The 2025 Montana's Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from February 28 to March 9 at Prospera Place in Kelowna, British Columbia. The winning Brad Jacobs rink will represent Canada at the 2025 World Men's Curling Championship at Temple Gardens Centre in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
Prior to the event, all the teams agreed not to use the new controversial 'black foam' brush heads, that are legal for competition. The new brush heads have firmer foam, which has caused debate among curlers, with the ensuing controversy being dubbed "Broomgate 2.0" or "foamgate", in reference to the brush head scandal from the 2015âÂÂ16 season.
In Draw 6, Alberta (Jacobs) defeated Northwest Territories 20âÂÂ2 setting a playoff-era record (since 1980) for most points scored in a game, breaking the record of 18 set in by Manitoba. This was also the first time a team scored 20 or more points in a game at the Brier since (which was also held in Kelowna) when Manitoba defeated British Columbia 22âÂÂ5.
Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue was the first team to clinch a playoff berth in their morning game on March 5, after defeating Alberta's Kevin Koe rink, 7âÂÂ6. Later in the day, Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen and Alberta's Brad Jacobs also earned playoff spots, after wins against Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter and Team Ontario (Sam Mooibroek), respectively. Kevin Koe, a former World Champion was eliminated from playoff competition for the second straight season.
On March 6, Reid Carruthers of Manitoba took the last playoff spot in Pool A, which had been dubbed the "Pool of Death" due to its depth. He had the evening off, but clinched after Manitoba's Matt Dunstone beat Gushue, which earned Dunstone first place in the pool, and gave Carruthers the tiebreaker advantage over Northern Ontario's John Epping who finished with the same record, as they had beaten them in pool play. Had Gushue won, Epping would have made the playoffs instead. In Pool B, Nova Scotia's Owen Purcell earned the final playoff sport after beating Ontario. It was the first time Nova Scotia made the playoffs since 2006.
In the 1/2 playoff qualifier games, Team ManitobaâÂÂDunstone took on SaskatchewanâÂÂMcEwen, while AlbertaâÂÂJacobs took on Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue. Dunstone beat McEwen 6âÂÂ5, sending his team to the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game, and relegating McEwen to play ManitobaâÂÂCarruthers in the 3/4 qualifier game. Meanwhile, Gushue defeated Jacobs 7âÂÂ4 in the other 1/2 game, in the "battle of the Brads", putting Team Canada in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff, and sending Jacobs into the 3/4 game against Nova Scotia's Owen Purcell rink. In the GushueâÂÂJacobs game, Jacobs missed an in-off in the seventh which could have resulted in multiple points, but instead resulted in a Gushue steal. It was Team Jacobs' first loss in the event.
In the 3/4 games, Team Carruthers sent McEwen packing, defeating them 6âÂÂ4, while Jacobs sent Team Nova Scotia home, beating them 10âÂÂ6. The turning point in the McEwenâÂÂCarruthers game came in the sixth end, when McEwen attempted a double takeout for three. He hit the first Carruthers rock too thin, resulting in a steal of two instead, an error McEwen later called "catastrophic", and a "monumental error in reading angles", as the shot for three may not have even been possible. The wins put Carruthers and Jacobs into the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game.
In the page 3 vs. 4 game, Jacobs defeated Carruthers, 6âÂÂ5. Carruthers blamed his loss on a few "half shots". Meanwhile, in the page 1 vs. 2 game, Dunstone beat Team Canada 7âÂÂ4. Team Canada skip Brad Gushue blamed his defeat on an "ad hoc" strategy, failing to "build many ends". The win put Jacobs into the semifinal to face Gushue, while Dunstone earned a bye into the final with his team's win. Carruthers was eliminated.
