ST. JOHN’S — Winning a Canadian men’s curling championship on the heels of an Olympic gold medal was a tall order.
Brad Jacobs’ curling team fell two wins short of repeating as national champions in a 7-3 semifinal loss to Matt Dunstone at the Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, N.L., on Sunday afternoon.
Manitoba’s Dunstone advanced to his third final in the last four years to take on Alberta’s Kevin Koe in the championship game at night.
The winner will represent Canada at the men’s world championship March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah, and the team will gain entry into next year’s Brier in Saskatoon as defending champions.
Jacobs, Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert played their opening game less than a week after capturing Olympic gold in Cortina, Italy, with a 9-6 win over Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat.
The Glencoe Club foursome out of Calgary navigated jet leg, travel fatigue, post-Olympic exhaustion and illness to reach Sunday’s semifinal.
Gallant was on a curling marathon as he and wife Jocelyn Peterman played mixed doubles in the Milan Cortina Games before he joined Jacobs for men’s team curling.
Jacobs battled a sinus infection during the tournament and Hebert missed the team’s opening game in St. John’s with illness.
The Jacobs team outcurled Dunstone’s with 90 per cent accuracy to 88 per cent in the semifinal.
Down 4-3 with hammer coming home, Jacobs was light on a draw to score one and force an extra end.
“I’m happy it’s over. I mean, like what? You know, we tried. There’s nothing else we could do. We tried. We played hard all week,” Jacobs said.
“We never gave up at any point in time. We can walk away from this Brier, holding our heads really high.
“Guess what? We still are Olympic gold medallists. Can you believe it? I can’t wait to go home and see my family and friends and share the gold medal with everyone.”
Jacobs missed a blank attempt in the fifth end when his shooter stayed in the rings and tied the game 2-2.
But the skip drew around two centre guards to put his last stone on the button and make scoring difficult for Dunstone in the sixth.
Dunstone couldn’t nudge shot stone far enough, and gave up a steal of one to trail 3-2.
Dunstone blanked the seventh, and set up for a multi-point end in the eighth when Jacobs third Marc Kennedy was light on an attempted hit.
A Jacobs double takeout left open rings for Dunstone to draw for two and a 4-3 lead.
Dunstone couldn’t force Jacobs to take one in nine, so the Olympic champs were one point down coming home with hammer to try and generate the winning deuce.
“Great game, back and forth, those are 50-50 games,” Jacobs said. “They outcurled us in 10. We had the hammer coming home. Need to get a deuce.”
Jacobs, Kennedy and Hebert are two-time Olympic gold medallists.
Kennedy and Hebert were victorious in 2010 in Vancouver when they played for Kevin Martin.
Jacobs skipped a team that included Dunstone as second, E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden to victory in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Dunstone had lost to Jacobs in both the Brier final and the Olympic trials last year.
Dunstone and vice Colton Lott have never won the national men’s crown. E.J. Harnden has won three and brother Ryan one.
“I’m happy for Ryan and E.J. They get another chance,” Jacobs said. “Dunny and Colton, they get another opportunity at their first Brier, so should be a great final.
“We’re going to have a bunch of beers and watch.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2026.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
