ST. JOHN’S, NL – Hometown hero and curling legend, Brad Gushue and his team opened the first round the Curling Canada 2026 Montana Briar Canadian curling championship in St John’s, Newfoundland on Friday night. The Mary Brown Centre was at capacity as fans came out to see Gushue in his final tournament before retiring from competition. Gushue could barely take a step without being cheered on by the crowd, whose energy was palpable long before first practice has started.
The Re.Max Centre St. John’s Curling Club based team is made up of third Mark Nichols, second/vice-skip Brendan Bottcher, lead Geoff Walker, alternate Adam Casey and coach Jeff Hoffart and they took a positive step towards another Canadian men’s crown with a 10-2 win over Québec’s Team Jean-Michel Ménard (0-1; Des Collines, Glenmore, Belvédère, Etchemin, Valleyfield) in Draw 1.
Playing in his final Montana’s Brier, Brad Gushue, backed by his legendary team from St. John’s, will begin his quest for a record-setting seventh Canadian men’s curling championship;
EMOTIONAL HOME COMING
“I actually got a little teary-eyed there when it kept going,” said Gushue of his reception from the Newfoundland and Labrador faithful. “To see that, and to feel it and hear it, definitely got the jitters going. Even in the practice, when we had the draw to the button, I haven’t had the shakes quite the way I had them in practice there in a long time. To get that roar was really special and hopefully we get more roars like that all week.”
But Gushue knows that balancing those emotions is just as important as embracing them.
“For me, and our team, we can really get hyped up for that and I don’t know if that’s a place that necessarily benefits us,” said Gushue. “You want to make sure that you have that motivation and embrace the crowd, but you also have to stay at a good level. I’ve been caught in the past with getting too hyped up with crowds and generally don’t play well. I wanted to make sure that I stayed level; stayed composed and within myself.”
A CAREER
Its been 20 years since Gushue won an Olympic gold medal at the 2006 winter Olympics in Turino, Italy. A pinnacle event in any sports career but his lists of wins and accomplishments in his 32 year curling career is long and deep.
OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, MEN’S – (2)
2022 at Beijing (6-5, bronze medal, Canada skip)
2006 at Turin, Italy (8-3, gold medal, throwing fourth rocks for
Canada [Russ Howard], defeated Finland’s Markku Uusipaavalniemi 10-4 in final)
WORLD MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP – (5 )
2024 at Schaffhausen, Switzerland (11-3, silver medal, Canada skip, lost 6-5 to Sweden’s Niklas Edin in final);
2023 at Ottawa (11-4, silver medal, Canada skip, lost to Scotland’s Bruce Mouat 9-3 in final);
2022 at Las Vegas (11-3, silver medal, Canada skip, lost to Sweden’s Niklaas Edin 8-6 in final);
2018 at Las Vegas (11-4, silver medal, Canada skip, lost to Sweden’s Niklas Edin in final 7-3);
2017 at Edmonton (13-0, gold medal, Canada skip, defeated Sweden’s Niklas Edin, 4-2 in final)
MONTANA’S BRIER – (22)
2025 at Kelowna, B.C. (8-3, bronze medal, Canada skip); 2024 at Regina (9-2, gold medal, Canada skip, defeated
Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen 9-5 in final);
2023 at London, Ont. (10-1, gold medal, Canada skip, defeated Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone 7-5 in final); 2022 at Lethbridge, Alta. (11-1, gold medal, Wild Card 1 skip, defeated Alberta’s Kevin Koe 9-8 in extra-end final);
