The roar is back.
The 2026 Montana's Brier gets underway this weekend in St. John's — and like it always does, this event feels bigger than a curling bonspiel.
It feels like history.
For hometown skip Brad Gushue, this one carries extra weight. It’s his final Brier on home ice.
Gushue has been the face of Canadian men’s curling for nearly two decades. Gold medals. Brier titles. World championships. And now, one last run in front of the Newfoundland fans who have backed him from day one.
You don’t often get storylines this clean in sport.
But while the spotlight will naturally follow Gushue, Saskatchewan fans are watching with a different kind of hunger.
It has been 46 years since a Saskatchewan rink hoisted the Brier Tankard. Nineteen eighty. That drought has lingered through generations of elite teams and near-misses.
This year, two Saskatchewan rinks arrive with legitimate belief.
Mike McEwen brings veteran experience and championship pedigree. He’s been on this stage. He understands the grind of a Brier week — the tight margins, the pressure shots, the emotional swings.
And Kelly Knapp represents the hunger of a province desperate to see that drought end. Saskatchewan curling isn’t short on tradition. It’s short on recent banners.
That’s the difference.
The Brier isn’t just about skill. It’s about managing a week. Managing nerves. Managing expectation. In a building that will lean heavily toward Gushue, Saskatchewan’s rinks will need to embrace the underdog role and control what they can.
This event also marks the end of another Olympic cycle. For some, it may be the final push toward 2026 Olympic dreams. For others, it’s the closing of a competitive chapter before the next rebuild begins.
That’s what makes the Brier special. It’s not just a championship — it’s a crossroads.
For Gushue, it’s a farewell tour on home ice.
For Saskatchewan, it’s another opportunity to rewrite a 46-year headline.
And for curling fans across the country, it’s a reminder that few events in Canadian sport blend tradition, pressure, and pride quite like this one.
The Tankard is back on the line.
And the stories are already writing themselves.
