter continues to round out into form when given the opportunity. Id also say that Walter took on more of a work load than usual in this contest because of the added time the Stamps were afforded. Walter was involved downfield in the passing game on play 115 from scrimmage, a fake screen pass. This is when he releases out of the backfield giving the defence a look like he is going to block the defender whos covering the receiver faking the hitch screen and then at the last possible moment, he turns it up the rail as the defence bites on the screen. You see it all the time in the CFL but primarily with your starters executing these timing plays, not your back ups. Not a believer yet? How about the Stampeders defence shutting down the high powered offence of Toronto led by 12-year veteran quarterback from Sacramento State, Ricky Ray. Ray had his streak of ten games in a row throwing a touchdown pass broken. We are talking about an offence that put up 559 total yards of offence against the defending Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan Roughriders defence the week before and looked lethal. Defensive coordinator Rich Stubler had his men on point to where they held the Ray-led Argos out of the end zone for just the second time since Ray has been an Argo. Now I must say Ray and company moved the ball between the twenties but thats where the well devised defensive gameplan came into play. Dont give up the big play and make Toronto be patient series after series. In other words, play everything in front of you and rally to the ball. Certainly easier said than done, but the plan was implemented and well executed. So an early quirk/bye in the schedule actually pays off for the Stampeders as they were able to prepare, plug and play players without missing a beat and actually extend a few of their philosophies and schemes in only Week 2 of the season. Calgarys next bye week is a long ways off, coming in Week 16. Ill bet you they will embrace that bye week as much and if not more than they did in Week 2! Heres a look at the remaining bye weeks for each CFL team. Week 1 Ottawa (makes sense to give them a bit more time)Week 2 Calgary (see article above)Week 3 Hamilton (able to get Masoli and LeFevour up to speed and Fantuz and Ellingson another week)Week 4 Saskatchewan (ouch, a two-game losing streak going into this stretch is ugly)Week 5 MontrealWeek 6 EdmontonWeek 7 Toronto (seems like they could use it now)Week 8 None, that means somebody has to play twice during this week and thats TorontoWeek 9 Hamilton Week 10 BCWeek 11 TorontoWeek 12 OttawaWeek 13 WinnipegWeek 14 Toronto (Damn, Toronto gets three, making up for Week 8)Week 15 MontrealWeek 16 CalgaryWeek 17 BCWeek 18 EdmontonWeek 19 SaskatchewanWeek 20 Winnipeg Ready Break!!! Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '