It’s always a special time when elite-level curling action comes to The Rock.
The 99th version of the Canadian men’s curling championship shouldn’t be any different.
St. John’s, Nfld., is set to host the Montana’s Brier for a third time, and first since 2017 when provincial hero Brad Gushue captured the first of his record six Brier Tankards in memorable fashion.
The 2026 Montana’s Brier will be Gushue’s swan song after the 45-year-old Canadian curling legend announced in September the 2025-26 campaign would be his last.
Outside of the hometown hero, this year’s Brier will have a number of interesting storylines.
Defending champion Team Brad Jacobs will be in St. John’s fresh off capturing gold at Milano Cortina 2026 for Canada. They should receive great support all week at Mary Brown’s Centre despite being Gushue’s biggest rival.
Four-time Brier champion Kevin Koe, 51, will compete in his 14th Brier, while two-time finalist Matt Dunstone will look to avenge previous heartbreak and capture his first Tankard.
Ontario’s Jayden King and Manitoba’s Braden Calvert are two notable rookie skips in the year’s field, and both have the potential to make a run for the playoffs.
The format remains the same as year’s past.
The 18-team field will be split into two pools of nine with the top three from each advancing to the playoffs at the conclusion of round-robin play. There will be no tiebreaking games as head-to-head results will be used first to break any ties before going to the Last-Shot Draw rankings.
From there, the first-place team in Pool A plays second place in Pool B, and vice versa, in the opening round of the playoffs. The winners advance straight to the 1 vs. 2 Page Playoff while the losers will have to play the third-place finishers for a spot in the 3 vs. 4 Page Playoff.
A regular page playoff will commence once the final four are determined.
The championship game takes place Sunday, March 8 at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT with the winning rink earning the right to represent Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Ogden, Utah from March 27-April 4.
Let’s took a closer look at the teams and storylines for this year’s Canadian championship.
Pool A
Team Brad Jacobs (Canada)
Club: The Glencoe Club in Calgary
Canadian Ranking: 1
It’s fair to say the defending champs will be the most tired team in St. John’s.
Brad Jacobs, Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert captured the gold medal in men’s curling at Milano Cortina 2026, beating Great Britain’s Team Bruce Mouat – ranked No. 1 in the world – 9-6 in a thrilling final.
It was Canada’s first gold medal in four-person curling since Jacobs and Jennifer Jones won double gold in Sochi, Russia in 2014.
Kennedy and Hebert also won gold at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, while Gallant earned bronze with Brad Gushue four years ago in Beijing.
Winning Olympic gold against the best teams in the world is hard enough, especially while wearing the Maple Leaf on the back. It’s even harder when you’re forced to battle through the type of adversity Jacobs and company faced in Cortina.
During Canada’s third game of the round robin, Swedish third Oskar Eriksson confronted Kennedy, accusing him of “double touching” the stone during his release.
Kennedy barked back with a series of expletives that went viral on social media. Immediately after Canada’s win over Team Niklas Edin, Swedish media released a video of Kennedy appearing to touch the stone a second time.
What followed was a wild few days of cheating allegations, officials pulling other rocks from play due to “double touching” infractions, and a general sense of chaos.
Most teams would have folded in that situation, but not Team Jacobs. They righted the ship and became Olympic champions.
“For anyone who called us cheaters, for anyone who said negative things about Marc Kennedy, about us, about Canada, about our families, I hope that the image of us standing on top of the podium, embracing one another, smiling ear to ear with our gold medals, is burned into your brain forever,” Jacobs said emphatically after the win.
This is all to say, Team Jacobs will be exhausted but not stressed when they attempt to defend their Canadian championship in St. John’s.
It’s hard to say if that will help or hinder their performance.
Team Gushue won the 2022 Lethbridge Brier immediately after the Beijing Olympics, so it’s most definitely possible to put together a strong week.
Team Brad Gushue (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Club: St. John’s Curling Club RE/MAX Centre
Canadian Ranking: 14
This is Gushue’s last dance.
The 45-year-old will look to win his record-extending seventh Brier Tankard as a skip in his hometown in what will be the 23rd and final Canadian men’s curling championship of his career.
Doing so might be a difficult task, however.
Gushue’s rink hasn’t been the same since replacing power sweeper E.J. Harnden with Brendan Bottcher in the early portion of the 2024-25 season.
They haven’t won a single event over the past two seasons, missed the playoffs at the Canadian Curling Trials in November, and didn’t get past the quarter-final stage at three Grand Slams this season.
As a result, Gushue’s rink has fallen to 14th in Canada and 32nd in the world
Team Gushue made a solid run at last year’s Montana’s Brier in Kelowna but lost a heartbreaker to Team Jacobs in the semifinal.