2021 at Calgary (8-4, Canada skip); 2020 at Kingston, Ont. (11-3, gold medal, N.L. skip, defeated Alberta’s
Brendan Bottcher 7-3 in final); 2019 at Brandon, Man. (9-3, Canada skip);
2018 at Regina (12-1, gold medal, Canada skip, defeated Alberta’s Brendan Bottcher 6-4 in final);
2017 at St. John’s (11-2, gold medal, N.L. skip, defeated Canada’s Kevin Koe, 7-6 in final);
2016 at Ottawa (10-3, silver medal, N.L. skip, lost final, 9-5 to Alberta’s Kevin Koe); 2015 at Calgary (9-5, N.L. skip); 2014 at Kamloops, B.C. (6-5, N.L. skip); 2013 at Edmonton (8-4, N.L. skip); 2012 at Saskatoon (5-6, N.L. skip);
2011 at London, Ont. (10-4, bronze medal, N.L. skip); 2010 at Halifax (8-4, N.L. skip); 2009 at Calgary (8-4, N.L. skip);
2008 atWinnipeg (7-5, N.L. skip), 2007 at Hamilton, Ont. (9-4, silver medal, N.L. skip, lost final to Ontario’s Glenn Howard, 10-6),
2005 at Edmonton (6-5, N.L. skip); 2004 at Saskatoon (8-4, N.L. skip); 2003 at Halifax (6-5, N.L. skip)
MONTANA’S CANADIAN CURLING TRIALS – (4 )
2025 at Halifax (4-3, skip);
2021 at Saskatoon (8-1, gold medal, skip);
2017 at Ottawa (6-3, bronze medal, skip, lost semifinal to Mike McEwen 6-4);
2005 at Halifax (9-1, gold medal, throwing fourth rocks for Russ Howard, defeated Jeff Stoughton 8-7 in final)
Alternate in 2013 at Winnipeg (6-2, bronze medal, Kevin Martin)
HOME HARDWARE CANADIAN CURLING PRE-TRIALS – (2)
2013 at Kitchener, Ont. (5-3, skip); 2009 at Prince George, B.C. (1-3, skip)
PAN CONTINENTAL CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP – (3)
2024 at Leduc, Alta. (7-2, Canada skip); 2023 at Kelowna, B.C. (8-1, gold medal, defeated South Korea’s Jong Duk Park 8-3 in
final, Canada skip); 2022 at Calgary (8-1, gold medal, defeated South Korea’s Byeong Jin Jeong 11-3 in final, Canada skip)
POINTSBET INVITATIONAL – (4 )
2025 at Calgary (2-2, skip);
2024 at Calgary (3-1, runner-up, skip); 2023 at Oakville, Ont. (2-1, Final 4, skip);
2022 at Fredericton (2-1, Final 4, skip)
CANADIAN MIXED DOUBLES CURLING TRIALS – ( 1 )
2018 at Portage la Prairie, Man. (8-4, silver medal, w/ Val Sweeting, lost final to Kaitlyn Lawes/John Morris 8-6)
WORLD MIXED DOUBLES CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP – ( 1 )
2021 at Aberdeen, Scotland (8-4, Canada, w/ Kerri Einarson)
CANADIAN MIXED DOUBLES CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP – ( 1 )
2021 at Calgary (10-2, gold medal, w/ Kerri Einarson)
NEW HOLL AND CANADIAN UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIPS – (6)
2001 at St. Catharines, Ont. (10-3, gold medal, Newfoundland and Labrador skip, defeated Manitoba’s Mike McEwen 8-3
in final);
2000 at Moncton, N.B. (11-3, silver medal, Newfoundland and Labrador skip, lost extra end final 8-7 to B.C.’s Brad
Kuhn);
1999 at Kelowna, B.C. (8-5, bronze medal, Newfoundland and Labrador skip); 1998 at Calgary (4-8, Newfoundland
and Labrador skip);
1996 at Edmonton (5-7, Newfoundland and Labrador skip);
1995 at Regina (1-10, Newfoundland and Labdrador second [Ryan Davis])
WORLD JUNIOR MEN’S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP – ( 1 )
2001 at Ogden, Utah (9-2, gold medal, Canada skip, defeated Denmark’s Casper Bossen 7-6 in an extra end final)
Alternate in 1998 at Thunder Bay, Ont. (11-0, gold medal, Canada [John Morris])
CURLING WEEK IN ST JOHN’S
Its a full week of curling in St John’s. Here is the 2026 Montana Briar competition schedule and TSN is the host broadcaster for live and latest news.
Story and photos by Greg Locke with files from Curling Canada.
