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Mike McEwen and his rink from Winnipeg are on some kind of roll this season. St.Louis Blues Pro Shop . The foursome has already won six events, including the Canada Cup and The National Grand Slam of Curling. They also lead the World Curling Tour money list - by a wide margin with $114,000 - and sit in first place on the Canadian Team Ranking System. Even the 34-year-old skip is a little surprised by the teams hot start. I obviously didnt see that coming, McEwen told TSN.ca this week. I expected us to win and win a lot, but this has been a real lot. This is the eighth straight year that McEwen, vice B.J. Neufeld, second Matt Wozniak and lead Denni Neufeld have been together. They were one of the few teams who stayed together this off-season and that could be a reason as to why they have been so sharp. But McEwen attributes the success to something else. There were a lot of things we did beyond just the four of us sticking together, he explained. There were a lot of things we did in the off-season and during the start of the season to kind of remake our team a bit. After losing the finals at the Manitoba provincial championships last February, Team McEwen was in a state of flux. They were considered, and still are, the best team to never appear in a Brier and they considered splitting up the band to go their separate ways. But after playing out the season and talking things out, the foursome concluded they owed it to themselves to go after it one last time. I dont think we knew if it was going to work or not or if we could get better because we kind of hit a standstill for a couple of years, said McEwen. Its not easy to identify and motivate to find those little things you have to do. We had to go searching for people outside of our team. The team made almost every change they could in the off-season, outside of shaking up the roster. They sought help from psychologist Kyle Paquette and trainer Adrian Honish to alter their view of the game. We kind of tackled our team in a pretty broad scope, McEwen explained. We looked at how we trained, we looked at how we practiced and we looked at our nutritional intake. We challenged ourselves to change how we mentally prepare as well and then when we actually hit the ice in September, we tackled some of our technical tendencies. And the changes worked. They won the first four tournaments they played in and six of eight in total. They also won the Continental Cup as part of Team Canada and took home $8,500 at the TSN Skins Game. But theres something that still eludes this squad - the Brier. McEwen has never won Manitobas provincial title, the Safeway Championship, with fellow Winnipegger Jeff Stoughton being his biggest nemesis. McEwen lost to Stoughton in the 2010, 2011 and 2014 Manitoba final as well as the 2013 semifinal. He also lost to Rob Fowler (Stoughtons vice this season) in the 2012 final. We crush him on the Tour and he crushes us at provincials, said McEwen. Its weird. Hes obviously super comfortable in that environment. He plays probably some of his best curling all year in February. And we havent. The 51-year-old Stoughton is working things out with an entirely new rink this season and could be the most vulnerable hes been in quite some time, but McEwen says anything can happen. Well probably see a pretty good Stoughton, hopefully well see a good McEwen, and I would expect to see a good [Reid] Carruthers too, said McEwen. I think its going to be one of the most exciting provincials. While a Brier appearance and possible national championship is on the bucket list, they no longer need it to validate themselves under the new team mentality. I would say in the past weve needed to win provincials to validate our season. I dont think we need to do that anymore, said McEwen. Dont get me wrong, I want to win provincials bad, but I dont have that event defining the whole season. I feel like we have a really good mindset. Theres some pressure, but its not an overwhelming amount. The Safeway Championship runs from Feb. 4-8 in Brandon, Manitoba. Team McEwen has not only received help from psychologists and trainers, but also from Mikes wife, Dawn, and her teammates on Team Jennifer Jones - the Olympic gold medalists from Sochi last winter. Shes helped me grow as a player, having that interaction with Team Jones and getting to see how they do things, its been nothing but helpful, he explained. Shes been a big part of my personnel growth as a player and I think Ive taken a bit of that to my team. Ms. McEwen still has her husband numbered when it comes to curling credentials though. I really dont have much to fire back to her very often, he joked. Its hard to get a trophy on the mantle in this house. Cashspiel trophies generally dont make it on the mantle. St.Louis Blues Store . "If we could score a six in every game, obviously I would be pretty excited," Jones said. "Its a long week but a short week. Its a pretty short round robin from what were used to so you dont want to get behind the eight ball early. Custom St.Louis Blues Jerseys .I shared with him how much I appreciated all he had done for us, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said of that Thursday night farewell. https://www.cheapblues.com/ . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Bucks waived forward Caron Butler on Thursday after agreeing to a contract buyout. The 33-year-old Butler, from Racine, Wis., made 13 starts and appeared in 34 games this season, averaging 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists. "Its been a dream come true to wear the Milwaukee uniform, which so many of my idols growing up wore," Butler said in a statement released by the team. St.Louis Blues Gear. The former Connecticut star has averaged 15.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 764 regular-season games in 12 NBA seasons with Miami, the Los Angeles Lakers, Washington, Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee. The Bucks were at Indiana on Thursday night. ' ' '