With the curling world fully focused on the granite action happening at Milano Cortina 2026, Curling Canada has revealed the official pools for the 2026 Montana’s Brier.
The Canadian men’s curling championship will take place Feb. 27 to March 8 at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, Nfld.
St. John’s native Brad Gushue will be the headlining story at this year’s Brier after announcing earlier this year that the 2025-26 season would be his last.
The last time St. John’s hosted a Brier was in 2017 when Gushue won his first of six career Brier Tankards in memorable fashion.
This will be Brier No. 23 for Gushue.
The Brier field features many top names in Canadian curling, including defending champion Brad Jacobs, who’s currently representing the nation at the Olympics in Italy, as well as two-time finalist Matt Dunstone, four-time winner Kevin Koe and perennial contender Mike McEwen.
Manitoba’s Braden Calvert and Ontario’s Jayden King will be two notable rookie skips in this year’s field.
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 Page Playoff 1 vs. 2 game while the losers will have to play the third-place finishers for a spot in the Page Playoff 3 vs. 4 game.
A regular page playoff will commence once the final four are determined.
The championship game takes place Sunday, March 8 at 6pm ET/3pm 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.
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; St. John’s)
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-Calvert, Braden Calvert, Corey Chambers, Kyle Kurz, Brendan Bilawka, 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, 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 (Joe Wallingham [throws lead], Kerr Drummond, Trygg Jensen, Ben Robinson, Darren Moulding; Whitehorse)
Northwest Territories, Jamie Koe (Glen Kennedy, Roland Robinson, Shadrach McLeod, Cole Parsons; Yellowknife)
