Curling – Winnipeg Free Press

BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Skip Brett Walter of Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club yells instructions to his sweepers while watching his shot during their game against team Jeremy Sundell of Holland Curling Club at the 2026 Men’s Provincial Curling Championship in Selkirk.

Walters rolling at men’s curling championship

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Yesterday at 10:31 PM CST

Don’t overlook Brett Walter.

The 24-year-old skip out of Assiniboine Memorial made a massive statement early Friday at men’s curling provincials in Selkirk by handing No. 1 seed Reid Carruthers a 9-2 shellacking that lasted just five ends in an ‘A’ qualifier game.

“Yeah, it worked out in our favour this morning,” Walter told the Free Press.

You don’t say.

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Lott leading new contender with first-year squad

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Lott leading new contender with first-year squad

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CST

TANNER Lott’s childhood dream of qualifying for the Brier almost came true the last time the Manitoba men’s curling provincials took place in Selkirk.

It was in 2022 when he was playing second for his younger brother Colton Lott and they owned a perfect record heading into championship Sunday.

They took down Mike McEwen 8-7 in the 1 vs. 2 playoff game, but when the two sides met again in the final, the brothers from Winnipeg Beach didn’t have their A-game.

The veteran McEwen, who skipped a rink featuring Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski and Colin Hodgson, prevailed 8-3 to earn the right to wear the buffalo jackets.

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CST

Lott leading new contender with first-year squad

Carruthers rink taking nothing for granted

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Carruthers rink taking nothing for granted

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026

SELKIRK — There’s no such thing as an easy game at the Manitoba men’s curling provincials — even if you’re a nine-time champion and the No. 1 seed like Reid Carruthers.

The 24-team event kicked off Wednesday at the Selkirk Recreation Complex and Carruthers survived a major scare in the afternoon by outlasting three-time provincial club champion Andrew Wickman 8-7 in extra ends.

Wickman, down 7-6 at the time, missed by a hair on an extremely difficult draw around a guard at the end of the 10th that would’ve scored two for the win. Wickman — who entered the week with a career 8-10 record at provincials in five previous trips — started the day with a 7-3 win over Greg Todoruk. Carruthers had a bye as one of the top seeds.

“Manitoba provincials are just so hard. It’s always hard. It doesn’t matter who you play,” said Team Carruthers lead Connor Njegovan.

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Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026

BROOK JONES/FREE PRESS
Skip Reid Carruthers of the Granite Curling Club calls the line during his team’s game against Andrew Wickman’s rink from Fort Rouge Curling Club at the 2026 Men’s Provincial Curling Championship at the Selkirk Recreation Complex in Selkirk, Wednesday.

Getting the call to the Manitoba curling hall

Joshua Frey-Sam 8 minute read Preview

Getting the call to the Manitoba curling hall

Joshua Frey-Sam 8 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026

Derek Samagalski expected the worst when he answered his phone on the morning of Jan. 2.

The caller ID read Peter Nicholls — a name that didn’t register immediately — and when Nicholls said he was with Curl Manitoba, Samagalski went from curious to uneasy.

“I thought our team did something wrong in provincials, like I’m getting a smack on the wrist, because I’m like, ‘Why is Curl Manitoba calling me mid-event?’” Samagalski recalled.

Samagalski was in Rivers coaching Team Kate Cameron at the Manitoba women’s curling championship. A call from the host organization at that time would normally mean something was wrong.

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Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026

Nicole Osborne / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Derek Samagalski has been called to the Manitoba Curling Hall of Fame.

Burgess eyes gold after silver streak

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Burgess eyes gold after silver streak

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Friday, Jan. 16, 2026

Karlee Burgess isn’t interested in adding to her collection of silver.

She’s reached the last three finals at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts — twice with Jennifer Jones and again last year with Kerri Einarson — and on each occasion it ended with her having to watch the opposition celebrate with gold hanging from their necks.

“I’ve had really good success at the Scotties in the past and I’m just kind of feeling like there should be a breakthrough for me here soon,” said Burgess.

“Maybe this year I break through, but if not, I’m going to continue to still dream about that and work hard at it.”

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Friday, Jan. 16, 2026

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
Team Einarson is headed to nationals after playing some of their best curling en route to the final of the Grand Slam’s Players’ Championship.