Lost in the shuffle is Gushue’s long-time teammate and friend, Mark Nichols. Not to mention Bottcher and lead Geoff Walker. What do their curling futures look like going forward with Gushue hanging up the slider?
The hometown team won’t be the favourites at this year’s Brier, but if Gushue and company can find their groove and make a run, it could be another unforgettable week on The Rock. Whatever the outcome, it’s a safe beat Gushue will get a proper sendoff in front of his hometown fans.
Team Jayden King (Ontario)
Club: Tillsonburg Curling Club
Canadian Ranking: 6
Jayden King and his rink out of the Tillsonburg Curling Club will be one of the most intriguing teams at this year’s Brier.
This will be the first Canadian men’s curling championship for all four members of Team King after they defeated defending provincial champion Team Sam Mooibroek in the Ontario Tankard final, 9-6.
King, 23, dropped the 2024 Ontario Tankard final to Scott Howard.
Team King, currently ranked sixth in Canada, has played in three other bonspiel finals this season, losing each time.
King will also make significant history at this year’s Montana’s Brier, becoming the first Black skip in the tournament’s long history.
Ontario is the third highest ranked team in Pool A and could find themselves in the playoffs by the end of round robin play if they can keep their composure.
Team Kelly Knapp (Saskatchewan)
Club: Highland Curling Club in Regina
Canadian Ranking: 16
Saskatchewan’s Team Kelly Knapp could be a dark horse at this year’s Montana’s Brier.
Team Knapp is 40-6 on the season, winning five of their seven events, including the Saskatchewan Tankard where they defeated defending champion Team Rylan Kleiter in the final, 9-4.
Knapp’s only previous Brier experience came in 2023 when his team posted a 4-4 record. Third Brennen Jones is still with the squad while Dustin Kidby and Mat Ring serve as the new front-end duo.
Team Knapp has remained on the Saskatchewan circuit in 2025-26 and haven’t faced the Jacobs or Gusuhes of Canadian curling. Their opponents will be tougher in St. John’s, so we’ll have to see if Saskatchewan can still contend for a playoff spot.
Team Jean-Michel Menard (Quebec)
Club: Des Collines, Glenmore, Belvédère, Etchemin, Valleyfield
Canadian Ranking: 20
He won’t get the same attention as Gushue, but this will also be the last Brier for 2006 Canadian champion Jean-Michel Menard.
Jean-Michel Ménard will be retiring from men’s curling at the end of the season.
— Félix Asselin (@fasselin94) January 20, 2026
It’s been a privilege to play with such a knowledgeable guy, someone who truly loves this sport to it’s core.
We will be giving absolutely everything we’ve got for his last Brier in St. John’s! pic.twitter.com/uMCLPhAXaT
The 50-year-old teamed up with Felix Asselin ahead of last season and qualified for his first Brier in almost a decade, helping Team Quebec post a 4-4 record in Kelowna.
Team Menard defended their provincial title in January amid a truly dominant campaign. The foursome own a fantastic 43-5 record, highlighted by five bonspiel wins.
Three of their five losses came at the Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials in October.
This will be the 13th career Brier for Menard, who defeated Glenn Howard in the 2006 final to claim the lone Tankard of his career. He lost to Scotland’s David Murdoch in the gold-medal game at the World Men’s Curling Championship a few weeks later.
The 2026 Montana’s Brier will also be the last national championship for second Martin Crete, who is set to retire at season’s end.
Asselin, 31, throw last rocks on this squad.
Like Knapp’s Saskatchewan rink, Menard and company haven’t played too many big names this season and will be tested in St. John’s by more difficult opponents. Given their dominant record and the veteran experience on this squad, Team Menard will be contenders for a playoff spot in Pool A.
Team Kendal Thompson (Nova Scotia)
Club: Halifax Curling Club
Canadian Ranking: 57
Kendal Thompson defeated defending provincial champion Owen Purcell in the Nova Scotia final to punch his first ticket to the Montana’s Brier.
Kendal’s brother, Stuart Thompson, is the vice on this squad. He skipped Nova Scotia at the 2019 Brier in Brandon, Man., missing the playoffs with a 3-4 record.
Team Thompson have played a light Atlantic schedule and will be in tough to qualify for the playoffs against a strong Pool A field.
Team Tyler Smith (Prince Edward Island)
Club: Crapaud Community Curling Club
Canadian Ranking: 61
Charlottetown’s Tyler Smith is becoming a regular at the Montana’s Brier.
This will mark the sixth straight appearance for the 27-year-old after skipping his team to a fourth straight PEI championship.
Smith played third for Eddie MacKenzie in 2021 and was selected by the association to represent the province in 2022.
