Perfect so far!

Reigning champions, Team Brad Gushue, battle to perfect record to end opening weekend at 2025 Montana’s Brier

Every win at the 2025 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, is built differently. So when reigning champion Brad Gushue — in pursuit of another Canadian men’s championship that would catapult him into a historic tier of his own — looks back at the week, his Sunday afternoon victory could be one of the most crucial.

Canada’s Team Gushue (3-0; St. John’s, N.L.) defeated Northern Ontario’s Team John Epping (2-1; Sudbury) in front of a near-capacity crowd at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., to remain undefeated and on pace for a playoff berth.

“I’m happy with 3-0, absolutely. But we still have a tough schedule left. We’ve still got Carruthers, Koe and Dunstone, so there’s still a lot of work ahead,” Gushue said. “I think the way we’re playing is OK, probably a seven-and-a-half or eight out of 10. I know we can get better, but we’re throwing it well and the guys are doing a great job judging rocks. And now we’re hopeful that the frost will go away tomorrow and it will give us a bit more confidence in the ice.”

Later in the game, precision shots were more difficult to come by due to frosty opening weekend conditions, which are now being addressed with the installation of a dehumidification system at the venue.

In the ninth end and leading by one, skip Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second/vice-skip Brendan Bottcher, lead Geoff Walker, alternate Adam Casey and coach Jeff Hoffart played a draw on its final shot and slid about half-a-foot too far. It set Northern Ontario up with a double for as many as three. However, Team Epping hit it thick and settled for one on a measure.

“I think if he just hit the backside of the other one, he could have gotten three,” said Gushue. “Throwing it in that spot, he had to curl it so much that it’s hard to get it wide enough, so I thought if he was going to miss it, I wanted to hear a sweeping call early. We got that and were fortunate.  It was an end where you’re trying so hard to force him so hard. He knew that, so he was trying to leave some yellows kicking around and maybe have a shot at three or four.”

In the 10th end, Team Epping couldn’t get into position to score and Canada did not need to throw its final shot.

Any curling fan would have been pleased with the master-class show on display in the first half of the game. After blanking the first two ends, Canada was forced to a single in the third, and Northern Ontario capitalized with a hit-and-roll to score two in the fourth. In the fifth, Epping narrowly missed a paper-thin double, which allowed Canada’s Team Gushue to score two and have a one-point lead at the fifth-end break.

In the sixth, the teams played to the side and tested each other’s mettle to throw around a corner guard. Team Gushue got as close to the corner as it could to play a nose hit, and Northern Ontario chimed back with a hit to lay two and retake the lead. 

Team Gushue had its opportunity for a deuce in the seventh. After tucking a draw behind guards, Northern Ontario attempted a runback but only whisked the shot stone to the side 12-foot. That miss, one of only a few for Epping, resulted in Gushue having an open draw for two. 

Gushue’s next game will be against another undefeated team on Monday evening, Manitoba’s Team Reid Carruthers (3-0; Winnipeg), which earned a 5-4 extra-end win against Alberta’s Team Kevin Koe (0-3; Calgary). 

In other Pool A results, Manitoba’s Team Matt Dunstone (3-0; Winnipeg) stayed flawless with a 7-4 win over the host province, British Columbia’s Team Cameron de Jong (0-3; Victoria), and New Brunswick’s Team James Grattan (1-2; Oromocto) bested Nunavut’s Team Shane Latimer (0-3; Iqaluit) with an 8-3 win.

Newfoundland & Labrador’s Team Ty Dilello (0-2; St. John’s) had the afternoon bye. 

The Montana’s Brier continues Sunday with draw a draw at 6:30 p.m. (all times Pacific).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2025 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2025 Montana’s Brier, go to www.curling.ca/2025brier/tickets/

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025brier/nouvelles/?lang=fr