Gushue tops Carruthers to stay unbeaten at Brier

KELOWNA, B.C. - Curling fans can be forgiven for feeling like they need a program at this year's Montana's Brier. Roster changes have surprisingly been a constant in the final full season before the Olympics. 

"It's shocking, absolutely shocking," said broadcaster Russ Howard, who in his playing days was a late addition to the Brad Gushue team that won Olympic gold in 2006. 

Manitoba teams were involved in some of the more notable moves in recent months. B.J. Neufeld joined skip Reid Carruthers after being cut by Matt Dunstone, who added former Gushue second E.J. Harnden to his top-ranked lineup. 

Neufeld, who said he has circled the Wednesday matchup between the provincial foes on his calendar, has settled in nicely with Carruthers, who split a pair of games on Monday, beating  New Brunswick's James Grattan 6-4 before losing 7-3 to defending champion Brad Gushue. Team Canada leads Pool A 4-0, while Carruthers and Northern Ontario's John Epping are both 4-1.

"I wasn't done competing and I wanted to get back out as soon as possible," Neufeld said. "Motivation is very high."

Harnden, meanwhile, was replaced by longtime skip Brendan Bottcher on Gushue's side, which is looking to win a record fourth straight Brier.

Like Howard did with the St. John's, N.L.-based rink some two decades earlier, Bottcher moved to second and has taken over for vice Mark Nichols in calling Gushue's stones in the house.

"I think it's brilliant," Howard said. "When I first heard the news that he would be on the team, I thought that's what the (plan) would be."

Gushue, Nichols, Bottcher and lead Geoff Walker have endured a so-so season. Bottcher held the broom at the end of a winless bonspiel in January and they've had success so far at Prospera Place.

"Not that I see the game any differently than Mark, but we're just looking for that little spark that's going to send us over the edge and all of the sudden it's going to be easy," Bottcher said.

Curling lineup changes happen frequently in the off-season, most notably when an Olympic cycle is complete and players look to the next quadrennial.

The volume of midseason roster moves by high-profile teams is most unusual. And it doesn't always work out. 

Kevin Koe cut Jacques Gauthier this season and brought in Aaron Sluchinski. The team has posted middling results since and dropped three games in a row here before finally beating British Columbia's Cameron de Jong 8-5 and then followed with a 10-2 win over winless Shane Latimer in the evening draw.

Other teams — including those skipped by contenders like Alberta's Brad Jacobs (3-0), Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen (4-0) and Northern Ontario's Epping (4-1) — have had a full season together and are rolling in the early going.

Epping made a game-winning runback for an 8-7 win over Dunstone, who fell to 3-1. Epping then beat winless B-C 8-6. Jacobs dumped Prince Edward Island's Tyler Smith 10-3 and McEwen defeated Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard 9-4. 

In other results, Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter posted an 8-2 win over Aaron Bartling of the Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador's Ty Dilello topped Nunavut's Shane Latimer 10-6. 

Ontario's Sam Mooibroek beat Yukon's Thomas Scoffin 9-3.

Also on Monday night, Grattan edged Diello 5-4 in an extra end in a battle of 1-2 teams.

Unlike other years in the Olympic quadrennial, the goal is to peak twice in one calendar year: once this month and again in November at the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials. 

The winner of that event will wear Canadian colours at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in Italy in February.

Round-robin play continues at the Brier through Thursday night and the Page playoffs are set for the weekend. 

The national champion will represent Canada at the March 29-April 6 BKT world men's curling championship in Moose Jaw, Sask.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2025.