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Last weekend, Rachel Homan cruised to her fifth Scotties Tournament of Hearts title, beating Kerri Einarson 6-1 in the final in Thunder Bay, Ont. Homan’s Team Canada came in as the overwhelming favourites to repeat as Canadian women’s curling champions and were never seriously challenged, going a perfect 11-0 for the second straight year and winning their three playoff games by a combined score of 24-10.
With the Olympics less than a year away, it was exciting to see the reigning world champs reassert their status as the best women’s team on the planet and the clear favourites to win gold in Italy. Long live the Homan Empire! But it was also kind of boring.
That shouldn’t be a problem at the Brier, which begins Friday night in Kelowna, B.C. At least three teams — and maybe as many as five — have a legitimate shot at winning the Canadian men’s championship in what promises to be a wide-open tournament.
Let’s start with the defending champs. On the surface, Brad Gushue might look as dominant as Homan. He’s going for his record-breaking fourth consecutive Brier title and seventh of his career, which would move him three ahead of any other skip in history. The 44-year-old from St. John’s also owns an Olympic gold medal and a world title, and he’s taken silver at the world championships the last three years in a row.
WATCH | How curling ice is made for the Brier:
At Kelowna’s Prospera Place, what’s usually a hockey rink is being turned into four separate curling sheets for the 2025 Montana’s Brier. CBC’s Kimberly Davidson spoke with Curling Canada’s head ice technician to get the ins and outs of how good curling ice is made.
But Gushue’s rink is looking a little shaky right now. In October, he and longtime teammates Mark Nichols and Geoff Walker parted ways with second E.J. Harnden, who helped them to their last two national championships with his powerful sweeping. They replaced him with Brendan Bottcher, the only skip besides Gushue to win a Brier in the past five years. It seemed like a high-upside move, but since reaching the final of the Canadian Open in early November, the team is just 2-7 in the Grand Slams — including an 0-4 disaster in their most recent outing.
Gushue’s struggles have opened the door for Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone and Alberta’s Brad Jacobs, and maybe Northern Ontario’s John Epping and Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen, to possibly unseat him as Canadian champ.
They’re all in the top nine of statistical guru Ken Pomeroy’s global power ratings, and Dunstone and Jacobs have even overtaken Gushue, who’s fallen to fifth place after finishing No. 1 last year. The Brier betting odds are more or less in line, with Jacobs and Dunstone (in that order) clearly favoured over Gushue, who’s a concerning 8-14 against top-10 opponents this season.
Dunstone is third on Pomeroy’s list after making a savvy move: he picked up the discarded E.J. Harnden and paired the former Gushue second with his brother, lead Ryan Harnden, on the front end. With Colton Lott at third, the new lineup is 15-2 on the pro tour, including a trip to the semifinals at the last Slam.
Epping is seventh in the Pomeroy ratings, but his 5-10 record against top-10 teams is a red flag as he prepares for his first Brier appearance in four years. The ninth-ranked McEwen is 11-11 against top-10 opponents, and his run to the final at last year’s Brier in front of a partisan crowd in Regina included a 7-1 record in the round robin and playoff wins over Dunstone and Bottcher.
Among the other notables in the field is Alberta’s Kevin Koe, a four-time champion who appears to be fading out at age 50. Koe went 2-6 last year to miss the playoffs and is just 4-7 against top-10 teams this season.
The Brier winner will represent Canada at the upcoming world championship in Moose Jaw, Sask., and position themselves as an early favourite to win the Canadian Olympic trials in November. Here’s a look at all 18 teams in the field.
