Montana's Brier Preview: Gushue aiming for sixth Canadian title

The top Canadian men's teams from coast to coast will face off for the Montana's Brier in Regina.

The action begins Friday night at the Brandt Centre with the winner getting the opportunity to represent Canada at the world men's curling championship, March 30 to April 7, in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

Here's a look at the top storylines to keep an eye on throughout the week.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Brad Gushue was seeking an elusive first Brier championship. Now, not only is Gushue looking for a record-extending sixth title as a skip, but he's also aiming for a three-peat.

The double-defending champion and his crew from St. John's, N.L., enter the Brier second on the Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) with 238.375 points and have already donned the maple leaf once this season capturing gold at the Pan-Continental Championships in November.

Only one other team has three-peated at the Brier previously: Randy Ferbey's foursome from 2001-03.

On a Max Verstappen-esque reign at the Brier, Gushue is sporting a 21-2 record over the past two years and will definitely be in contention once again.

If there's one team that has the best odds to dethrone Gushue, it's Brendan Bottcher's Team Alberta. Bottcher has had Gushue's number of late with five wins over their past seven meetings.

The Calgary-based club ended last season winning the Champions Cup (defeating Gushue in the final, of course) and has finished runner-up in two Grand Slam events this season.

Team Bottcher is No. 1 on the CTRS with 351.750 points (or 113.375 points ahead of Gushue if you prefer to see it that way) and three title wins on tour.

Bottcher, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert have won a combined 12 Brier titles and walked away with bronze medals last year during their first season together. With another year under their belt, they stand a good chance to take another step or two on the podium this time.

Gushue, Bottcher and Kevin Koe have controlled the Brier since 2016, but if you're looking for a possible first-timer winner there's Manitoba's Matt Dunstone.

Dunstone, who finished runner-up to Gushue last year, enters at No. 4 on the CTRS with 198.750 points. While Dunstone has yet to win the Brier, his team mixes youth and experience. Both third B.J. Neufeld and lead Ryan Harnden captured the title with their former clubs before linking up with Dunstone and second Colton Lott.

Neufeld, who led all thirds at the Brier last year shooting 92 per cent, is quite possibly the most underrated curler in Canada as he quietly goes about his business delivering precision shot after shot. Dunstone, who fired at an 88 per cent pace to earn first-team all-star honours at his position as well, has every shot in his arsenal and will be tough to beat.

After a brief hiatus and filling in part-time at third on Team Carruthers last year, former Olympic and Brier champion Brad Jacobs came on board for the long haul this season. When the Winnipeg-based team hit a slump, Reid Carruthers handed the skip reins to Jacobs to give the team a jolt.

It's safe to say "Brad is back" as the man from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was up to his old tricks nailing clutch shots as seen during their matchup against Team Gushue during the Co-op Canadian Open in January.

Ranked fifth on the CTRS (187.188 points), Team Manitoba-Carruthers should be in the playoff hunt and once it's down to single-elimination games, Jacobs will be counted on to deliver those electrifying, game-saving shots.

It's been 44 years since a team from Saskatchewan has won the Brier and skip Mike McEwen will look to end that drought.

The Winnipeg skip is the import on the Saskatoon-based squad that features third Colton Flasch plus twin brothers Kevin and Dan Marsh at second and lead, respectively. How amazing would it be if they managed to pull it off on home ice in Regina?

Oddly enough, McEwen skipped the home team last year at the Brier in London when he represented Team Ontario. McEwen finished fourth and handed Gushue his lone loss of the week during pool play for what it's worth.

McEwen is sixth on the CTRS with 183.125 points, just 4.063 points back of former teammate Carruthers. They're in opposite pools but there will surely be some scoreboard watching as they're locked in a points race in the world rankings for Players' Championship qualification too (only the top 12 are guaranteed invitations with the cutoff falling on the day after the Brier final).

Battle of Alberta? Koe is third on the CTRS thanks to two tour wins plus a pair of runner-up results, but the four-time Brier champion lost to Aaron Sluchinski in the Alberta provincial final. Koe still received a Brier berth based on points and will be sporting AB uniforms although a wild card would be more fitting given his team's roller-coaster season. If Koe has the magic touch, his team could go all the way.

Don't discount Sluchinski as his team has been steadily rising through the ranks. This could be his breakout tournament like last week's Scotties Tournament of Hearts was for Alberta's Selena Sturmay. Funny enough, Koe and Sluchinski square off in their first round-robin game. What a coincidence!

Team Ontario will be an interesting one to watch with Scott Howard at the helm. Skip Glenn Howard was out with a knee injury and his son Scott moved up from third to call the shots. The younger Howard, second David Mathers and lead Tim March captured the Ontario Tankard as a trio. Scott will continue to throw the final rocks as it appears Glenn will slot in at the second position with Mathers at third. Are you still following?

As we saw at the Scotties, without any tiebreaker games and only the top three in each pool advancing, things could get messy in the standings once it comes down to head-to-head records or draw-to-the-button shootout scores. That may be enough for Team British Columbia to sneak in. Skip Catlin Schneider is from Regina and should have the home crowd on his side.