What's the curling format at the 2025 Brier?

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Three teams moved to 3-0 atop Pool A with Sunday afternoon wins at the 2025 Montana’s Brier.

Just how big is that for that trio of rinks at the Canadian men’s curling championship in Kelowna, B.C.?

Immense, really, since it separates them from the rest of the combatants early in a push to get the three qualifying spots from the pool flush with élite contenders.

Canada’s Brad Gushue, the three-time defending champ, edged pesky Northern Ontario champ John Epping (2-1) to get there. Manitoba king Reid Carruthers did the same with a 5-4 edge of Alberta’s Kevin Koe (0-3) in an extra end. And top-ranked rink Matt Dunstone of Manitoba made it three Ws out of the gate with a 7-4 dump of B.C.’s Cameron de Jong (0-3).

“I’m happy at 3-0 … absolutely,” Gushue told reporters post-game Sunday. “We still have a tough schedule ahead. We still have Carruthers and Koe and Dunstone, so a lot of work ahead. But to be 3-0 is good.”

“You want to bank as many wins as possible in the round robin,” Carruthers’ third B.J. Neufeld told reporters Sunday. “You can’t really afford too many losses in our pool.”

Indeed, Pool A is pretty much the pool of death at this year’s Brier.

“In name and experience, our pool is tough,” Gushue said. “You’ve got Reid who has won a Brier before (in 2011). You’ve got Kevin who has won Briers before (in 2010, ’14, ’16 and ’19). Us who’s won. And Dunstone, who’s number one right now in Canada.”

Gushue, however, is looking like that top team again at the Brier.

“I think the way we’re playing is OK,” added Gushue, who — after Sunday’s challenge — can easily add Epping to the list of serious contenders in the pool. “You know … I’d give our performance a 7.5 or 8 out of 10. I know we can get better. But we’re throwing it well and the guys are doing a great job judging rocks.”

HOW DOES THE ROUND-ROBIN WORK?

The round robin — 18 draws total — runs through Thursday evening, with starts from here on out at 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. (all times ET):

• The 18 teams have been split up into two pools
• Each team plays eight games, squaring off once each against each of its pool foes
• The three teams with the best records after the round robin advance to the playoffs
• There are no tiebreaking games
• Any tiebreak needed in the standings is determined respectively by: 1) which team wins more of the head-to-head matchups; 2) measuring the total of the accumulated draw-shot distance for those tied teams based on the draw-to-the-button — or last-stone draw — competition before the teams’ round-robin matchups; 3) measuring the total of that accumulated draw-shot distance after dropping the largest distances of those draw shots; and 4) repeating 3) if necessary by dropping the next largest distance until the tie is broken

HOW DOES THE PLAYOFF SYSTEM WORK?

After the top three teams from each pool are determined, it’s onward to Friday’s qualifying round, which remains the same — a Page playoff-type format — from the 2024 Brier in Regina:

• The first-place teams of each pool cross over to play the other pool’s second-place teams in 1-v-2 seeding games (3:30 p.m. ET)
• The winners of those 1-v-2 seeding games advance to the playoff round, while the losers drop to the 3-v-4 seeding games (9:30 p.m. ET) against the third-place teams in each pool
• The winners of those 3-v-4 seeding games advance to the playoff round, which now consists of four finalists

HOW DOES A CHAMPION GET CROWNED?

With just four teams remaining, the Page playoff kicks in again Saturday and Sunday:

• The winners of the qualifying round’s 3-v-4 games play each other Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET), with the winner advancing to Sunday’s afternoon semifinal and the loser being eliminated
• The winners of the qualifying round’s 1-v-2 games play each other late Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET), with the winner advancing straight to Sunday’s late final and the loser advancing to Sunday’s afternoon semifinal (2 p.m. ET)
• The semifinal winner then advances to Sunday’s final (8 p.m. ET), after which the Brier champion will be crowned

EXTRA ENDS

The other Sunday matinee score saw New Brunswick’s James Grattan (1-1) earn an 8-3 victory over Nunavut’s Shane Latimer (0-2) … In Pool B action, it was Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen (3-0) moving to the top of the standings with a 3-0 record after two wins Sunday — an early 8-6 result over Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell (1-2), and a late 8-4 decision over Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek (2-1) … The other Draw 4 scores early Sunday saw: Ontario’s Mooibroek beat up NWT’s Bartling (0-2) 12-2; Québec’s Felix Asselin (2-1) top Yukon’s Scoffin (1-2) 7-5; and Saskatchewan’s Rylan Kleiter (1-1) drop Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith (0-2) 7-4 … Sunday’s other late action saw: Yukon’s Scoffin upend Nova Scotia’s Purcell 7-5; and Québec’s Asselin bounce P.E.I.’s Smith 7-5 … The Brier continues with fourth-day action Monday — all times ET and all on TSN — in Draw 6 (11:30 a.m.), Draw 7 (4:30 p.m.) and Draw 8 (9:30 p.m.).

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

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