Ontario's Mooibroek, Nova Scotia's Purcell to face off for Brier playoff spot

KELOWNA, B.C. - Ontario's Sam Mooibroek and Nova Scotia's Owen Purcell were set to meet for a playoff spot at the Montana's Brier on Thursday night after posting victories in the morning draw at Prospera Place. 

Mooibroek rebounded from a lopsided 11-5 loss to Alberta's Brad Jacobs a day earlier with a convincing 8-4 victory over Prince Edward Island's Tyler Smith.

Ontario scored three points in the sixth end and added a pair of steals to ice the win. Purcell kept pace with a 7-4 win over Aaron Bartling of the Northwest Territories. 

Mooibroek and Purcell were tied for third in Pool B at 4-3 going into a head-to-head showdown in the round-robin finale. The top three teams from each pool advance to the playoffs.

In Pool A, defending champion Brad Gushue (7-0) was set to meet Manitoba's Matt Dunstone (6-1) in the afternoon with first place in the nine-team group on the line. 

Manitoba's Reid Carruthers (6-2) and Northern Ontario's John Epping (5-2) remained in the playoff hunt entering Draw 17. Epping was scheduled to play Nunavut's Shane Latimer (0-7).

In other early results, Jacobs beat Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard 6-4 and Yukon's Thomas Scoffin upset Saskatchewan's Ryan Kleiter 8-6.

Jacobs (7-0) moved into a tie for first place in Pool B with Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen (7-0), who was idle Thursday morning. The veteran skips were to meet in the evening draw with the top seed in the pool on the line.

Kleiter, meanwhile, fell to 3-4 and was eliminated from playoff contention. Scoffin improved to 3-4.

Qualification games were scheduled for Friday ahead of the Page playoffs on the weekend. The final will be played Sunday night.

The winner will represent Canada at the BKT world men's curling championship starting March 29 in Moose Jaw, Sask.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.