Smith alongside Adam Cocks and Edward White won this year’s championship with just three players.
The Islanders will look to improve on their 1-7 record from the Kelowna Brier in 2025. They put together a strong 5-3 record at the 2024 Brier in Regina but missed a game-winning shot against Northwest Territories in the round-robin finale that would have sent them to the playoffs.
Prince Edward Island haven’t reached the Brier playoffs since 1996. Smith’s crew will likely be in tough to snap that drought in St. John’s.
Team Nathan Young (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Club: St. John’s Curling Club RE/MAX Centre
Canadian Ranking: 87
This year’s St. John’s Brier will feature two teams from The Rock.
Nathan Young returns to the Canadian men’s curling championship for a third time after beating Simon Perry in the provincial final, 5-4.
The 23-year-old last competed in 2023 when he posted a 2-6 record. As a Brier rookie, Young went 1-7 in 2022.
Team Young in 13-11 on the season.
Playoff contention will be difficult to accomplish for Young’s rink, but it should be a fun atmosphere inside Mary Brown’s Centre when they take on Team Gushue in the round robin.
Team Derek Samagalski (Nunavut)
Club: Iqaluit Curling Club
Canadian Ranking: 113
Veteran Manitoba curler Derek Samagalski will make his 10th career Brier appearance in St. John’s, and first as a skip.
The 41-year-old Winnipeg native has spent his curling career playing front end for the likes of Mike McEwen and Reid Carruthers in Manitoba. Now he’s serving as Nunavut’s import curler, calling the game and throwing last stones.
Skipped by Shane Latimer, Nunavut went winless at last year’s Brier and picked up a single win in 2024.
We’ll see if the former Manitoba champion can add a few wins for the territory this year.
Pool B
Team Matt Dunstone (Manitoba)
Club: The Granite Curling Club in Winnipeg
Canadian Ranking: 2
Matt Dunstone’s Winnipeg rink will be the top seed in Pool B.
The 30-year-old skip has had his fair share of curling heartbreak in recent years, losing Brier finals in 2023 and 2025 before getting swept in the best-of-three Canadian Curling Trials final earlier this season by Team Brad Jacobs.
You can tell how much winning means to Dunstone, given the emotion he displays following those devastating losses. He will have another chance to exorcise his demons as he captains the No. 2-ranked team in Canada at this year’s Brier.
Team Dunstone is 34-20 on the season, winning the season-opening Grand Slam as well as October’s PointsBet Invitational. Since their Trials final loss, Team Dunstone has cooled off a bit, going 0-4 at the Canadian Open and 3-2 at the Players’ Championship, missing the playoffs on both occasions.
This will be the last Brier for this version of Team Dunstone with the retirement of E.J. Harnden at season’s end.
After enduring years of coming up short at nationals, Gushue won his first Tankard at the 2017 Brier in St. John’s in career-defining fashion. Then the flood gates opened with five more titles over the next seven years. Could St. John’s provide a similar first for Dunstone at this year’s Brier?
Team Mike McEwen (Saskatchewan)
Club: Nutana Curling Club in Saskatoon
Canadian Ranking: 5
Mike McEwen will also be looking to capture his first career Brier Tankard in St. John’s.
The 45-year-old veteran skip will compete in his 11th straight Canadian men’s curling championship, looking to reach his second career final. McEwen and his current Saskatchewan-based rink lost the 2024 Brier final to Team Gushue after a memorable week in Regina.
At last year’s Brier in Kelowna, Team McEwen posted another strong 7-1 round-robin record before being eliminated after dropping back-to-back playoff games to Team Dunstone and Team Reid Carruthers.
Team McEwen has been up and down in 2025-26, a season highlighted by reaching the Canadian Curling Trials semifinal where they lost to Team Dunstone. They are coming off a strong showing at a bonspiel in Martensville, Sask., losing the final to Team Jordon McDonald.
Overall, they are just two games over .500 (27-25) this season.
McEwen has reached the playoffs in each of the past three Briers and is still a strong contender to do it again in St. John’s. He finished third in 2017, the last time St. John’s hosted the event.
Team Kevin Koe (Alberta)
Club: The Glencoe Club in Calgary
Canadian Ranking: 9
Despite not revealing too much about his curling future, it’s fair to wonder if the 2026 Montana’s Brier will be Kevin Koe’s last.
The 51-year-old Calgary native is set to compete in his 14th Canadian championship after defeating Johnson Tao, a curler 28 years his junior, in the Alberta provincial final.
Koe, who has won four Briers and two world championships in his career, has missed the playoffs at the past two Briers.
Team Koe went 3-4 at the Canadian Curling Trials in November and missed out on the final three. Elsewhere, Koe and company have made the playoffs in five of nine events this season.
