Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
One Saskatchewan team is in the mix for the playoff round while the other is fighting for a spot at the 2026 Montana’s Brier.
At the Canadian men’s curling championship in St. John’s, N.L., Mike McEwen and his Saskatoon-based team improved to 4-1 on Tuesday with a 10-4 win over New Brunswick’s James Grattan, who fell to 2-3 in Pool B.
It was McEwen’s third straight win after beating Northern Ontario and Yukon which followed a loss against Alberta’s Kevin Koe on Sunday. The group, also featuring third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Dan Marsh, picked up a win over Northwest Territories on Saturday to open the Brier.
Next up for McEwen and Team Saskatchewan is a game against B.C. on Tuesday at 5 p.m. before the group faces Manitoba’s Braden Calvert on Wednesday at 12 p.m.
McEwen, who is holding down the third playoff spot, will wrap up the round robin with a highly-anticipated matchup with Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Koe and Dunstone sit at the top of the Pool A standings with a 4-0 records through Draw 10 on Tuesday morning. The top three teams in each pool make the playoff round, which begins Friday, before a champion is crowned on Sunday.
Last year, McEwen finished the round robin with a 7-1 record before back-to-back losses in the playoff round against Manitoba rinks skipped by Dunstone and Reid Carruthers. At the 2024 Brier in Regina, McEwen also finished the round robin with a 7-1 record before falling to Brad Gushue in the championship game.
As for Kelly Knapp and his Regina Highland Curling Club squad, they went toe-to-toe with Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs in their opening draw, narrowly losing 8-6 on Saturday, before picking up a win over Nova Scotia on Sunday.
However Monday was a tough day for the group as they lost to Quebec and Prince Edward Island to drop to 1-3. Knapp and team, also featuring third Brennen Jones, second Dustin Kidby and lead Mat Ring, rebounded on Tuesday with a 8-2 win over Nunavut to improve to 2-3. The Regina squad will now get set for a pair of games against Newfoundland rinks skipped by Nathan Young and Gushue on Wednesday. Knapp will then wrap up the round robin on Thursday against Ontario.
Jacobs and Gushue sit atop the Pool A standings at 5-0 through Tuesday afternoon’s action while Quebec and Ontario and Newfoundland-Young sit tied for third place with three wins each. With two wins, Knapp still has an outside shot to climb back into the playoff race but would need to win at least two of his final three games and get some outside help.
With no tiebreaker games at the Brier, head-to-head results are used to determine rankings. If that doesn’t resolve anything, last-shot draw rankings will be used.
This is Knapp’s second career Brier appearance after going 4-4 in the round robin in his debut in 2023.
tshire@postmedia.com
