EDMONTON - Ontario's Glenn Howard has clearly proven he's the cream of the crop at this year's Brier.

Following Friday morning's draw, Howard was biding his time and watching the early-week leaders falter.

Brad Gushue of Newfoundland bounced back from a morning loss to Alberta's Kevin Martin to clinch a playoff spot. After losing three straight games to former Brier champions, Gushue finished his week at 8-3 with a 5-4 win over 2006 winner Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec.

"We played well enough -- we deserve to be in the playoffs this week, in my opinion," said Gushue, who made the playoffs for the seventh time in 10 Brier appearances. "We played very well against the two big-name teams in Kevin (Martin) and Glenn (Howard). They brought their best against us and we lost on last-rock in both.

"We controlled the other eight games that we won. We deserve to be there now. We've got to forget about it, to a certain extent, and try to step it up a notch to see if we can get on a roll."