A team-by-team look at the field for the Canadian men’s curling championship March 1-10 in Regina. Teams listed according to seeding in pools, and team members from skip to lead
POOL A
Brendan Bottcher – Alberta
Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, Ben Hebert
The Glencoe Club, Calgary
Earned early entry to 2024 Brier under new Curling Canada entry criteria. Ranked No. 2 among Canadian men’s teams behind defending Brier champion and No. 1 Brad Gushue at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Matt Dunstone – Manitoba
B.J. Neufeld, Colton Lott, Ryan Harnden
Fort Rouge Curling Club, Winnipeg.
Same early entry as Bottcher. Ranked No. 3 at the end of 2022-23 season. Lost 7-5 in last year’s Brier final to Gushue.
Reid Carruthers – Manitoba champion
Brad Jacobs, Derek Samagalski, Connor Njegovan
Granite Curling Club, Winnipeg
Longtime Northern Ontario champion Jacobs and Carruthers switched positions in December, so Jacobs will skip Manitoba for the first time in his career that includes Canadian, world and Olympic titles.
Scott Howard – Ontario champion
David Mathers, Tim March, Mathew Camm
Penatanguishene Curling Club
Musical chairs. What was Glenn Howard’s team is now son Scott’s as dad is sidelined with a surgically repaired knee. Glenn will be team’s alternate in Regina. Scott won Ontario as a three-man team and added Camm for the Brier.
Catlin Schneider – British Columbia champion
Jason Ginter, Sterling Middleton, Alex Horvath
Victoria Curling Club
Schneider reached the playoffs of the 2022 Brier in Lethbridge, Alta., playing third for Colton Flasch. Has appeared in four Briers for both Saskatchewan and B.C. Middleton is a two-time world junior champion.
James Grattan – New Brunswick champion
Joel Krats, Paul Dobson, Andy McCann
Gage Golf and Curling Club, Oromocto
Grattan represents New Brunswick for the 16th time in his career. His teams finished third in 1997 and 2002.
Trevor Bonot – Northern Ontario champions
Mike McCarville, Jordan Potts, Kurtis Byrd
Fort William Curling Club, Thunder Bay
Coached by two-time world champion Al Hackner, Bonot makes his Brier debut. McCarville is the husband of Krista McCarville, who skipped a team at this year’s national women’s championships.
Andrew Symonds – Newfoundland and Labrador champions
Colin Thomas, Stephen Trickett, Alex Smith
RE/MAX Centre, St. John’s Curling Club.
Brad Gushue a perennial pre-qualifier for the Brier as defending champion has opened the doors for a second N.L. team. Symonds went 0-7 in 2019. Lead Alex Smith’s 35 years between Brier appearances in 1989 and 2024 is a record.
Thomas Scoffin – Yukon
Trygg Jensen, Joe Wallingham, Evan Latos
Whitehorse Curling Club
Yukon brings considerable Brier experience. This team will compete in its third straight Brier with Scoffin skipping for a fourth time in his career. His sister Bayly was Yukon’s skip at this year’s national women’s championship.
POOL B
Brad Gushue – Canada
Mark Nichols, E.J. Harnden, Geoff Walker
St. John’s Curling Club
A sixth title for Gushue, Nichols and Walker would tie Randy Ferbey’s record for the most. Walker is from Alberta and Harnden from Ontario. Curling Canada changed its residency rules in April 2023 for defending champions and pre-qualified teams, who are no longer required to have three of four members either born in, or living in, the same province or territory.
Kevin Koe – Alberta
Tyler Tardi, Jacques Gauthier, Karrick Martin
The Glencoe Club, Calgary
Lost the Alberta final to Aaron Sluchinski, but gained entry as the highest-ranked, non-qualified team at No. 3 in Canada. Koe is a four-time Brier champ. Tardi is a two-time world junior champion and his cousin Gauthier is the son of broadcaster and former national women’s champion Cathy Gauthier.
Mike McEwen – Saskatchewan
Kevin Marsh, Colton Flasch, Daniel Marsh
Nutana Curling Club, Saskatoon
Host province skipped by Mike McEwen, who represented Manitoba in seven Briers as well as Ontario last year. Flasch skipped a team that reached the 2022 final four in Lethbridge, Alta., where he lost to Gushue.
Aaron Sluchinski – Alberta champions
Jeremy Harty, Kerr Drummond, Dylan Webster
Airdrie Curling Club
Brier rookies beat four-time champ Kevin Koe twice in provincial championship playoffs to represent Alberta for the first time. Ranked No. 7 in Canada.
Julien Tremblay – Quebec champions
Jean-Michel Arsenault, Jesse Mullen, Philippe Brassard
Etchemin, Kenogami, Chicoutimi and Victoria curling clubs
All making their Brier debuts. Tremblay, Arsenault and Mullen competed in the 2021 pre-Olympic trials and have previous national junior experience.
Matthew Manuel – Nova Scotia champions
Luke Saunders, Jeff Meagher, Nick Zachernuk
The team went 3-5 in its Brier debut in London, Ont., last year. Saunders is the son of six-time Canadian women’s champion Colleen Jones. The team is coached by Jones’ former teammate Kim Kelly, who shared in five of those titles.
Tyler Smith – Prince Edward Island champions
Adam Cocks, Christopher Gallant, Ed White
Smith, Cocks and White return for a third straight Brier. Gallant’s brother is Brett, who was a Canadian and world champion with Gushue now curling for Bottcher.
Jamie Koe – Northwest Territories champion
Glen Kennedy, Cole Parsons, Shadrach McLeod
Yellowknife Curling Club
Koe, brother of Kevin, skips N.W.T. a 17th time. Went 7-4 in Saskatoon in 2012 to become the first territories’ skip to make the playoffs and finished fourth.
Shane Latimer – Nunavut champion
Sheldon Wettig, Brady St. Louis, Christian Smitheram
Iqaluit Curling Club
Nunavut didn’t enter the national women’s championship, but will be represented at the Brier by a rookie skip and three teammates with previous Brier experience.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 29, 2023.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
