The penultimate day of round robin action at the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna saw Brad Gushue clinch a playoff spot while eliminating fellow Canadian curling legend Kevin Koe, while Matt Dunstone triumphed over Reid Carruthers in the battle of Manitoba.
Here’s a run down of the action at Prospera Place on Wednesday as a competitive playoff picture starts to take shape.
Draw 13
The feature draw this morning saw a pair of Canadian curling legends going head to head, with Koe’s Alberta rink trying to keep their playoff hopes alive against Gushue and Team Canada. It was a great matchup that needed an extra end, but the defending champions prevailed to clinch a playoff spot while eliminating Koe’s team in the process.
The other two teams currently in a playoff spot in Pool A are the Manitoba rinks, who kept pace with Team Canada with wins in Draw 13. Matt Dunstone’s rink disposed of New Brunswick 9-3 and the Reid Carruthers-led team topped Nunavut 7-3. It set things up perfectly for a battle of Manitoba a few hours later in Draw 15.
And the home fans had more to cheer about today, as Cameron de Jong followed up his first Brier win on Tuesday with an 8-3 triumph over Ty Dilello’s Newfoundland and Labrador rink. Team BC is now 2-5 and will finish up their tournament with one final match on Thursday.
Draw 14
Both undefeated teams in Pool B were in action during the afternoon draw and hoping to clinch a playoff berth.
Alberta-Jacobs improved to 6-0 with an 11-5 win over Sam Mooibroek’s Ontario rink. The battle of Saskatchewan was much closer and was tied at two apiece entering the eight end. That’s where it fell apart for the rookie Kleiter, however, as Mike McEwen scored five and the two teams shook hands right after.
Not only have those two rinks now clinched playoff spots, today’s results mean Thursday night’s showdown between Jacobs and McEwen will be for first place in Pool B.
While a lot of the focus was on those two matchups, Owen Purcell’s Nova Scotia rink quietly took care of business against Quebec. That leaves four teams in Pool B with three wins and they will all be fighting for the final playoff spot on Thursday.
Prince Edward Island earned their first victory today, beating the still-winless Nunavut 10-5 thanks largely in part to back-to-back three-point ends in the sixth and seventh.
Draw 15
All eyes were on the battle of Manitoba tonight as Pool A heavyweights Carruthers and Dunstone went head to head in a game that had massive playoff implications.
It was a thrilling, back-and-forth matchup and Carruthers had a 5-4 lead heading into the eighth end, but that’s where it unraveled for him. A fantastic shot by Dunstone led to Carruthers miss and four points on the board, which essentially sealed the win for Dunstone’s rink.
The loss dropped Carruthers to 6-2 and his rink has a bye on Thursday, which means their round robin is now done. They’ll be watching a couple matchups closely tomorrow afternoon in hopes of earning a playoff spot over Dunstone and John Epping.
Team Canada took care of business against Nunavut, improving Brad Gushue’s perfect record to 7-0. Epping also secured a necessary win for Northern Ontario, 9-6 over Newfoundland and Labrador, to move to 5-2. A victory over winless Nunavut on Thursday puts Epping in a good spot to try and secure a playoff berth on Thursday.
The other evening game featured two teams already eliminated from playoff contention, as Alberta-Koe throttled New Brunswick 10-4.
