Decorated curler Brad Gushue braces for big Brier feelings in his hometown

Curling drama didn’t end with the Olympic Games.

The Montana’s Brier, starting Friday in his hometown of St. John’s, N.L., will be the last for decorated skip Brad Gushue.

The 45-year-old is a six-time Canadian champion, a world champion and an Olympic gold and bronze medallist.

Gushue’s first Brier victory in St. John’s in 2017 wasn’t just electric. It also launched his team to more success in the ensuing years.

So the 2026 Brier will also be packed with emotion for Gushue.

“I want to perform well in front of everybody at home, and I also don’t want to cry every single game,” Gushue said. “That’s where my head is at right now is trying to make sure I don’t do that.

“Just the finality of it now, if we don’t win, this is the last event, there’s going to be some emotions. I believe the fans are going to show their appreciation at times and that’s going get me pretty emotional too.”

The defending champions, skipped by Brad Jacobs, play their first game Friday at Mary Brown’s Centre less than a week after beating Great Britain for Olympic gold in Cortina, Italy.

Third Marc Kennedy inspired multiple memes on social media early in the Milan Cortina Games after his profanity-laced response to Swedish third Oskar Eriksson’s contention that the Canadian “double-touched” a delivered stone.

Gushue opens Friday against Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard, while Jacobs starts against Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith in the 18-team field.

Other storylines in St. John’s include Ontario’s Jayden King, who will be the first Black man to skip a team. King’s third Dylan Niepage is deaf and wears cochlear implants.

P.E.I.’s Smith will play a three-man team as they did in their provincial championship.

The top three teams in each pool of nine advance to the playoffs. The victor on March 8 will represent Canada in the men’s world championship from March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah.

“The storybook ending is us winning and us walking off into the sunset as a team, but the reality is if we win, we have to go play at the worlds in three weeks,” Gushue said.

“When people say, do you want to finish up in St. John’s, I have to say no because I don’t want to walk out losing my last game. I want to win that last one and finish on a high.”

Gushue won his six national titles, world title and Olympic bronze with his third of 25 years, Mark Nichols, and second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker.

Gallant joined the Jacobs lineup two years ago. It’s a tight turnaround between winning Olympic gold and the Brier, but Gallant has previous experience with the compressed timeline.

After earning Olympic bronze in Beijing, Gushue won the Brier in Lethbridge, Alta., three weeks later in 2022.

“I’ve been really looking forward to this Brier. Everybody in the curling world has been looking forward to this Brier,” Gallant said. “It was a huge moment in my career, winning the first Brier in St. John’s with Team Gushue nearly 10 years ago.

“We’re going to be pretty happy when we get to St. John’s, just coming off of this week and riding this high. I honestly can’t wait to get started, as crazy as that sounds coming off of this, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Gushue, Nichols, Russ Howard and Jamie Korab won Canada’s first Olympic gold medal in men’s curling two decades ago in Turin, Italy.

The Brier will be as much a swirl of emotions for Nichols of Labrador City as it is for his skip.

“All the feelings,” Nichols said. “Even when we think back to 2017, we did all the planning we could, and nothing could prepare us for what it would feel like on the ice in front of our fans.

“It’s going to be very similar now. We’ve experienced it before, but knowing everything else that’s going on with it being the last go together as a team and everything we’ve accomplished, all the people that are coming out to see Brad for the last time in competitive fours anyway, I don’t think we can prepare for it.

“If it’s emotional, it’s emotional. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It just shows that we care about what we’ve done and we care about doing our best for our fans and our families.”

Gushue now braces for the big feelings of his Brier swan song, while also trying to win it and extend his career a little longer.

“I said back in 2017, the week that we had there was one of the most amazing weeks of my life, but I’d never wanted to do it again,” Gushue said.

“Here we are nine years later, doing it again, but I’m going to try and enjoy it as much as I can.”

— With files from Gregory Strong

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press