HAMILTON -- It's been there in the background all year.
"He's nothin' without Russ.
"They're nothin' without Howard."
Brad Gushue and his Newfoundland rink won a gold medal for Canada at the Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games with Russ Howard as a ringer.
But what have they done lately without old Hurry Hard?
Until the last two days, the answer was "not much."
But look at them now.
TWO-WIN DAYS
Double Doubles at the Tim Hortons Brier - back-to-back two-win days - have resulted in a five-game winning streak and a 6-3 record to take into the final day of the round robin of the 78th Brier.
"We're not trying to prove we can do it without Russ," said third Brad Richards.
"We're trying to prove we're good curlers."
Gushue's guys have been a phenomenal flop on the World Curling Tour this year - making only $31,000. As a result, few predicted the Newfies in the playoff picture at this Brier featuring Kevin Martin, Jeff Stoughton, Glenn Howard and Pat Simmons.
Can't win without Russ? It's not a discussion Russ Howard is discouraging, especially with the launch of his book Hurry Hard at this Brier.
"In the eight spiels before the Olympics, they were 1-5 when it came to cashing a cheque without me and 2-0 with me," Howard wrote in the book.
"As a skip, he still has something to prove to himself without Russ in the line-up," said Alberta's Kevin Martin back at the beginning of this Brier.
Perhaps Gushue proved something when he beat Martin 8-6 in an extra end in the morning draw here yesterday.
"I don't think I have anything to prove. If they still don't think we have a decent team, I don't think they ever will. Who cares?" he said.
Gushue rejects the idea that making the playoffs will provide some sort of validation.
"You guys can write whatever you want and the fans can think whatever they want, and we'll feel what we want to feel.
"It doesn't bother me as long as I think we can win and can compete. We feel what we feel.
"We won before Russ. We won after Russ. It's just that we won a big one with Russ.
"He was a big part of the Olympic win. There was no doubt about it. But this team was pretty good before Russ. We qualified for the Olympic trials without him.
"We knew we were capable, but we just didn't have the experience that Russ brought to the team. That was a huge part in having us win. But we've gained a lot of experience.
"With our shotmaking ability, I think we can compete with anybody."
WITHOUT NICHOLS
What a lot of people don't know is that he played most of the year without third Mark Nichols who was out with a stress fracture of his shin which turned into tendonitis.
"Mark is by far the most important player on this team. To miss him for six events ... We're not going to do every good. We're not going to win without Mark.
"People look at our year as a bad year. Look at the events we played with Mark in the lineup. We were first, second and third twice."
Howard showed up here yesterday as Gushue was putting the boots to the Territories 7-2 in the afternoon.
While Howard said "I'd like to think I helped" he does make one point.
"The unfair thing in all of this is that Brad is only 26," he said of the youngest skip at this Brier. "I had 25 years of mistakes to learn from."
While he's here to cheer for his brother Glenn, Howard said he's torn.
"Deep down I want them to do well," he said of his Olympic teammates.
Gushue said there's still a bond there.
"We still have a lot left of him on this team. We still don't have all that yelling and shouting."
