Curling Canada announces pools for Montana's Brier

The pools for the Montana's Brier have been finalized following the conclusion of provincial playdowns on Sunday. 

The 18-team field will once again be broken down into two pools of nine where an eight-game round robin will commence. Following round-robin play, the top three teams from each pool will advance to the six-team playoff. 

Defending champion Brad Gushue as well as Brendan Bottcher and Matt Dunstone all pre-qualified for the Canadian men's curling championship thanks to their strong ranking from last season. Kevin Koe also earned a spot on Monday as the highest unqualified team following playdowns. 

There will be no tiebreakers at this year's Brier with head-to-head results followed by Last-Shot Draw rankings determining playoff spots if needed. 

In the playoffs, the first-place team in Pool A will take on the second-place team in Pool B and vice versa. The winners of these games will advance to the page playoff 1 vs. 2 game while the losers take on the third-place finishers for a spot in the 3 vs. 4 game. 

Competition from the Brandt Centre in Regina will begin on Friday, March 1 with the gold-medal game going Sunday, March 10. 

See below for the pools and team lineups: 

Pool A

1. Alberta-Bottcher, Brendan Bottcher (Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, Ben Hebert, Paul Webster; Calgary)

4. Manitoba-Dunstone, Matt Dunstone (B.J. Neufeld, Colton Lott, Ryan Harnden, Rob Gordon, Adam Kingsbury; Winnipeg)

5. Manitoba-Carruthers, Brad Jacobs (Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski, Connor Njegovan, Rob Meakin; Winnipeg)

8. Ontario, Scott Howard (David Mathers, Glenn Howard, Tim March, Mathew Camm; Penetanguishene)

9. British Columbia, Catlin Schneider (Alex Horvath [throws lead stones], Jason Ginter [throws third stones], Sterling Middleton [throws second stones], Bryan Miki, Jamie Schneider; Victoria)

12. New Brunswick, James Grattan (Joel Krats, Paul Dobson, Andy McCann, Drew Grattan, Dean Grattan; Oromocto)

13. Northern Ontario, Trevor Bonot (Mike McCarville, Jordan Potts, Kurtis Byrd, Al Hackner; Thunder Bay)

16. Newfoundland/Labrador, Andrew Symonds (Colin Thomas, Stephen Trickett, Alex Smith, Dave Noftall, Jeff Thomas; St. John’s)

17. Yukon, Thomas Scoffin (Trygg Jensen, Joe Wallingham, Evan Latos, Wade Scoffin, Kevin Patterson; Whitehorse)

Pool B

2. Team Canada, Brad Gushue (Mark Nichols, E.J. Harnden, Geoff Walker, Caleb Flaxey; St. John’s, N.L.)

3. Alberta-Koe, Kevin Koe (Tyler Tardi, Jacques Gauthier, Karrick Martin, Mike Libbus; Calgary)

6. Saskatchewan, Mike McEwen (Kevin Marsh [throws second stones], Colton Flasch [throws third stones], Daniel Marsh, Pat Simmons, Brent Laing; Saskatoon)

7. Alberta-Sluchinski, Aaron Sluchinski (Jeremy Harty, Kerr Drummond, Dylan Webster, Mickey Pendergast; Airdrie)

10. Quebec, Julien Tremblay (Jean-Michel Arsenault, Jesse Mullen, Philippe Brassard, Vincent Roberge, Eric Sylvain; Etchemin/Kenogami/Chicoutimi/Victoria

11. Nova Scotia, Matthew Manuel (Luke Saunders, Jeff Meagher, Nick Zachernuk, Kim Kelly; Halifax)

14. Prince Edward Island, Tyler Smith (Adam Cocks, Christopher Gallant, Paul Flemming; Crapaud)

15. Northwest Territories, Jamie Koe (Glen Kennedy, Cole Parsons, Shadrach McLeod, Stephen Robertson; Yellowknife)

18. Nunavut, Shane Latimer (Sheldon Wettig, Brady St. Louis, Christian Smitheram, Peter Van Strien; Iqaluit)