Mike Fournier’s view of Kelowna 2025

That was a fun Brier.

For Brad Jacobs, his team will represent Canada and all will be as expected.

But for Matt Dunstone, this one will hurt for a long time.

I was at the Brier final at London in 2023, where Dunstone narrowly lost to Brad Gushue, and it was very hard to blame him for anything.

That game felt like a 50-50 proposition, and it came down to the final few shots, but Matt would likely have few reasons to feel like he let it slip away.

This was not the case this year. Dunstone and his team were thoroughly in control of the 2025 championship final, up one with hammer playing seven. But more importantly, they had momentum, and were outplaying Jacobs every end.

Then came the seventh end. Matt tried a shot for two that he thought was there—and it really wasn’t. He tried a thin double that looked like he hit about as this as could be expected, and it still jammed Jacobs’ rock smack on the button for the steal.

I honestly wonder if these guys are too used to the ridiculously bouncy rocks they play with at the Grand Slams. The Brier stones are a bit more “normal” and, to be frank, it makes for more fun games.

And it meant Jacobs’ rock was not leaving the button.

Then came the eighth end. I should not be second guessing Matt Dunstone, but I liked his chances of playing the eighth and trying to score, instead of the blank. I’m not saying to go all out—but would a corner guard have killed him?

Maybe that’s why was watching on television and he was in the Brier final, but it just felt that it played into Jacobs’ hands. Also, given that Jacobs started that end with only nine minutes remaining, it would have added some pressure on him.

Team Dunstone also needed something to keep the momentum going.

Dunstone was forced in nine, after a disastrous flash on his first stone. Then the 10th end felt like an inevitability after E.J. Harnden’s freeze lined up the double kill.

In the end, Jacobs had two relatively easy shots to win his second Brier.

It provided a great end game for fans of the sport. Games like that offer curling at its best; tricky shotmaking under mountains of pressure.

Some other thoughts on the week:

• I felt for Mike McEwen, who wins the Homer Simpson “D’oh” award for his attempted double takeout for three that resulted in a steal of two. I’m still shocked Mike would misread angles that disastrously, and it cost him dearly. 

I thought for sure he and his guys would be in the final four.

• I’m shocked that Gushue missed that shot against Jacobs to win the semifinal. Shocked. He makes that shot in his sleep. Clearly, he was affected by the ticking time clock behind him, again unusual for Brad.

I wonder if the Bottcher dynamic introduced some additional discussion time over the course of 10 ends.

• I enjoyed the Caruthers run. Reid was definitely on, and he looks like the coolest skip under pressure in the field. The addition of B.J. Neufeld added a ton of experience and skill to the team.

It will be interesting to see if they stick together and can build off the momentum.

• I don’t love the format. The Friday still feels dumb to me. And the lack of tiebreakers still feels wrong to the Brier puritan in me. But anyone in the next few days who starts a statement by saying “All we need to do to fix the Brier is…” will likely be full of shit.

I may have more to say about that later this week.

• I always said the sweetest sound of my life was the sound of the bagpipes at the start of the Brier. Call me old fashioned, but the memory of it at Regina in 2018 still lives in my head.

I was very disappointed to hear that there are no more bagpipes at the Brier. I’m not sure when they killed that tradition (might have happened during COVID) but seems like a shame to me.

As a substitute, I give you Quebec lead J.F. Trepanier’s rendition of Scotland the Brave from the 2018 Brier (click to play the video below).

• The usual haters will say the blank ends throughout the first four ends of the final is a sign of boring game. However, those blanks—much like those in the women’s STOH final—were not easy to execute. There were rocks in play, and the ends were filled with tension.

Maybe the as yet unnamed “Lose Hammer After Two Consecutive Blanks” rule needs to be brought into the game. It would just force some scores of one instead of blanks.

• It was a great week for Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell, who finished at 5-3 and made the playoffs. But he needs to slide with a broom that doesn’t look like the Nimbus 2000, or we will notice that he looks a lot like Harry Potter on his way to a Quidditch match.