Curling Legend's Final Olympic Bid Falls Short
Brad Gushue's storied curling career will conclude without a third Olympic appearance after the Newfoundland and Labrador icon suffered a heartbreaking elimination from the 2025 Montana's Canadian Curling Trials presented by Connect Hearing. The two-time Olympic medallist saw his dreams of competing at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy vanish on the final shot of round-robin action in Halifax.
Emotional Farewell in Atlantic Canada
In what marked his final appearance at the Olympic trials before retirement, Gushue received a standing ovation from admiring fans at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre. The superstar skip from St. John's finished with a 4-3 record, identical to Winnipeg's Matt Dunstone, but lost the tiebreaker based on their earlier head-to-head matchup.
"It's been great, until the last shot," an emotional Gushue told reporters following his elimination. "I think the reception that we've had has been amazing, and I've truly appreciated it. We played pretty well and had a chance to win this week."
Playoff Picture Takes Shape
With Gushue's departure, the championship path now clears for other contenders. Brad Jacobs and his Calgary-based team finished atop the eight-team men's pool with an impressive 6-1 record, securing their spot in the best-of-three final series beginning Friday.
Mike McEwen's Saskatoon squad claimed second place at 5-2 after delivering a decisive 9-5 victory over Dunstone in Wednesday's final round-robin match. Dunstone's Winnipeg rink earned the remaining semifinal position despite matching Gushue's 4-3 record, thanks to their earlier 9-7 win over the Newfoundland legend.
The playoff schedule sets up as follows:
- Semifinal: Mike McEwen vs. Matt Dunstone - Thursday
- Championship Series Game 1: Brad Jacobs vs. TBD - Friday, 6:30 p.m. ET on TSN
- Championship Series Game 2: Saturday, 6 p.m. ET on TSN
- Championship Series Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, 6 p.m. ET on TSN3
Gushue reflected on the competitive nature of the trials, acknowledging that "there's only one team that walks away from this event happy, and we're not one of them." The curling star, who plans to retire at season's end, graciously noted that "there's a few better teams here this week that probably deserved it more than we did."
His elimination marks the end of an era in Canadian curling, closing the chapter on one of the sport's most celebrated athletes whose Olympic journey included gold in 2006 and bronze in 2022.
