BRIER NOTES: B.C. champ Cameron de Jong feels the love in Kelowna

Article content

Cameron de Jong has felt like a winner from the moment he stepped onto the ice at Prospera Place.

That’s thanks to the home-province fans at the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C., even though the young skip and his rink-mates didn’t taste victory until Day 5 of the Canadian men’s curling championship.

“I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest,” de Jong, skip of the provincial champions from Victoria, told reporters Tuesday. “I knew being in B.C., we’d have a lot of support. But when I made my first really good shot and the crowd erupted, it was like chills.

“It was the coolest moment, for sure.”

And many more followed while up against some of the country’s biggest curling stars, as de Jong played strong against Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers, Canada’s Brad Gushue and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone to start this Brier.

A tough assignment, to be sure.

“Fans come from everywhere to cheer Gushue,” de Jong said. “So to have even the fans cheering for us over him, it was a really special moment and something I’ll never forget.

“One of the coolest experiences of my life.”

Kudos to the young skip for not letting the losses temper that cool factor.

Instead. the 23-year-old Victoria native — who, along with lead Brayden Carpenter, is making his first Brier appearance — has worn a smile throughout and continued to battle, playing well and finally digging up dividends in Tuesday afternoon’s 10-3 victory over Nunavut’s Shane Latimer.

“It’s really nice to finally get that win,” said de Jong, now 1-5 at the Brier. “I know we’ve had five really close games coming in, so to finally be able to come out on the right side of the scoreboard, it really means a lot to us.

“All the hard work that we put in earlier this week has finally paid off.”

Team DeJong, which also features third/vice-skip Alex Horvath and second Corey Chester, has two games remaining — Wednesday morning against Newfoundland and Labrador’s Ty Dilello (11:30 a.m. ET), and Thursday afternoon against New Brunswick’s James Grattan (4:30 p.m. ET).

POOL PARTIES

With two days of round-robin play remaining at the Brier, the playoff picture is beginning to clear up …

Or is it?

In Pool A, it’s Gushue rolling right along — as expected from ‘Brier Brad’ — with a perfect mark so far. The Canada skip and his decorated team sit atop the pool with a 5-0 record, although they do meet desperate Kevin Koe and Alberta (2-3) early Wednesday (11:30 a.m. ET) and wrap up the round robin with Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone on Thursday afternoon (4:30 p.m. ET).

Next is fellow Brier veteran Reid Carruthers, with a 5-1 mark. But the Manitoba skip and his rink aren’t free and clear with Dunstone (4-1) and Northern Ontario’s John Epping (4-2) nipping on their heels.

Remember, only three teams from each pool qualify for the weekend’s playoff schedule.

Of course, Koe and New Brunswick’s James Grattan (2-3) have a lot of work to do and need a lot of help to find a path to the playoffs.

In Pool B, more teams are in contention.

While Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen is cruising along on top — at 6-0 — and Alberta’s Brad Jacobs — at 5-0 — is right there, too, the third spot is up for grabs between Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek (3-2), Québec’s Felix Asselin (3-2), Saskatchewan’s Ryan Kleiter (3-2), Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell (2-3) and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin (2-4).

Wednesday’s key draws include Québec’s Asselin v. Nova Scotia’s Purcell in a matinee clash (4:30 p.m. ET) and Carruthers v. Dunstone in an evening all-Manitoba battle (9:30 p.m. ET).

MORE CURL, PLEASE

Greg Ewasko, the guy in charge of the on-ice action in Kelowna, is making sure the curl is on for the final five days of the Brier.

Curling Canada’s head ice technician opted to sandpaper the stones after Tuesday’s action to ensure they retain enough curl to ride out the weekend until the last rock is thrown in Sunday’s championship final (8 p.m. ET).

It’s a timely decision made by Ewasko for just that reason.

Papering the rocks at this point in the schedule also allows for the curling stars to get a few days of round-robin play under their belts so they can be familiar with the stones for the all-important playoff days Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM