Mike McEwen won't be sticking around to defend his National title.
Glenn Howard scored a single in the eighth end to edge the defending champion 5-4 and secure his spot in the quarter-finals at the National Grand Slam of Curling event.
Howard, from Penetanguishene, Ont., led 4-2 through five ends before McEwen and his rink from Winnipeg stole a single in the sixth and added another in the seventh to bring it down to the final end in their Draw 12 matchup.
Howard — a four-time National champion — scored the final point on his last rock to move on while eliminating the 2014 champion at the same time. McEwen finished round-robin play with a 1-3 record.
Howard will face Calgary's Kevin Koe, who toppled Jean-Michel Menard of Quebec City 10-4 in his final draw of the day.
Winnipeg's Reid Carruthers meets Brad Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Brad Gushue from St. John's N.L., plays Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Toronto's John Epping will meet Calgary's Pat Simmons to round out the men's quarter-final matchups.
All eight rinks to advance finished with identical 3-1 records.
On the women's side, Ottawa's Rachel Homan beat Edmonton's Kelsey Rocque 7-1 in evening play to finish round robin as the only undefeated skip at 4-0. Homan is one of six rinks to be guaranteed a spot in the quarters, but will have to wait for Saturday's tiebreakers before knowing her opponent.
Winnipeg's Kerri Einarson faces Rocque in one tiebreaker while Winnipeg's Kristy McDonald plays Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni in the other. All four rinks are 2-2.
Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., finished preliminary play at 3-1 and will also wait on the tiebreakers before knowing her quarters matchup.
Quarter-final draws that are already set include Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones (3-1) against Saskatoon's Stefanie Lawton (3-1) and Edmonton's Val Sweeting (3-1) versus Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont. (2-2).
All quarter-final and semifinal play goes Saturday.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.