Third Tyler Tardi enters the event on a high after helping Team Jacobs win gold in Cortina as their alternate.
Ranked ninth in Canada and third in Pool B, Team Koe will strong contenders for the playoffs but will need to force some upsets to reach the championship game.
Team Braden Calvert (Manitoba)
Club: Heather Curling Club in Winnipeg
Canadian Ranking: 12
Braden Calvert is another rookie at this year’s Brier who has a chance to contend for the playoffs.
The 30-year-old and his rink from the Heather Curling Club won the always difficult Manitoba provincial title by defeating Team Jordon McDonald in the final, scoring three in an extra end for the 10-7 victory.
The win earned Calvert’s side a little revenge after they dropped a best-of-three series to Team McDonald in the final of Canadian Olympic Pre-Trials in October.
Calvert has been a notable name in the Manitoba curling scene for a decade since winning back-to-back Canadian junior titles in 2014 and 2015 and a world junior championship in 2015. Calvert dropped the 2024 and 2025 Manitoba finals to Team Reid Carruthers before finally breaking through this year.
Kyle Kurz has played alongside Calvert since junior, moving from third to second a few seasons ago when Corey Chambers joined the team.
In addition to their provincial win, Team Calvert has won three bonspiels this season, including the DEKALB Superspiel in late November and own an overall record of 27-9.
The Manitoba champions may be short on Brier experience, but should be able to contend for the third playoff spot in Pool B.
Team James Grattan (New Brunswick)
Club: Gage Golf & Curling Club in Oromocto
Canadian Ranking: 28
James Grattan is no stranger to the Montana’s Brier.
This will be Brier No. 18 for the 51-year-old, who received the nickname “Jimmy the Kid” after finishing an impressive third at his rookie Brier in 1997.
Grattan and his team out of the Gage Golf & Curling Club in Oromocto has won the New Brunswick provincial championship three straight years and five times since 2020.
Team Grattan went 1-7 at the 2024 Brier and 3-5 at last year’s national championship. Grattan hasn’t made the Brier playoffs since 2003 when he played for Russ Howard.
Grattan’s crew is having a strong 2025-26 season with three event wins, including the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic.
Despite putting up some wins recently, Grattan will need a lot to go right in order to finish in the top three out of Pool B by the end of round robin play.
Team Cody Tanaka (British Columbia)
Club: Kamloops and Tunnel Town Curling Clubs
Canadian Ranking: 47
British Columbia will be represented by rookie skip Cody Tankaka in St. John’s.
The 31-year-old and his rink from the Kamloops and Tunnel Town Curling Clubs defeated Team Jason Montgomery in the provincial final by a score of 6-5.
Third Jared Kolomaya is the only member of the team with previous Brier experience.
Team Tanaka has two semifinal appearances on their card this season in addition to the provincial win.
They’ll be longshots to contend for a playoff spot as one of the most inexperienced teams in Pool B.
Team Dustin Montpellier (Northern Ontario)
Club: Northern Credit Union Community Centre in Sudbury
Canadian Ranking: 67
Sandy MacEwan is set to compete in his first Brier after his Sudbury foursome upset Team John Epping in the Northern Ontario final.
The 40-year-old had previously lost two provincial finals.
MacEwan throws fourth stones on the squad while Dustin Montpellier calls the shots.
Team Montpellier owns a 14-12 record this season, failing to reach the playoffs in each of their four events before Northern Ontario playdowns.
Team Thomas Scoffin (Yukon)
Club: Whitehorse Curling Club
Canadian Ranking: 69
Thomas Scoffin returns for his seventh Brier, including his fifth straight.
With vice Kerr Drummond added to the team, Team Scoffin posted a strong 4-4 record at last year’s Brier in Kelowna, an exceptional result for Yukon which typically finds themselves near the bottom of the standings.
The 31-year-old Scoffin is bringing back the same team to St. John’s, so we’ll have to see if they can match their win production from a season ago.
Team Jamie Koe (Northwest Territories)
Club: Yellowknife Curling Club
Canadian Ranking: 158
Is it even a Brier if Jamie Koe isn’t there?
This will be Brier No. 18 for the 48-year-old Yellowknife native, younger brother to Kevin.
Koe’s last appearance was in 2024 when he posted a 5-3 record to sneak into the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
After missing out on last year’s event, Koe is bringing a familiar lineup to St. John’s, highlighted by vice Glen Kennedy.
Team Koe is the lowest-ranked team in Pool B and will be long shots to make the playoffs. They were long shots a couple years ago in Regina too but managed to make a surprising run.
Koe has the skillset and experience to beat anybody on any given day at the Brier.
