ST. JOHN’S — Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen might not have hit the win column on Wednesday at the Montana’s Brier, but he still finds himself in the playoff hunt just the same.
McEwen and his Saskatoon Nutana foursome of third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh, lead Daniel Marsh, alternate Brent Laing and coach Pat Simmons dropped a 9-4 decision to Manitoba’s Braden Calvert in their lone game at the Canadian men’s curling championship and as a result are in third place in Pool B heading into the final day of round robin competition.
The top three teams from each pool advance to the playoffs, meaning with a win in his final game on Thursday night, McEwen will have a chance at landing one of those spots.
He could have found himself in an even more comfortable position with a win over Calvert, but a steady showing by the Manitoba foursome saw that it wasn't to be. Calvert picked up deuces in the second, fourth and sixth ends to lead 6-2 at that point in the game, and immediately after McEwen picked up his first deuce, scored three in the eighth to bring things to an early end.
Other results in the lone Pool B draw on Wednesday afternoon saw Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone defeat Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin 6-5, B.C.’s Kody Tanaka roll to an 8-3 win over Northwest Territories’ Jamie Koe and Alberta’s Kevin Koe score four in the seventh on his way to an 8-2 win over Northern Ontario’s Sandy MacEwan.
Standings in Pool B after 15 draws are as follows:
Alberta (Koe) 6-0
Manitoba (Dunstone) 5-1
Saskatchewan (McEwen) 5-2
Manitoba (Calvert) 4-2
New Brunswick (Grattan) 3-3
Northern Ontario (MacEwan) 2-4
Yukon (Scoffin) 1-5
British Columbia (Tanaka) 1-5
Northwest Territories (Koe) 1-6
McEwen closes out his round robin during the 5 p.m. draw Thursday against Dunstone.
The news wasn’t as good for Saskatchewan’s Kelly Knapp, as they were eliminated from playoff contention after splitting their two Pool A games on Wednesday.
Knapp and his Regina Highland rink of third Brennen Jones, second Dustin Kidby, lead Mat Ring, alternate Trent Knapp and coach Brian McCusker faced both home province teams, defeating Newfoundland’s Nathan Young 10-7 in the morning draw before falling 6-5 to hometown favourite Brad Gushue in the evening draw.
Knapp got into a bit of trouble early against Young, giving up three in the third and another three in the sixth to trail 6-3. A deuce in the seventh closed ground, though, and a steal of three in the eighth would suddenly see Knapp holding an 8-6 lead. Young got back within one in the ninth, but Knapp scored a pair in the final end to put things away.
Things couldn’t have been closer against Gushue, with a deuce in the fifth giving Gushue a 4-3 lead. Knapp blanked the sixth before taking one in the seventh, and the teams would exchange single points the rest of the way until Gushue used the hammer to get his single point in the 10th for the win.
Other action from the morning draw saw Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard put up three four enders on his way to a 16-6 win over Nunavut’s Derek Samagalski, Canada’s Brad Jacobs score four in the eighth to defeat Nova Scotia’s Kendal Thompson 10-4 and Gushue score five in the fourth on his way to a 12-3 win over P.E.I.’s Tyler Smith.
The evening draw saw Jacobs defeat Young 10-7, Smith get past Thompson 9-3 and Ontario’s Jayden King take an 8-7 win over Menard.
Standings in Pool A through 15 draws are as follows:
Canada (Jacobs) 7-0
Newfoundland (Gushue) 7-0
Ontario (King) 4-3
Quebec (Menard) 4-3
Saskatchewan (Knapp) 3-4
Prince Edward Island (Smith) 3-4
Newfoundland (Young) 3-5
Nova Scotia (Thompson) 1-6
Nunavut (Samagalski) 0-7
Knapp plays his final game at the 2026 Brier during the 12 p.m. draw against Ontario’s King.
The first two rounds of the playoffs take place on Friday at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., followed by the Page Playoff 1-2 game at 11 a.m. and Page 3-4 game at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Things wrap up on championship Sunday with the semifinal at 11 a.m. and gold medal game at 5 p.m.
You can follow along with all the scores from the week at www.curling.ca.
