By John Hodge
Brad Jacobs and his team are heading to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The squad defeated Matt Dunstone at the Scotiabank Centre on Saturday night to sweep the first two matchups of the best-of-three final at the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax.
Jacobs stole a point in the second end to take a 2-0 lead when Dunstone was light on a draw to the button, causing the rock to slightly overcurl.
With the game tied 2-2 in the fourth end, Marc Kennedy made arguably the shot of the game with a runback triple takeout to get his team out of trouble and snuff out a promising setup for Dunstone.
“It was almost like (Kennedy) was possessed with the amount of shots he was making (on Saturday),” Jacobs said post-game. “Marc blacked out in that game from the first end to the last shot of the game, and I’m just so proud of how he played today. Nobody deserves to win this week, I’d say, more than that guy.”
“(Jacobs) is a tremendous leader, we play really hard for him, but we also had to work on things to become the best team,” Kennedy said. “Our energy out there all week in some really stressful situations was positive and enthusiastic and excited. We enjoy playing with each other out there.”
In the seventh end, Jacobs made a crafty double takeout and stuck his shooter to score two, giving his team a 5-3 lead.
The veteran skip clinched a 6-5 win three ends later with a soft hit-and-roll to the button, narrowly outcounting the freeze Dunstone had thrown with his last rock moments before.
The first game of the best-of-three final was a little more chaotic on Friday night, due in part to some challenging ice conditions.
Jacobs stole two in the second end when Dunstone was a few feet heavy on a draw, making the score 3-0. The team out of the Glencoe Club in Calgary trailed 6-5 at the break, however, after giving up four in the fifth end when Jacobs missed a runback on his final stone, allowing Dunstone to draw with his last for the big score.
Jacobs trailed 8-7 heading into the 10th end but had the hammer and took advantage of several misses to force Dunstone to try a tricky hit-and-roll through a port with his final rock. The 30-year-old native of Winnipeg missed, giving Jacobs the 9-8 win without him needing to throw his last stone.
The second game of the best-of-three final was better played overall as both skips shot 91 per cent with the winning and losing teams finishing at 89 and 90 per cent, respectively. Both skips were slightly below 80 per cent on Friday night with their teams in the mid-80s.
Jacobs finished first in the round-robin at 6-1, overcoming a slow start that included a loss to Kevin Koe and a nail-biting extra-end win over Rylan Kleiter. This was the 40-year-old’s third Olympic Trials final, having beaten John Morris in Winnipeg in 2013 and losing to Brad Gushue in Saskatoon in 2021.
“I think I appreciate (the Olympic Trials win) more now (than I did in 2013),” Jacobs said. “I was reflecting this week once we made the final, and I can’t believe … that I’ve been able to be on teams and the teammates that I’ve been blessed with to win such a huge event now twice, and go back to the Olympics. It’s mind-blowing to me.”
The native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., won a gold medal in Sochi in 2014 when his cousins, Ryan and E.J. Harnden, served as his lead and second, respectively. The longtime front-enders were on the losing side of this year’s Olympic Trials final as they now play for Dunstone.
Jacobs isn’t the only one on his team with previous Olympic experience. Ben Hebert and Kennedy, the team’s lead and third, respectively, won gold medals with Kevin Martin in Vancouver in 2010 before missing the podium with Kevin Koe in Pyeongchang 2018. Kennedy was also the alternate for Brad Gushue in Beijing in 2022, winning a bronze medal.
“It’s come full circle. When I went (to the Olympics) when I was 25, it was certainly someone else’s plan — that was Kevin Martin’s plan and he was kind of our leader and we were the followers,” Hebert said. “We built this team for this moment and to do it our way, from all the experience and things we took along the way, it’s very gratifying. I’m super grateful.”
Brett Gallant, the team’s second, also won a bronze medal in 2022 as Gushue’s second. The 35-year-old native of Charlottetown had already punched his ticket to Italy prior to this week as he and wife Jocelyn Peterman will represent Canada in the mixed doubles, a right they earned at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Liverpool, N.S., at the start of this year.
“I’m just lucky to have really good teammates,” Gallant said. “Between Jocelyn and these three guys, it’s pretty special to be able to curl with them. It’s been a lot of hard work over the years to kind of achieve some of these goals, so to see some of it pay off, it’s an amazing feeling. I’m looking forward to doing double-duty over there.”
With the Montana's Canadian Curling Trials now over, it’s time to look ahead to Italy. All curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics will take place at Stadio Olimpico del Ghiaccio, with the men’s round robin beginning on Feb. 11 and concluding ahead of the semifinals on Feb. 19. The bronze medal game will take place on Friday, Feb. 20, and the gold medal game will be played on Saturday, Feb. 21.
“This is very exciting. I’m extremely glad this event is over and we won. This is hard, this is a grind. We knew it was gonna be that way today against Team Dunstone, you know they’re going to battle hard and they did,” Jacobs said.
“I’m just so proud of my teammates for how they performed here this week. This was the one event that was circled on the calendar four years ago — this team wanted to show up for it and win. To work towards that and have all of the systems and preparation in place, to come here and play our best and win is something special.”
