2026 Montana’s Brier gets underway Friday in St. John’s

There will be an electric atmosphere and a packed house when the 2026 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, gets underway Friday at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, N.L.

Playing in his final Montana’s Brier, Brad Gushue, backed by his legendary team from St. John’s, will begin his quest for a record-setting seventh Canadian men’s curling championship; his vice-skip Mark Nichols and lead Geoff Walker will be in the same record-chasing position.

Also on the ice will be the newly crowned Olympic gold medallists and reigning Montana’s Brier champions Team Brad Jacobs of Calgary.

Team Gushue will be taking on Quebec’s Team Jean-Michel Ménard, representing clubs in Des Collines, Glenmore, Belvédère, Etchemin and Valleyfield and another team that has announced numerous retirements, including 2006 Brier champ Ménard.

Jacobs and Team Canada, meanwhile, will be taking on Prince Edward Island’s Team Tyler Smith of Crapaud. Team Jacobs returned from Italy on Monday after claiming Olympic gold on Saturday in Cortina d’Ampezzo against Great Britain’s Team Bruce Mouat.

The first draw of the 2026 Montana’s Brier is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday (all times NT).

Team Gushue won’t be the only hometown hopeful on the ice in the opening draw, as newly crowned Newfoundland and Labrador champs Team Nathan Young of St. John’s will be up against Nunavut’s Team Derek Samagalski of Iqaluit.

The other opening-draw game will feature a battle between Ontario’s Team Jayden King (Tillsonburg) and Nova Scotia’s Team Kendal Thompson (Halifax).

The opening weekend of the 2026 Montana’s Brier continues Saturday with draws at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30, while Sunday draws are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30.

The 18 teams are divided into two pools of nine, each playing an eight-game round robin. The top three teams from each pool will advance to the playoffs.

No tiebreaker games will be played. If teams are tied for a playoff spot, head-to-head results will determine the ranking. If still unresolved, Last-Shot Draw rankings will be used, following the same formula as World Championship and Olympic Winter Games events.

In the first round of playoffs on Friday, March 6, at 1:30 p.m., the first-place team from Pool A will face the second-place team from Pool B, and vice versa. Winners advance directly to the 1v2 Page playoff game, while the losers will play the third-place teams from each pool at 7:30 p.m. for the remaining Page playoff spots.

The Page playoffs begin on Saturday, March 7. The winner of the 1v2 game will advance directly to the final, while the loser faces the winner of the 3v4 Page game (scheduled for 1 p.m. on March 7) in the semifinal.

The semifinal winner (Sunday, March 8, at 1:30 p.m.) will compete in the championship final at 7:30 p.m. that same day.

The champion will go on to represent Canada at the 2026 LGT World Men’s Curling Championship, taking place from March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah.

Here’s a look at how the two pools are set up:

(Teams listed according to overall seeding based on CTRS standings as of the conclusion of provincial and territorial playdowns, and listed in order skip [player calling the shots], vice-skip [player holding the broom for the skip], second, lead, alternate, coach/High Performance Consultant).

* — denotes provincial champion for provinces with more than one team representing.

Pool A

• Team Canada, Brad Jacobs (Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, Ben Hebert, Mike Caione, Paul Webster; Calgary)
• Newfoundland & Labrador-Gushue, Brad Gushue (Brendan Bottcher [throws second], Mark Nichols, Geoff Walker, Adam Casey, Jeff Hoffart)
• Ontario, Jayden King (Dylan Niepage, Owen Henry, Victor Pietrangelo, Spencer Dunlop, Morgan Lavell; Tillsonburg)
• * Saskatchewan-Knapp, Kelly Knapp (Brennen Jones, Dustin Kidby, Mat Ring, Trent Knapp, Brian McCusker; Regina)
• Québec, Jean-Michel Ménard (Félix Asselin [throws fourth], Martin Crête, Jean-François Trépanier, François Roberge; Des Collines, Glenmore, Belvédère, Etchemin, Valleyfield)
• Nova Scotia, Kendal Thompson (Stuart Thompson, Bryce Everist, Michael Brophy, Adam McKerihen, Chris Jeffrey; Halifax)
• Prince Edward Island, Tyler Smith (Adam Cocks, Edward White, Paul Flemming; Crapaud)
• * Newfoundland & Labrador-Young, Nathan Young (Colin Thomas, Nathan Locke, Ben Stringer, Jeff Thomas, Cory Schuh; St. John’s)
• Nunavut, Derek Samagalski (Sheldon Wettig, Christian Smitheram, Justin McDonell, David Aglukark, Geordie Hargreaves; Iqaluit)

Pool B

• Manitoba-Dunstone, Matt Dunstone (Matt Dunstone, Colton Lott, E.J. Harnden, Ryan Harnden, Jacob Horgan, Caleb Flaxey; Winnipeg)
• Saskatchewan-McEwen, Mike McEwen (Kevin Marsh [throws second], Colton Flasch, Dan Marsh, Brent Laing, Pat Simmons; Saskatoon)
• Alberta, Kevin Koe (Aaron Sluchinski [throws second], Tyler Tardi, Karrick Martin, Jacob Libbus, Mike Libbus; Calgary)
• * Manitoba, Braden Calvert (Corey Chambers, Kyle Kurz, Brendan Milawka, Rob Gordon; Winnipeg)
• New Brunswick, James Grattan (Joel Krats, Andy McCann, Noah Riggs, Drew Grattan, Dean Grattan; Oromocto)
• British Columbia, Cody Tanaka (Mitchell Kopytko [throws second], Jared Kolomaya [throws third], Coburn Fadden, Sam Husdon, Josh Miki; Kamloops/Delta)
• Northern Ontario, Dustin Montpellier (Sandy MacEwan [throws fourth], Olivier Bonin-Ducharme, Luc Ouimet [lead/alternate], Lee Toner [lead/alternate], Kira Brunton; Sudbury)
• Yukon, Thomas Scoffin (Kerr Drummond, Trygg Jensen, Joe Wallingham, Ben Robinson, Darren Moulding)
• Northwest Territories, Jamie Koe (Glen Kennedy, Roland Robinson, Shadrach McLeod, Cole Parsons; Yellowknife)

Note: Some matchups featuring pre-qualified teams were pre-set for ticket marketing purposes, so the pools were adjusted based on the approved seeding methodology in collaboration with Curling Canada’s Athlete Council.

For the entire 2026 Montana’s Brier schedule, CLICK HERE.

Tickets are available online at curling.ca/tickets and in person at the Mary Brown’s Centre box office during regular business hours. Phone inquiries can be made by calling 709-576-7657. While select draws do not currently have availability, fans can keep checking back as a limited number of seats for all draws will be released for sale once the arena set-up is completed.

TSN/RDS, the official broadcast partners of Curling Canada’s Season of Champions, will provide complete coverage of the 2026 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the broadcast schedule.