Big names highlight field as Brier gets ready to rock in St. John's

- The defending champs have a combined 12 Brier and nine world championship titles to their name and will be one of the favourites to add to that number in St. John's. 

- Team Koe have won three events this season, including taking home $75,500 at the Pinty's All-Star Curling Skins Game in Banff. 

- The foursome has struggled at some of the bigger events this season, missing the playoffs at the Canada Cup and Grand Slam events such as the Canadian Open, Tour Challenge and Masters. 

FINAL WORD: The defending Brier and world champions already have their Olympic Trials spot locked up, but will still be plenty motivated to add another trophy to the mantle. Like many rinks in this field, it's championship or bust for Team Koe. 

- Gushue has the opportunity to create some curling magic in his hometown of St. John's if he can figure out how to go all the way and win his first Canadian championship. A win in St. John's could very well be the highlight of Gushue's career. And that's saying a lot considering Gushue, alongside third Mark Nichols, won an Olympic gold medal in 2006. 

- The 36-year-old missed the first few months of the season with a hip and groin injury. Nichols stepped in as skipped and claimed the StuSells Toronto Tankard in October and also made the Canada Cup final where they fell to Winnipeg's Reid Carruthers. Gushue returned in December at The National on the Grand Slam circuit and had a good week, losing to Brad Jacobs in the semis. Team Gushue would go on to win the Canadian Open the following month. 

- Gushue's loss to Koe in the 2016 final was the second of his career as he lost to Glenn Howard in the 2007 Brier final in Hamilton. Gushue also has a Brier bronze to his name.  

Final Word: Winning a Brier in St. John's would be a career defining moment for Gushue and his crew. We know he'll have the home crowd support behind him, but likely many curling fans across Canada will be cheering for this skip to finally cross a Brier title off his list. It's going to be a long, difficult week for Team Gushue, but that won't matter if they're standing on top of the podium at the end of it. 

- After posting a perfect 11-0 round robin record at last year’s Brier, the 2014 Olympic champions fell to Gushue in the Page Playoff 1 vs. 2 game, then to Koe in the semi-final. They would beat Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen in the bronze medal game, but were disappointed with their playoff performance.

- Team Jacobs won The National on the Grand Slam circuit in their hometown of Sault Ste. Marie and made it to the final of the Pinty’s Skins Game where they fell to Koe. At the Canada Cup in Brandon, they were blown out by Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock in a tiebreaker.

- Before joining Team Jacobs in 2012, third Ryan Fry played with Gushue in St. John’s for five seasons.

Final Word: Team Jacobs will have a fire in their belly in St. John’s as their pursuit for a spot in the 2017 Canadian Olympic Trials continues.  

- Mike McEwen cleared a big hurdle in his curling career last season by qualifying for his first Canadian championship and will be there again this time around after defeating the red-hot Reid Carruthers’ rink in the Manitoba final.

- Team McEwen, who’ve played together for 11 straight seasons, fell in the bronze medal game to Team Jacobs at last year’s Brier. 

- They were victorious at the DEKALB Superspiel and the Ed Werenich Golden Wrench Classic this season on the WCT, but failed to qualify for the playoffs at the Canada Cup as well as The National.

Final Word: With the field being so stacked, Team McEwen should be in the mix, but will need to play close to, if not the best, curling of their lives to claim the title. 

- Morris has appeared in the last nine of 11 Briers, including five straight with three different teams. Morris, 38, reunited with Jim Cotter this season, two seasons after the pair made it to the final of both the Brier and Canadian Olympic Trials in 2013-14. Morris, a one-time Olympic and three-time Brier champ, played the last two seasons with Pat Simmons Calgary, winning a national title in 2015. Team Morris beat Team Dean Joanisse in the 2017 BC final.

- Morris’ crew have played in 11 WCT events this season, winning one, but making the semi-final stage or better in six of them.

- Morris calls the game, but Cotter throws skip stones for the rink from Vernon.

Final Word: Something about the Morris-Cotter combination seems to work, and work well. Don’t be surprised to see this BC crew in the playoffs.

- This will be Brier appearance No. 17 for the 54-year-old skip after he downed Wayne Tuck Jr. in the Ontario final. Howard finished with a 4-7 record at last year’s event.

- The rink from Penetanguishene, which includes Glenn’s son Scott and new second David Mathers, has played in just six WCT events this season, getting as far as the final of the Grand Slam’s Tour Challenge Tier 2 where they lost to Greg Balsdon. Before provincials, the Tier 2 in early November was the last event this foursome played in. 

- Howard has one of the most impressive resumes in the sport with four Brier and world championships, but is still looking to cross off that last curling accomplishment – Olympic gold.

