As Canada’s top men’s teams gather in Halifax, some familiar faces from Sault Ste. Marie are among those vying for a chance to represent their country on the world stage
A trio of local curlers are set to take part in the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, which get underway on Saturday in Halifax.
The field includes eight men’s teams and eight on the women’s side as well with the winners going on to represent Canada at the Winter Olympic games in Milano Cortina, Italy.
Competing in the men’s field are Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs, who is skipping a team based out of Calgary, Alta.
The Jacobs rink came together in April 2024 after the Sault native had stepped away from competitive men’s curling for a stretch
Jacobs joined forces with third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert to form the new team after the latter three had parted ways with previous skip Brendan Bottcher.
Jacobs said at the time that joining the trio was a chance he “couldn’t refuse.”
He and Kennedy curled together previously as part of an earlier Team Jacobs rink that included brothers E.J. and Ryan Harnden.
The Jacobs rink is coming off a recent tournament title at the Pan Continental Curling Championship where they won gold thanks to a win over American John Shuster.
The team is also the defending Canadian national champs after winning the Brier in March before going on to win bronze as Team Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship in April.
The Harnden brothers are also competing in the Olympic Trials as members of Matt Dunstone’s Manitoba-based rink.
Ryan had joined Dunstone shortly after the original Team Jacobs decided to part ways in 2022 while E.J. joined Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland-based team at the time.
E.J. curled with the Gushue rink until the team announced they were parting ways with the Sault native in October 2024. E.J. then joined Dunstone’s team in December.
“This team has a great mix of experience, youth, as well as talent,” E.J. said after joining Dunstone’s team. “I also love the passion and energy everyone brings to the ice. I am truly looking forward to what lies ahead.”
While competing in the recent Henderson Metal Fall Classic, Dunstone spoke of the addition of E.J. to the team.
“Everybody knows how great he is (sweeping). He absolutely incredible,” Dunstone said.
“There’s an energy dynamic that he brings, a fire, that this team was needing and that’s what we’ve asked of him and he’s produced that. To get the brothers back together and me and Colt on the backend,” he said.
“Colt feels like a brother to me. It’s just that the dynamic of the team is really strong in that sense. Everyone across the board has a really good feel for each other and we all see the game very similarly.”
Ryan added that being able to curl with his brother again has been “awesome.”
“It’s like we never left each other,” he added.
Jacobs opens the Olympic Trials Saturday evening against Kevin Koe’s Calgary-based team while Dunstone will face John Epping.
The full schedule for Team Jacobs includes:
- Nov. 22 vs. Kevin Koe
- Nov. 23 vs. Rylan Kleiter
- Nov. 24 vs. Mike McEwen, vs. Jordon McDonald
- Nov. 25 vs. John Epping
- Nov. 26 vs. Matt Dunstone, vs. Brad Gushue
Team Dunstone’s full schedule includes:
- Nov. 22 vs. John Epping
- Nov. 23 vs. Jordon McDonald
- Nov. 24 vs. Rylan Kleiter, vs. Brad Gushue
- Nov. 25 vs. Kevin Koe
- Nov. 26 vs. Brad Jacobs, vs. Mike McEwen
