St. John’s, Newfoundland is set to host the 2026 Montana’s Brier. This will be the third time that St. John’s is hosting the Canadian National Men’s Curling Championship. The city previously hosted the tournament in 1972 and again in 2017.
In 1972, the Macdonald Brier champion was Orest Meleschuk of Saint Boniface, Manitoba. That year Manitoba won its third consecutive Brier and Meleschuk went on to win the 1972 World Men’s Curling Championship in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (at the time called the Air Canada Silver Broom). In the final, Canada defeated the United States 10-9 in 11 ends. The final is best known for the United States skip Bob LaBonte accidentally kicking a Canadian stone in the 10th end when he thought the United States had won the championship. After a measure, Canada had tied the game.
In 2017, the Tim Horton’s Brier put the entire province of Newfoundland and Labrador into a frenzy. That is because their hometown hero, Brad Gushue, took the title. Gushue, the gold medalist from the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, had a round robin record of nine wins and two losses. Their only losses came to Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories (8-4), and Mike McEwen of Manitoba (8-4). In the final, Gushue beat Team Canada’s Kevin Koe 7-6. Gushue went on to win his very first and only World Men’s Curling Championship. In the final in Edmonton, Alberta, Gushue defeated Sweden’s Niklas Edin 4-2.
