Brier Curling: Pool A Playoff Prospects

ST. JOHN’S, NL – Wednesday night at the 2026 Montana’s Brier featured meaningful matchups with playoff implications. 

The TSN feature game was, rightfully, Jean-Michel Menard and Team Quebec against Jayden King and his young team from Ontario. A win by Quebec could secure their spot in the playoff and reduce most of the drama from Thursday’s afternoon draw. 

In the third end, Quebec fourth Felix Asselin attempts to pick out the Ontario stone but hits a fraction too little and it’s a steal of one. King started two down after the first end, then jumps ahead 3-2 after three.

Felix misses two double attempts in the seventh end and King is left with an open draw for three points, good for a 7-5 lead into the final three ends. The eighth end features a guttle of stones in and around the four foot, unfortunately for Quebec most of them are red and belong to the opposition from Ontario. 

Down by three, there is opportunity for Quebec in the ninth end.  Sitting two, Asselin has a draw for three to tie the game. They instead try a run-back of an Ontario stone, intending to run their shot stone in the four foot to jam on two Ontario rocks at the back of the house and score four.

They are hoping to make the circus shot to take a one-point lead instead of a tie score into the final end without hammer – but are unable to get to full nose and the result is a force of one and eventual loss to Ontario. 

A steal of two by Nathan Young in the sixth end after a flash from Brad Jacobs! Newfoundland and Labrador – the second NL team at this Mary Brown’s Centre – leads 6-5 with four ends remaining.  Young needs a win to keep any sliver of a playoff chance alive. Like Saskatchewan’s Kelly Knapp, he needs a King victory over Menard.

Young takes Jacobs to a final stone but the result is a win for Team Canada.

Meanwhile, Knapp has an open hit to take two points in the ninth end against Brad Gushue and take the lead heading to the final frame. Knapp rolls out of play and is held to one, giving Gushue last rock in the last end of a tied game. 

Brad Gushue is 28-5 (85%) in this position since 2022. 

Knapp forces Gushue to a final stone, but a short tap-back gives the hometown team the win and Saskatchewan is eliminated from playoff contention.

After the Wednesday evening draw, the playoff picture is straightforward. The two Brads are locked in at first and second. A final win by Ontario and Jayden King puts them into the third playoff spot in Pool A. Should they lose to Knapp this (Thursday) afternoon and Quebec also lose their matchup with Tyler Smith’s PEI, it creates a four-way tie. 

In that case, King still advances based on their 2-1 record and the head-to-head win over Quebec last night. The one scenario in which Quebec reaches the playoff is with a win over PEI and a loss by Ontario to Saskatchewan. 

The Brads – Jacobs and Gushue – were playing games with limited impact. They want to win because total record could lead to hammer advantages later in the event, but a loss by either or both will not determine who wins Pool A. 

That will be decided in their head-to-head contest Thursday at 1:00 p.m. ET, 2:30 p.m. in Newfoundland. It will mark the 68th Battle of the Brads going back to the 2008 SunLife Financial Invitational Classic – a cashspiel in Thunder Bay, Ont. – won 6-3 by Jacobs. 

In total, Gushue leads 34-33 all-time but Jacobs is 5-1 in their last six contests dating back to the start of the 2024-25 season.

The winner will have hammer against the second-place team from Pool B on Friday afternoon.