Mid-season lineup moves the norm as teams try to peak at Brier and trials

Gregory Strong · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 03, 2025 3:23 PM EST | Last Updated: March 4

Curling fans tin beryllium forgiven for feeling similar they request a programme astatine this year's Montana's Brier successful Kelowna. Roster changes person amazingly been a changeless successful the last afloat play earlier the Olympics.

"It's shocking, perfectly shocking," said broadcaster Russ Howard, who successful his playing days was a precocious summation to the Brad Gushue squad that won Olympic golden successful 2006.

Manitoba teams were progressive successful immoderate of the much notable moves successful caller months. B.J. Neufeld joined skip Reid Carruthers aft being chopped by Matt Dunstone, who added erstwhile Gushue 2nd E.J. Harnden to his top-ranked lineup.

Neufeld, who said helium has circled the Wednesday matchup betwixt the provincial foes connected his calendar, has settled successful nicely with Carruthers, who divided a brace of games connected Monday, beating New Brunswick's James Grattan 6-4 earlier losing 7-3 to defending champion Brad Gushue.

Team Canada leads Pool A 4-0, portion Carruthers and Northern Ontario's John Epping are some 4-1.

"I wasn't done competing and I wanted to get backmost retired arsenic soon arsenic possible," Neufeld said. "Motivation is precise high."

Harnden, meanwhile, was replaced by longtime skip Brendan Bottcher connected Gushue's side, which is looking to triumph a grounds 4th consecutive Brier.

Like Howard did with the St. John's-based rink immoderate 2 decades earlier, Bottcher moved to 2nd and has taken implicit for vice Mark Nichols successful calling Gushue's stones successful the house.

"I deliberation it's brilliant," Howard said. "When I archetypal heard the quality that helium would beryllium connected the team, I thought that's what the [plan] would be."

Gushue, Nichols, Bottcher and pb Geoff Walker person endured a so-so season. Bottcher held the broom astatine the extremity of a winless bonspiel successful January and they've had occurrence truthful acold astatine Prospera Place.

"Not that I spot the crippled immoderate otherwise than Mark, but we're conscionable looking for that small spark that's going to nonstop america implicit the borderline and each of the abrupt it's going to beryllium easy," Bottcher said.

Midseason moves

Curling lineup changes hap often successful the off-season, astir notably erstwhile an Olympic rhythm is implicit and players look to the adjacent quadrennial.

The measurement of midseason roster moves by high-profile teams is astir unusual. And it doesn't ever enactment out.

Kevin Koe chopped Jacques Gauthier this play and brought successful Aaron Sluchinski. The squad has posted middling results since and dropped 3 games successful a enactment present earlier yet beating British Columbia's Cameron de Jong 8-5.

Other teams — including those skipped by contenders similar Alberta's Brad Jacobs (3-0), Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen (4-0) and Northern Ontario's John Epping (4-1) — person had a afloat play unneurotic and are rolling successful the aboriginal going.

Results

Epping made a game-winning runback for an 8-7 triumph implicit Dunstone, who fell to 3-1. Epping past bushed 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 different results, Saskatchewan's Rylan Kleiter posted an 8-2 triumph implicit Aaron Bartling of the Northwest Territories and Newfoundland and Labrador's Ty Dilello topped Nunavut's Shane Latimer 10-6.

Ontario's Sam Mooibroek bushed Yukon's Thomas Scoffin 9-3. Also connected Monday night, Grattan edged Diello 5-4 successful an other extremity successful a conflict of 1-2 teams.

Unlike different years successful the Olympic quadrennial, the extremity is to highest doubly successful 1 calendar year: erstwhile this period and again successful November astatine the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials.

The victor of that lawsuit volition deterioration Canadian colours astatine the Milan-Cortina Olympics successful Italy successful February.

Round-robin play continues astatine the Brier done Thursday nighttime and the Page playoffs are acceptable for the weekend.

The nationalist champion volition correspond Canada astatine the March 29-April 6 BKT satellite men's curling title successful Moose Jaw, Sask.