We’re two days into the 2026 Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, and the crowds are really starting to bring the heat.
Everyone wants to be a part of Brad Gushue's final Brier, and as a result, two of the first three draws have been sold out. Which is great for the sport, but hard for the ice technicians.
With the arena packed full on Saturday night, the curlers across all four sheets battled unusual ice conditions because the building was so warm that the ice was at a near-melting point.
The ice crew tried everything to cool the crowd of 6,125 down throughout the draw, but it didn’t seem to matter.
In the feature game between Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs and Saskatchewan’s Team Kelly Knapp on Sheet A, one of the closest to the boards, nobody could get a handle on draw weight and in the 10th end it almost cost Jacobs.
Up 7-6 with the hammer, Jacobs had a chance to put the game on ice after Knapp misjudged the opposite side of the sheet, sliding through on his draw attempt. However, even after a lengthy team discussion, Jacobs came up well short of the house, leaving just a guard.
With that, Knapp had a chance to steal to try and force an extra end. He adjusted and made the come around to sit buried. Jacobs came through with his final shot, however, to earn the 8-6 victory.
Still, to see all eight men’s teams with the level of sweeping at their disposal struggle to find just the rings all night long was surprising.
The broadcast mentioned the ice crew tried some temporary fixes, but nothing could fully fix the problems.
Crowds are expected to be high all week long, and the attendance for Saturday afternoon's non-Gushue draw was 5,912.
If the technicians can’t come up with a great fix to combat the hot fans, then expect whichever team figures out the changing ice conditions first to win.
Gushue still trying to settle in
Before a dramatic opening-night win against Quebec, Gushue admitted that he was quite nervous for his final Brier.
Those nerves continued Saturday versus Nunavut’s team, led by skip Derek Samagalski.
Gushue’s front three of Mark Nichols, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker played great throughout, setting up nice ends for the skipper, but he wasn’t at his sharpest. This led to a couple of misses that would’ve cost him against a stronger opponent, but Samagalski let the veteran off the hook with some misses of his own.
It’s hard to picture a world where Gushue doesn't feel nerves every time he steps onto the ice during this event, but he’s going to have to channel those butterflies if he’s going to win a seventh title in his hometown.
Brier debut victory for MacEwan and Northern Ontario
Sandy MacEwan, the 40-year-old… Brier rookie.
His Northern Ontario team made up of Dustin Montpellier, Olivier Bonin-Ducharme and Luc Ouimet didn’t look like rookies out on the ice against Yukon during their opening match, though, largely because of their 10th end, which they began without hammer tied 8-8.
The whole end was managed well by the Northern Ontario rink, but MacEwan’s first shot sealed the deal. With his soft delivery, he was able to wrap around two stones to sit right on the button. In two attempts to remove it, Yukon’s skip Thomas Scoffin couldn’t get the job done, giving MacEwan his first Brier win.
MacEwan has a chance to backdoor his way into a couple of upset victories over the course of the week, especially considering what he did in the Northern Ontario playdowns to even reach the Brier when MacEwan defeated the World No. 8-ranked John Epping in a thrilling match.
Don’t count Koe out this week
Just like Pool A, there are two teams predicted to finish at the top of Pool B with Team Saskatchewan McEwen and Team Manitoba Dunstone, leaving just one more spot to make the playoffs, barring a major upset.
The two favourites for the third spot have widely different resumes and faced each other on Saturday. Team Alberta, led by skip Kevin Koe in his 14th Brier appearance, topped Team Manitoba and skip Braden Calvert, a team with four Brier rookies, by a score of 8-2.
Even though Koe, 51, has won the Brier four times, at this point in his career, he knows where he stands amongst his competitors.
“When we used to come to these, we were probably more of a favourite, this time I’d say we’re middle of the pack, but I like our chances and it’s going to be a fun week,” Koe told the broadcast.
Well, if Koe is going to play like he did on Saturday for the full week, they might be a favourite. For the first three ends, Manitoba outplayed Alberta, except Koe, who made some great shots to give his team a 1-0 lead.
The rest of Koe’s team found their game in the fourth end, forcing Calvert to take one and from there the rink rolled. In the end, Koe shot 97 per cent, and as a team, they curled 90 per cent.
Since there are no tiebreaker games to determine who makes the playoffs, head-to-head is the most important thing, and this victory should really boost Koe’s chances.
