It took an extra end, but Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs started his 2026 Olympics campaign the way it ended for him in 2014 — with a win. It had been 12 years since Jacobs last represented Canada on the Olympic stage, winning gold.
The Canadians escaped with a 7-6 victory over Germany’s Team Marc Muskatewitz in an extra end during the opening draw of the 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina.
Despite the outside thought of Canada steamrolling through some opponents, Jacobs knows that isn’t going to happen.
“I just have a feeling that’s how it’s going to go all week, and what I mean by that is, I think everyone is going to give their best to us, and we expect that,” Jacobs told CBC Olympics.
Jacobs was sure to give the German team credit after pushing them to the final rock of the 11th end.
“Those guys (Germany) played great, you know that’s a great young team. I think they have a shot for sure at playoffs and potentially medaling,” said Jacobs. “It's a really good young team, strong scrubbers, they made a lot of shots and gave us everything we could handle tonight.”
Jacobs was outstanding while wearing the Maple Leaf for the first time in over a decade. He shot 93 per cent and made the shots needed every end to win the game.
“Felt great, felt very comfortable out there. Kind of like I said earlier, just entering into this building feels very comfortable,” Jacobs said.
Canada wasn’t the only team to pick up a win in the opening draw; here are the full results from Wednesday.
Men’s results from Wednesday, Feb 11. (Full scores and standings)
Draw 1
Italy 7, Sweden 6
Canada 7, Germany 6 (EE)
United States 8, Czechia 7
Great Britain 9, China 4
Why opening draw proves men’s discipline is wide open
This might be the most wide-open men’s curling has ever been at the Olympics.
Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat is the favourite to win, but there are five other countries that could take home the gold, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Canada’s Team Jacobs is in that group of five along with Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany, but if Wednesday's draw proved anything, it’s that these games are going to be decided by one shot. In three of the four games, the match was decided by one point.
It was never going to be easy for Canada at the Olympics and the opening game backed that, but Jacobs and his squad have something they can lean on heavily this week to potentially separate them from the pack.
All four members of the team have Olympic experience, and even better, all four have medals, including three golds.
Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert won gold in 2010 while playing with Kevin Martin, Jacobs won gold in 2014, and Gallant won bronze in 2022 while playing with Brad Gushue.
Jacobs thinks the veteran group can play into that.
“Experience on this team pays off all the time, I’m not going to lie, it’s great to have so much help at the skip position,” Jacobs said. “So many veterans on this team that don’t let me make stupid mistakes.”
It helped Canada against Germany, as countless times they could’ve taken a bigger risk but stayed in the moment and eventually pulled through.
Now, the rest of the week is only going to get tougher.
There is more curl in the ice
If you watched the mixed doubles curling competition throughout, you would know the ice was a topic of discussion. Specifically, the amount of curl each shot generated.
It was a problem for Gallant, who represented Canada with his wife Jocelyn Peterman, and had a disappointing showing, finishing 4-5 on the week to miss the playoffs.
At times during the event, teams were taking the edge of four-foot ice for a draw to the button, causing all the curlers to be thrown off their game.
However, that doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.
The stones used for the mixed doubles aren’t being used for the men’s and women’s tournament, per John Cullen of The Curling Group.
This was obvious during the men’s opening draw as well. Muskatewitz put the broom on the edge of the 12-foot for a draw to the button that turned out perfect.
Throughout all four games, the teams were able to get a lot of curl. Jacobs also praised the ice for how it was playing.
“The ice surface is spectacular, it really is,” Jacobs told CBC Olympics. “You can make a lot of shots out there, it’s a good brushing surface and we got two of the best in the business.”
It will be interesting to see if the ice stays this way or, if it will change like it did for mixed doubles.
Olympic curling action continues Thursday with the women’s discipline starting at 3:05 a.m. ET/ 12:05 a.m. PT, where Canada will take on Denmark. Jacobs' team will have the day off before playing against the U.S. and Sweden on Friday.
Each team will play nine round-robin games and the top four teams will advance to the semifinals.
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