The Montana's Brier in St. John's, N.L., has turned into the "Brad Show" in more ways than one.

Brad Gushue and Brad Jacobs remain undefeated with identical 4-0 records through the midway mark of pool play.

The Mary Brown's Centre has been rocking with a full house on hand for Gushue in his hometown as he plays in his final Brier.

The inevitable "Battle of the Brads" isn't until the penultimate round-robin draw Thursday, funny how that worked out, but it already feels like they're on a collision course as the pace-setters of the field.

"Of course, everybody is looking forward to their game against Gushue here," Team Jacobs second Brett Gallant told reporters on Sunday. "It's obviously going to be a really tough game, but it's going to be fun playing in that atmosphere. Yeah, it's going to be exciting."

Here's a look at some early observations from the Brier.

FIRST END: All eyes were going to be on Gushue regardless, as he announced at the start of the season that this year would be his last in competitive men's curling.

Gushue captured his first Brier title on home ice in 2017 and now seeks an unprecedented seventh.

His Newfoundland and Labrador team has been sharp out of the gate, ranking first among all teams in the last stone draw (LSD) standings.

Gushue also holds the second-best hammer conversion rate, scoring multiple points with last-rock advantage 60 per cent of the time (it works every time). The force has not been strong against Gushue as he's been held to a single only three times (tied with Jacobs and Manitoba's Braden Calvert for the least among the field) and just one steal (five-way tie for second). The team is curling 88 per cent as a unit, good for second overall.

It has been emotional for Gushue ever since he took the ice for the opening draw Friday night to a standing ovation.

"I actually got a little teary-eyed there when it kept going, so that was pretty special to see that and to feel it and hear it,” Gushue told reporters after his 10-2 win over Quebec. "Definitely got the jitters going."

"Even in the practice when we had the draw to the button, to be honest, I haven’t had the shakes quite the way I had them in practice there in a long time. Generally, in big games, you get some nerves. Your hands might shake a little bit, but my feet, my heart, my legs were shaking. I was feeling the nerves pretty bad there in that game. ... But certainly, that roar was special, and hopefully we get more roars like that all week.”

Another cool moment occurred Monday night as Gushue faced the future of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nathan Young. The torch wasn't passed just yet as Gushue was victorious 8-5.

It was special for Gushue even before the game started as Curling Canada honoured Memorial University's women's team that won the Canadian university title. Playing third for the team? Gushue's daughter, Hayley.

SECOND END: Fatigue, what's that? Jacobs and his crew have barely missed a beat since claiming Olympic gold just over a week ago at Milano Cortina 2026.

There might have been some questions when the defending Brier champs started short-handed, as lead Ben Hebert missed their opening game due to illness. Jacobs doesn't have an alternate on hand as his fifth from the Olympic Winter Games, Tyler Tardi, is over in the other pool playing with Kevin Koe. (Wouldn't it be hilarious if someone pulled double duty playing for two teams in opposite pools?)

Perhaps they were levelling the playing field as their opponents in Draw 1, P.E.I., are playing as three for the whole week. The team curled 77 per cent, but it was still good enough to earn an 8-3 win as they stole six points over four ends. The team has improved since then, now sitting at an 86 per cent average.

Jacobs leads the field in scoring multiple points with the hammer at 67 per cent and, like Gushue, has only given up a steal once.

And for those who hate blanks, Jacobs hasn't put doughnuts on the board once so far.

It also helps that Jacobs hasn't had a two-game day yet, with a bye during Monday's evening draw. No one was probably looking forward to it more than Gallant, who also competed for Canada in mixed doubles with his wife Jocelyn Peterman before switching gears for the men's tournament.

"I'm balancing between still giving it as much as I can out here on the ice and also trying to recoup a bit of energy for the rest of this week," Gallant told reporters. "Just trying to balance the best we can. We're all a little bit tired, but we all know to prioritize our rest.

"When you're playing with a full house here, that excitement in the building, it lends really well to feeling energized out there. We feel OK. We'll get better as the week goes on."

THIRD END: Should a team of three be allowed to play in the Brier? It was one thing when Team Gushue won the title in 2022 while playing as three, but that was only for a handful of games after third Mark Nichols tested positive for COVID-19. It's not like the team intended to play as three, which makes P.E.I.'s situation different.

Granted, Tyler Smith's squad won their provincial championship playing as three, so it's not uncharted territory for them and it's clearly what they feel comfortable with. If it's within the rules, then don't hate the player, hate the game.

There could be a short-term benefit with two players getting to throw three rocks instead of their usual two and single sweeping is common, but you have to think it's not sustainable long-term through a grinding event like the Brier. Plus, you're risking it if someone gets injured or sick, then you have no fallback other than to forfeit. It would probably take something like the latter to happen before there are any rulebook changes.

