Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
While there will be two Saskatchewan teams in the field at the 2026 Montana’s Brier, two other teams will be stealing many of the headlines.
Fresh off an Olympic gold medal, defending champion Brad Jacobs and Team Canada will be coming in as the No. 1 seed while six-time Brier champion Brad Gushue will be playing in his final Brier on home ice as the national men’s curling championship is in Gushue’s hometown of St. John’s, N.L.
The 18-team field will be split into two pools of nine where teams will play an eight-game round robin beginning on Friday. The top three teams from each pool will then make the playoff round, set to begin Mar. 6, before a champion is crowned on Mar. 8. The winner will represent Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Utah from Mar. 27 to Apr. 4.
The winning squad will also come back next year as Team Canada for the 2027 Brier, set to be played Feb. 26 to Mar. 7 in Saskatoon.
Pool A
Team Canada
Skip Brad Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert, alternate Mike Caione, coach Paul Webster
Jacobs, who beat Matt Dunstone in last year’s championship for his first Brier win since 2013 when he represented Northern Ontario, is back as the defending champion along with his veteran squad which included Hebert, a Regina product who has five Brier titles and now two Olympic gold medals. Unless they have Olympic fatigue, this Calgary-based rink will be the team to beat this year.
Team Newfoundland and Labrador-Gushue
Skip Brad Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second Brendan Bottcher, lead Geoff Walker, alternate Adam Casey, coach Jeff Hoffart
Gushue is coming off a bronze medal at last year’s Brier which followed a gold medal in 2024 in Regina.
And he’s looking to go out on top as the veteran of 23 Briers has announced this will be his last. Winning in front of his home crowd would make for a storybook ending for the 45-year-old.
Team Ontario
Skip Jayden King, third Dylan Niepage, second Owen Henry, lead Victor Pietrangelo, alternate Spencer Dunlop, coach Morgan Lavell
After losing in the Ontario final two years ago to Scott Howard, King broke through this year as the Sudbury rink beat defending champion Sam Mooibroek in the provincial final to earn their first Brier appearance. At age 23, King will be one of the youngest skips in the field but his squad comes in ranked sixth on the Canadian Team Ranking System.
Team Saskatchewan-Knapp
Skip Kelly Knapp, third Brennen Jones, second Dustin Kidby, lead Mat Ring, alternate Trent Knapp, coach Brian McCusker
Regina’s Highland Curling Club squad is back for a second time after also representing Saskatchewan in 2023 when the team went 4-4 and narrowly missed the playoffs. However, they’ve made a couple lineup changes since then as Kidby, a veteran of six Briers, is now in the lineup while Ring will be making his Brier debut.
Team Québec
Skip Jean-Michel Ménard, third Félix Asselin (throws fourth), second Martin Crête, lead Jean-François Trépanier, coach François Roberge
Menard is making his 13th trip to the Brier, highlighted by a gold medal in 2006 in Regina, while Asselin will be making his fifth appearance. After going 4-4 and missing the playoffs at last year’s Brier, the Quebec squad will be looking to improve on that result this year.
Team Nova Scotia
Skip Kendal Thompson, third Stuart Thompson, second Bryce Everist, lead Michael Brophy, alternate Adam McKerihen, coach Chris Jeffrey
After losing to Owen Purcell in the 2025 provincial final, Kendal Thompson prevailed in 2026 by beating Purcell in the Nova Scotia championship to earn a Brier berth. While it will be the first brier for Kendal, Everist and Brophy, Stuart Thompson previously skipped a Nova Scotia team at the Brier in 2019.
Team Prince Edward Island
Skip Tyler Smith, third Adam Cocks, second Edward White, lead Paul Flemming
Smith will be making his sixth straight Brier appearance for P.E.I. after finishing 1-7 at last year’s championship. However, he’s not too far removed from a 5-3 finish at the Brier in Regina in 2024, which saw his rink put together an incredible round robin run before falling just short of the playoffs.
Team Newfoundland and Labrador-Young
Skip Nathan Young, third Colin Thomas, second Nathan Locke, lead Ben Stringer, alternate Jeff Thomas, coach Cory Schuh
The other and lesser-known St. John’s team in the Brier this year is skipped by Young, who will be making his third Brier appearance after also skipping Newfoundland in 2022 and 2023, finishing 1-7 and 2-6 respectively. Prior to entering the men’s ranks, Young skipped Canada to gold at the World Youth Olympics in 2020.
Team Nunavut
Skip Derek Samagalski, third Sheldon Wettig, second Christian Smitheram, lead Justin McDonell, alternate David Aglukark, coach Geordie Hargreaves
Samagalski, a veteran Manitoba curler, will be leading the Iqaluit team at the Brier this year in what will be his 10th trip to the national championship while the other three on Team Nunavut have represented their territory at previous Briers. For the last two years, Shane Latimer skipped Nunavut at the Brier, going 0-8 and 1-7.
Pool B
Team Manitoba-Dunstone
Skip Matt Dunstone, third Colton Lott, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, alternate Jacob Horgan, coach Caleb Flaxey
Dunstone will be playing in his eighth Brier as he looks for his first win. He’s been close though with two silver medals and two bronze medals to his name, including two third-place finishes as the skip of Team Saskatchewan in 2020 and 2021.
Team Saskatchewan-McEwen
Skip Mike McEwen, third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh, lead Dan Marsh, alternate Brent Laing, coach Pat Simmons
Another skip looking for his first Brier win is McEwen, who claimed silver in 2024 in Regina in his first year leading a Saskatchewan-based team. This will be the Manitoba product’s 11th career Brier appearance as he looks to break a drought for Saskatchewan dating back to 1980.
Team Alberta
Skip Kevin Koe, third Tyler Tardi, second Aaron Sluchinski, lead Karrick Martin, alternate Jacob Libbus, coach Mike Libbus
Koe will be making his 14th Brier appearance in a lengthy career that features four Brier gold medals and four silver medals. However Koe has missed the playoffs in the last two Briers, going 4-4 last year after a rough 2-6 outing in 2024.
Team Manitoba-Calvert
Skip Braden Calvert, third Corey Chambers, second Kyle Kurz, lead Brendan Bilawka, coach Rob Gordon
The second Manitoba team in Pool B is skipped by Calvert, who won his first provincial title in an extra-end win over Jordan McDonald after losing to Reid Carruthers in the previous two provincial championships.
Team New Brunswick
Skip James Grattan, third Joel Krats, second Andy McCann, lead Noah Riggs, alternate Drew Grattan, coach Dean Grattan
The veteran Grattan will be making his 18th Brier appearance highlighted by bronze medals in 1997 and 2002. However, it’s been tougher sledding for the New Brunswick rink in recent years with a 3-5 round robin record last year and 1-7 the year prior.
Team British Columbia
Skip Cody Tanaka, third Jared Kolomaya, second Mitchell Kopytko, lead Coburn Fadden, alternate Sam Husdon, coach Josh Miki
Since Jim Cotter represented B.C. in three straight years, Tanaka will be the fifth different skip in five years to wear the blue jacket for the province after the Kamloops/Delta rink beat Jason Montgomery in the B.C. final. Kolomaya has been to the Brier once before in 2022, but it will be the first appearance for the rest of the team.
Team Northern Ontario
Skip Dustin Montpellier, third Sandy MacEwan (throws fourth), second Olivier Bonin-Ducharme, lead/alternate Luc Ouimet, lead/alternate Lee Toner, coach Kira Brunton
Montpellier and MacEwan will be making their Brier debuts after the Sudbury-based beat John Epping in a massive upset in the Northern Ontario final. While Ouimet and Toner have been to the Brier before, in 2005 and 2009 with Mike Jakubo, Bonin-Ducharme will also be making his first appearance. It’s the fifth straight year Northern Ontario will have a different skip.
Team Yukon
Skip Thomas Scoffin, third Kerr Drummond, second Trygg Jensen, lead Joe Wallingham, alternate Ben Robinson, coach Darren Moulding
Scoffin will be making his seventh Brier appearance after a strong showing at last year’s championship when the Whitehorse team went 4-4, narrowly missing the playoffs.
Team Northwest Territories
Skip Jamie Koe, third Glen Kennedy, second Roland Robinson, lead Shadrach McLeod, alternate Cole Parsons
The veteran Koe is back for his 18th Brier appearance after missing last year’s event following a loss to Aaron Bartling in the territories final. This year, he beat Bartling in the final. In 2024, he made a Cinderella run to the playoffs with a 5-3 record before falling to McEwen in the qualifier.
tshire@postmedia.com
