Team Carruthers adds Jacobs for remainder of Grand Slam season

Reid Carruthers has found a replacement for Jason Gunnlaugson for some of the remaining major events of the 2022-23 season, but not all. 

Team Carruthers announced on Boxing Day that Olympic and Brier champion Brad Jacobs will join the squad for the remainder of the Grand Slam season, including the Canadian Open in January as well as the season-ending Players' Championship and Champions Cup in the spring, which are contingent on qualification. 

However, Jacobs, who announced he was taking a break from curling at the conclusion of last season, won't play with Team Carruthers at the Manitoba playdowns in February as he's already announced he will play with a new foursome in the Northern Ontario playdowns at the end of January. Jacobs, a 37-year-old, would also be ineligible to play with Team Carruthers at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier in London, meaning Carruthers and company will still need to find a replacement for provincials if they wish to have a four-person team. 

To the surprise of many, Carruthers and Gunnlaugson mutually agreed to part ways earlier this month after some promising early results in their first year as a foursome, highlighted by a win at the PointsBet Invitational in September. 

Jacobs will play vice for Team Carruthers, a new position for the native of Sault Ste. Marie after skipping teams since 2008, winning the Canadian championship in 2013, Olympic gold in 2014 as well as seven Grand Slam titles. Jacobs has also made 14 Brier appearances in his career.