Final Word: Team Howard will be in tough to make the playoffs against such a superb field, but anything is possible with arguably the greatest skip in history on your side. 

- Quebec skip Jean-Michel Ménard is no stranger to the Brier as he'll make his fifth straight and 11th overall appearance at the national championship. Menard finished with a 4-7 record last year in Ottawa. 

- Team Menard won the WFG Jim Sullivan Curling Classic in early December, their only win on the World Curling Tour this season.

-  Menard, 41, won the 2006 Brier in Regina and finished second a few weeks later at the world championship in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Final Word: Team Menard will look to improve on their record from last season, but are a long shot to make the playoffs.

- This will be the first Brier appearance for the 25-year-old from Edmonton after he led his foursome to a victory over Team Ted Appelman in the Alberta final.

- Two-time national champion Pat Simmons played vice for the rink to start the season, but after some early struggles the team went a different direction and parted ways with Simmons. Darren Moulding will play third in St. John’s.

- Out of four Grand Slam events played this season, Team Bottcher has only made the playoffs once, losing to Niklas Edin in the quarters at the Canadian Open.

Final Word: Bottcher is a good, young skip who should make numerous Brier appearances in his career. A .500 rink seems realistic in 2017, but the playoffs probably won't happen quite yet. 

- This will be Adam Casey’s sixth straight appearance at the Brier. He went to the Canadian championship as a member of Gushue’s St. John’s rink from 2012 to 2014 before skipping his own foursome in Prince Edward Island, qualifying for the Brier in both 2015 and 2016. This summer, Casey moved west to Regina and is back to the dance after upsetting three-time defending provincial champion Steve Laycock in the Saskatchewan final.

- Team Casey’s best finish on the WCT this season came at the Ed Werenich Golden Wrench Classic where they lost to McEwen in the final.

- Casey, as a skip for PEI, finished with a 5-6 record in 2015 and a 2-9 record last year at the Brier, putting the Maritime province in the pre-qualifying round in St. John’s.

Final Word: Casey has plenty of Brier experience for a 27-year-old, but still probably doesn’t have the team to qualify for the playoffs in such a tough field.  

- This will be the ninth straight year Team Koe has represented the Northwest Territories at the Brier. The rink from Yellowknife finished with a 3-8 record at last year's events. 

- Team Koe have played in two WCT events this season, making the quarter-final stage each time. 

Final Word: Team Koe has become a regular at the Canadian championship over the years and his clash against this brother, Kevin Koe, of Team Canada will be one to look forward to. 

- Team Kennedy defeated Team Charlie Sullivan in the provincial final to punch their second straight ticket to the Brier. Kennedy finished with a 3-8 record last year in the nation's capital. 

- The foursome from Moncton has played in two WCT events this season, making the quarter-final and semi-final stages. 

FINAL WORD: Like in 2016, Team Kennedy will be in tough to get to the .500 mark in St. John's, but could play spoiler by week's end if they can upset a few teams vying for playoff spots. 

- Team Murphy fell to Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories in last year's pre-qualifier final. Murphy edged Stuart Thompson in the Nova Scotia final to qualify for this year's tournament.

- Team Murphy have played in a solid six WCT events in 2016-17, making the playoffs in four of them and winning the Dave Jones Mayflower Cash Spiel in Halifax. 

Final Word: Team Murphy will be the favourites in the pre-qualifier and should be extra motivated to get back to the main draw after missing out last year in Ottawa.

- Lead Robbie Doherty will return to the Brier this year as a representative of PEI, this time with a new skip after Eddie MacKenzie took over for the Saskatchewan-bound Adam Casey this summer. Team Casey finished last at the 2016 Brier, meaning PEI must win the pre-qualifier round to play during the week.

- The foursome has played in only one WCT event this season.

Final Word: Team MacKenzie of Charlottetown have had a very limited schedule in 2016-17, but still have a good chance of making the main draw if they can find a way to upset Nova Scotia's Team Murphy. 

- This will be the first Canadian championship for the 42-year-old Kochan.

- Last year’s representative, Bob Smallwood, went 1-2 in the pre-qualifier. Jon Solberg is the fourth for Team Kochan and played for Smallwood’s rink in 2016.

Final Word: Yukon will be in tough to make it out of the pre-qualifier.

- Nunavut recruited 61-year-old Jim Nix from Nova Scotia to skip their squad at this year’s Brier.

- Team Wade Kingdon represented Nunavut at the Brier for the first time in its history last season. They went 0-3 in the pre-qualifier.

Final Word: With Nix having years of experience, Team Nunavut should keep games a little closer this season, but making it out of relegation is still very much of a long shot.