In the semifinal, Team Jacobs beat Canada's Brad Gushue rink 7âÂÂ5. Jacobs took a 3âÂÂ1 lead in the fifth when they scored three after Gushue ticked a guard on his first, and missed a hit and roll attempt on his last. This allowed Jacobs to make a hit for the three points. Gushue came back with a three-ender of his own in the eighth when he made a double takeout on his last stone of the end to take a 5âÂÂ4 lead. Jacobs responded by making a hit for two in the ninth to take a 6âÂÂ5 lead into the last end. The game came down to the last shots, with both teams facing time-clock pressure. On his last, Jacobs made a draw to the four-foot behind a guard to sit shot. To win, Gushue had to tap the rock back to score two points. On his final shot, Gushue threw the rock heavy, only grazing the Jacobs rock, giving up a steal and the game. The crowd gasped after the miss by the six-time Brier champion who was looking for his fourth straight championship. The win put Jacobs into the Brier final for the first time in 10 years.
In the final, Team Jacobs took on Team Dunstone in front of a sellout crowd of 5,483. Team Dunstone started with hammer, and blanked the first four ends. In the fifth, Jacobs missed a cross-house double which was followed up by Dunstone drawing for two to take a 2âÂÂ0 lead. In the sixth end, Dunstone made a tapback to sit two, forcing Jacobs to draw for a single. In the seventh, Dunstone jammed on a double attempt which gave Jacobs a steal to tie the game at two. The teams then blanked the eighth. In the ninth end, Dunstone flashed on his first shot, and would be forced to take a single point, to take a 3âÂÂ2 lead into the final end. In the 10th end, Team Dunstone tried to bunch up stones around the button in an attempt to force Jacobs to just one, but Team Jacobs made eight perfect shots in the end. On his first Jacobs made a soft tap to sit four, which Dunstone replied by making a freeze to hold Jacobs to sit just one. On Jacob's final stone, he picked out the frozen Dunstone rock to score three, and with it the Brier championship. It was Jacobs' first Brier title since , the fourth Brier championship for third Marc Kennedy, and the fifth title for second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert. It was the first time in Brier history that a team won four straight elimination games to win the event.
A total of eighteen teams qualified for the 2025 Brier. The fourteen Canadian curling member associations held playdowns to determine who represented their province or territory. Team Canada was represented by Team Brad Gushue, who won the 2024 Montana's Brier.
In a slight change in the qualification format from 2024, three teams in the field pre-qualified for the 2025 Brier based on their 2023âÂÂ24 Canadian Team Ranking Standings, which meant they bypassed the provincial qualifiers. These spots went to Teams Brad Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone. This was different from the 2024 qualification where two teams pre-qualified for the event with the final spot going to the highest ranked team on the CTRS standings following the conclusion of the provincial championships.
The teams were as follows:
As of February 10, 2025
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Final Round Robin Standings
All draw times are listed in Pacific Time ().
Friday, February 28, 6:30 pm
Saturday, March 1, 1:30 pm
Saturday, March 1, 6:30 pm
Sunday, March 2, 8:30 am
Sunday, March 2, 1:30 pm
Sunday, March 2, 6:30 pm
Monday, March 3, 8:30 am
Monday, March 3, 1:30 pm
Monday, March 3, 6:30 pm
Tuesday, March 4, 8:30 am
Tuesday, March 4, 1:30 pm
Tuesday, March 4, 6:30 pm
Wednesday, March 5, 8:30 am
Wednesday, March 5, 1:30 pm
Wednesday, March 5, 6:30 pm
Thursday, March 6, 8:30 am
Thursday, March 6, 1:30 pm
Thursday, March 6, 6:30 pm
Friday, March 7, 12:30 pm
Friday, March 7, 6:30 pm
Saturday, March 8, 6:30 pm
Saturday, March 8, 12:30 pm
Sunday, March 9, 11:00 am
Sunday, March 9, 5:00 pm
Round robin only; minimum 6 games played
Round robin only; minimum 10 shots thrown
The All-Star Teams were determined by a combination of media vote and playing percentages:
The Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award is presented to the player chosen by their fellow peers as the curler who best represented Harstone's high ideals of good sportsmanship, observance of the rules, exemplary conduct and curling ability.
The Hec Gervais Most Valuable Player Award was awarded to the top player in the playoff round by members of the media in the Montana's Brier.
The Paul McLean Award is presented by TSN to a media person who has made a lasting contribution behind the scenes to the betterment of the sport.
The Ray Kingsmith Award is presented to an individual who best demonstrates the commitment and dedication to the sport that made Kingsmith the consummate sport executive.
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