(Mind you, in the previous end we pondered whether someone could play in both pools simultaneously, so perhaps we're not the best judges over whether a team of three should or shouldn't be allowed.)

FOURTH END: Alberta's Kevin Koe is turning back the clock. The 51-year-old skip has his team at 3-0 in Pool B and leading all players at the fourth position, shooting 89 per cent.

Koe's magic touch was on display Sunday morning against Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen as he made a phenomenal shot to get the blank in the ninth end. If only all blanks were like this.

That kept the all-important hammer in Koe's hand for the 10th and final frame, leading to a score of three points and a 6-4 victory. In typical Koe fashion, he was down to two seconds left of thinking time.

As mentioned, Tardi has rejoined Team Koe at third and is also feeling it.

"I'm surprised how completely exhausted I am . ... I cannot wait for a day off," Tardi told reporters on Sunday. "I'm looking forward to recharging the battery and hopefully catching up on a little bit of jet lag, too."

FIFTH END: Manitoba's Matt Dunstone is also unbeaten in Pool B at 3-0. Maybe it's because he's only been the featured game once, but it feels like Dunstone has been going about things quietly under the radar, which might suit him.

"The Sheriff" is right behind Koe in the stats, shooting 88 per cent, while his team is curling a tournament-leading 90 per cent as a unit.

It's a big two-game day ahead for both Koe and Dunstone. Before they square off in the evening, Koe clashes with his brother, Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories, and Dunstone takes on Braden Calvert in a Battle of Manitoba during the morning draw.

SIXTH END: Quad god? As great as Koe's shot was, so far the tournament's greatest moment was Northern Ontario's Sandy MacEwan pulling off this runback quad Sunday night against Jamie Koe.

That pushed things to an extra end where Koe prevailed with a dicey draw. Absolute cinema moments.

SEVENTH END: Playoffs!? There isn't much separation in the standings just yet, but keep in mind that only the top three in each pool advance to the championship round, with no tiebreakers.

As we saw last year, sometimes even a 6-2 record isn't good enough. It's not just how many losses but also who you lose to, as head-to-head will come into play.

Ontario's Jayden King is third in Pool A at 3-2, with losses to Gushue and Jacobs. Having both of those teams cleared puts them in an interesting position with a relatively easier back half of pool play. A key matchup could be Wednesday evening against Quebec's Jean-Michel Ménard (3-1).

Over in Pool B, McEwen (3-1) bounced back from the loss to Alberta with victories over Yukon and Northern Ontario. The interesting stat from McEwen is that his team is the only one in the field that has yet to give up a steal. McEwen, who is from Winnipeg, wraps up his round-robin schedule quite fittingly against the Manitoba teams (Calvert and Dunstone) in a pair of pivotal matchups.

EIGHTH END: While Jacobs is competing in both the Olympic Winter Games and the Brier, Rachel Homan was not given the same opportunity to defend her title at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Emma Miskew, who throws second for Homan, appeared on The Broom Brothers podcast and cleared the air about why the team didn't play in the Scotties, which took place right before Milano Cortina 2026.

"The word was spreading that we chose not to go to the Scotties, and no one piped up from Curling Canada and said, 'Actually, we said they couldn't go.' ... Especially since the Scotties were in Mississauga. We have repped Ontario for years. We had a lot of people that bought tickets and stuff expecting us to be there, and then word was spreading we chose not to go, which was not the case," said Miskew, whose team won bronze at the Olympic Winter Games.

"Would it have been ideal prep with the timing going to the Olympics? Probably not, but we were not given that choice."

She added: "It's always a scheduling conflict reason, but no one has ever made any effort to change the schedule so that it doesn't only affect the women. I feel like there's a solution, but it's a little disappointing that as we're trying to get equality between men and women in sport, and it's come a long way, this is still an issue. ... We were just a little disappointed that it's continuing to be an issue where there's an inequality between the men and the women."

Whether teams should or shouldn't play in both the national championship and the Olympic Winter Games, it should at least be consistent across both genders.

It is kind of crazy that the top three women's teams in the world rankings — Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni, Homan and Sweden's Anna Hasselborg — all earned medals at Milano Cortina 2026 and none of them will be playing in the World Women's Curling Championship. Tirinzoni competed in her national championship and lost just twice during the week, both to Xenia Schwaller in the best-of-three final, while Hasselborg lost out in a points race to Isabella Wranå.

EXTRA END: It's never too early to start thinking about next year, with teams already making plans for the 2026-27 season.

Follow along with our tracker for the latest news and updates on who's stepping back (because no one ever really retires in this sport), who's just taking a break and which teams are sticking together or have already formed new lineups.

Lead photo by Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver.