Good bye Whitehorse, hello Saskatoon.

Brian Wasnea is making his return to the Brier, after knocking off the N.W.T.'s Peter O'Driscoll in the final game at the Yukon/N.W.T. men's curling championship Sunday.

In what could be described as a bit of an upset, Wasnea defeated defending champion Chad Cowan as well as O'Driscoll and Paul Delorey, who was originally ranked number one for the N.W.T.

'It feels great,' said a grinning Wasnea after the final game. 'I went to the Brier in 99 (as second to skip Orest Peech). I did my darndest to get back and it happened.'

Wasnea, along with lead Kevin Sumner, second Bruce Hunt and third Pat Molloy went into the final game with a record of 4-1 while O'Driscoll was 3-2. A loss by the Yukon team would have forced a tiebreaker, but Wasnea pulled out a decisive 7-4 victory to finish at 5-1.

'The guys have grown so much in the last month,' he said. 'We've been through three different playdowns. They started believing that hey, we can curl and we can do this. This is the result of believing we could get it done.'

For Cowan, losing the championship was tough, but the games he lost were very close.

'It came down to the last shot,' he said after partaking in a skins game with Delorey Sunday afternoon, which he won 5-3 to finish at 3-3 for the weekend. 'It was just a matter of getting a break and we couldn't execute.

'I felt good about myself and I felt good about my team. I would say we curled an average of 75-85 per cent, so we curled good, we just weren't getting those extra shots.'

Cowan gives full credit to both Wasnea and O'Driscoll for their play at the championship.

'Obviously Brian was curling well on the weekend and O'Driscoll, we felt, was the strongest from the N.W.T.'

Wasnea said his team went into the championship thinking Cowan would be the toughest competition.

'He's (Cowan) the defending champion and he's been to the Brier twice,' said Wasnea. 'But he seemed to falter and Peter O'Driscoll picked up the banner. He was tough competition, but somehow everything in this game (vs. O'Driscoll) went our way. Bruce (Hunt) made all kinds of doubles.'

Wasnea gives his teammates most of the credit for this year's success. He curled with Sumner last year as well, but Hunt moved to Whitehorse from Hay River in August.

'He's a big addition to the team,' said Wasnea. 'He makes those two shots which has made us a better team, and the team we were looking for when we didn't do so well last year.'

Molloy and fifth Clarence Jack are also very important to the team, said Wasnea.

'I'm very comfortable with Pat in the house. We work well together.

'Clarence keeps us calm and hydrates us.

'He's got good experience.'

Wasnea said he understands that his team wasn't the favourite to win the championship, but somehow they all knew they were getting better as the weekend progressed.

'Yeah, we lost the first one,' he said. 'But we've lost the first one in playdowns before.

'And well, if we're not the favourites now, I don't think we'll be the favourites in Saskatoon either,' he smiled.

Wasnea is the only member of his team who has competed at a Brier, and offered sound advice for his teammates.

'Don't change anything. Whatever got you here, you take it with you to the Brier.'

Cowan offered his own advice to Wasnea, who has never traveled to the national event as a skip.

'Try to get yourself adapted to the environment,' he said. 'The first couple of games will be nerve-wracking with the fans and the noise. There's people hootin', hollerin' and screaming left right and centre. They don't care if you're curling or not.

'But also, enjoy it. This is what you want to go to.'

Wasnea wouldn't give his team's specific goals for the Brier, but promised they would do their best for the territory.

'I won't say how many games we're going to win and how many we're going to lose,' he said. 'But we're going to do our best and we're going to enjoy it.

'The Brier is the best place to be in the world.'

The 2004 Nokia Brier will be held in Saskatoon, SK., March 6-14.