Curling Canada has announced the official team pools for the 2026 Montana’s Brier, set to take place in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. The event will feature 18 teams divided into two pools, with Brad Gushue headlining as a local favorite in his final season. The championship runs from February 27 to March 8 at the Mary Brown’s Centre.
The 2026 Montana’s Brier, Canada’s men’s curling championship, will occur from February 27 to March 8 at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. This marks the first time St. John’s has hosted the event since 2017, when local skip Brad Gushue secured his first of six Brier titles. Gushue, a St. John’s native, has announced that the 2025-26 season will be his last, making this his 23rd Brier appearance.
The 18-team field includes prominent skips such as defending champion Brad Jacobs of Team Canada, who is currently competing for Canada at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics. Other top contenders are two-time finalist Matt Dunstone, four-time winner Kevin Koe, and perennial challenger Mike McEwen. Notable rookies include Manitoba’s Braden Calvert and Ontario’s Jayden King.
Teams are split into two pools of nine. Pool A features Team Canada (Brad Jacobs), Newfoundland and Labrador-Gushue (Brad Gushue), Ontario (Jayden King), Saskatchewan-Knapp (Kelly Knapp), Québec (Jean-Michel Ménard), Nova Scotia (Kendal Thompson), Prince Edward Island (Tyler Smith), Newfoundland and Labrador-Young (Nathan Young), and Nunavut (Derek Samagalski).
Pool B includes Manitoba-Dunstone (Matt Dunstone), Saskatchewan-McEwen (Mike McEwen), Alberta (Kevin Koe), Manitoba-Calvert (Braden Calvert), New Brunswick (James Grattan), British Columbia (Cody Tanaka), Northern Ontario (Dustin Montpellier), Yukon (Thomas Scoffin), and Northwest Territories (Jamie Koe).
The format follows previous years: the top three teams from each pool advance to playoffs after round-robin play, with no tiebreaker games. Ties will be resolved by head-to-head results, followed by Last-Shot Draw rankings. Playoff matchups begin with first-place from Pool A against second from Pool B, and vice versa. Winners proceed to the Page 1 vs. 2 game, while losers face third-place teams for a chance at Page 3 vs. 4. The final is scheduled for March 8 at 6 p.m. ET, with the victor representing Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Ogden, Utah, from March 27 to April 4.
