Gushue Ends Grand Slam Curling Career with “Incalculable” Winnings

Brad Gushue has played his final Grand Slam tournament before retirement, and will not compete in next month’s finale of the Grand Slam of Curling series.

Gushue and teammates Mark Nichols, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker lost 9-4 on Saturday night to U.S. veteran John Shuster in the quarterfinal round of the Canadian Open in Saskatoon, his final match in the series.

He did not qualify for the season-ending Players’ Championship in Steinbach, Man. Jan. 6-11 and there will be no sponsor’s exemption.

Gushue announced his retirement from curling back in September, which takes effect after the current 2025-26 season. He declined to participate in the upcoming professional Rock League when approached earlier this year – he says an initial offer “changed” some weeks later – which means his final appearance on curling ice will take place in March at the Brier in St. John’s, and possibly the world men’s championship at Ogden, UT.

Team Gushue’s run to the Canadian Open quarterfinals equalled their best effort this season, following a QF performance at the Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alta. Their Saskatoon run came just a couple of weeks after a crushing fourth-place finish at the Olympic Trials in Halifax.

The squad purposefully missed the third Slam of the season at Lake Tahoe, NV and competed over the previous weekend in Europe. Their holiday break – at least for their skip – will run right through to the Brier in March, as Team Gushue holds a pre-qualified Brier berth.

The total amount of Gushue’s career winnings on the World Curling Tour – which includes no less than 15 title victories in the Slam series – is incalculable, mainly due to The Curling News halting tabulation of our “Gold Tail” money list rankings with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Gushue won his first Slam title in 2009, with his first Slam paycheque coming on home ice back in 2005, when he lost the Players’ Championship final to Kevin Martin.

Fifteen Slam victories alone over a 16-year span assumes a range of between $325,000 and $500,000 in total prize purse – split with his three teammates, of course.

There’s also his three Pinty’s Cup/Rogers Cup wins; that now-defunct Slam series bonus payout totalled another $225,000.

There’s yet another big glob of cash scored from Gushue’s career Slam playoff appearances and game wins that didn’t result in championship titles. 

He earned 57 additional paycheques – for 14 finals, 19 semifinals and 24 quarterfinals – worth another estimated $490,000… and that doesn’t include payouts of $4,000 for each single game win. 

Like we said… incalculable.

None of that math touches on his legion of fans, the subsequent attendance boosts at World Curling Tour events and what his legacy will mean for winter sport in his home province of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Gushue, whose 15 Slam titles ranks him second all-time behind Martin (18), also holds the record for the longest streak of playoff appearances – 27 straight events between 2018 and 2023. 

“To be honest, I didn’t even think I’d be playing in the Slams for 25 years,” Gushue told Sportsnet after his final Slam match.

“(The Slams) really helped me become the curler I am. I think these were the events you look forward to every year because you're playing on great ice against great teams, (in) great venues, and we’ve had some incredible crowds over the years, too. 

“I always looked forward to the Slams.” 

The overall leaders in Grand Slam titles are Ottawa skip Rachel Homan and her longtime teammate Emma Miskew; they both have 20 career crowns.

Team Homan was bounced in yesterday’s women’s quarterfinal round in Saskatoon by Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa, who will battle Swiss ace Silvana Tirinzoni in Sunday’s final.

The men’s final features Scotland’s Ross Whyte against Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller, marking the first time in the history of the series that no Canadian team appeared in the final four (semifinals) of a Grand Slam championship.