Einarson falls in Players’ Championship final on home ice

Taylor Allen 7 minute read Preview

Einarson falls in Players’ Championship final on home ice

Taylor Allen 7 minute read Monday, Jan. 12, 2026

STEINBACH — Kerri Einarson has waited a long time for a chance to win a Grand Slam of Curling event in her home province.

Unfortunately for the Gimli-based skip, raising a trophy with loads of family and friends in the stands wasn’t meant to be on Sunday as she came up short in a 6-5 loss to Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni in the Players’ Championship final inside Steinbach’s Southeast Event Centre.

“It was a battle,” Einarson told the Free Press. “We got down a little early, had an unfortunate second end missing a couple runbacks just by a hair. But we battled back, we made them make some tough shots, and it was a tough last one. I guess it wasn’t even there.”

After blanking the seventh to retain hammer, Einarson needed to score a pair in the eighth to extend the game into extras. There was a logjam in the house with nine rocks and Tirinzoni was sitting one when Einarson fired a Hail Mary down the ice that ultimately didn’t pay off.

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Monday, Jan. 12, 2026

Einarson falls in Players’ Championship final on home ice

Chance meeting with Team Gim paved way for Lee’s Korea Curling Federation role

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Chance meeting with Team Gim paved way for Lee’s Korea Curling Federation role

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

STEINBACH — Morris is a long ways away from South Korea.

So, when Team Eun-ji Gim checked into the Stampede Inn ahead of the 2018 DeKalb Superspiel at the Morris Curling Club, they weren’t expecting to see a fellow Korean behind the front desk in Min Lee.

“Usually, you see Koreans in bigger cities, but it was a really small town, and out of nowhere, there was a Korean guy at the hotel we happened to be staying in,” said Gim, through Lee’s translating, at the Players’ Championship in Steinbach at the Southeast Event Centre.

“So, it was really surprising. But we were glad someone who speaks the same language was there.”

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Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

Taylor Allen / FREE PRESS
Skip Eun-ji Gim (right) praised Korea Curling Federation’s technical trainer Min Lee from Morris for his dependability when her team or other Korean teams compete in Canada.

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Olympic-bound skip credits Carruthers reigniting his love for the game

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Olympic-bound skip credits Carruthers reigniting his love for the game

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026

STEINBACH — The road back to the Olympics involved an important pit stop in Manitoba for Brad Jacobs.

The longtime Northern Ontario skip was burnt out and started the quadrennial by taking a break from the sport. In fact, when the 2021-22 Grand Slam season ended, Jacobs wasn’t so sure if he’d ever commit to a full-time schedule again.

Then, a few months later, he got a phone call from one of Manitoba’s most decorated curlers: Reid Carruthers.

After parting ways with third Jason Gunnlaugson, Carruthers was in a jam and called up Jacobs to see if he’d be open to sparing at the remaining Grand Slam events on the schedule.

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Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Brad Jacobs (centre) credits his time in the Buffalo jacket alongside decorated Manitoban curler Reid Carruthers for saving him from burnout.

Steinbach hits it out of the park as Grand Slam host

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Steinbach hits it out of the park as Grand Slam host

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

STEINBACH —The Grand Slam of Curling hasn’t even left town yet and they’re already thinking about coming back to Steinbach.

“It’s got that wow factor walking in here,” said Jenni Cram, the GSOC’s communications director on Day 1 of the Players’ Championship inside the Southeast Event Centre.

Tuesday marked the GSOC’s return to Manitoba ice for the first time in eight years. With the $75-million arena opening in August and now being an option, the world’s best curlers might find themselves chowing down on Mennonite classics such as Vereniki and Schinka Fleisch a lot more frequently.

“We’ve been eager to come back to Manitoba. It’s been far too long, but it was a matter of finding the right venue,” said Cram.

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Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Gimli’s Kerri Einarson lost her opening match Tuesday to Eun-ji Gim of South Korea.

Grand Slam of Curling returns to Manitoba Tuesday with Players’ Championship

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Grand Slam of Curling returns to Manitoba Tuesday with Players’ Championship

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

It’s a shame how rarely Manitoba’s elite curlers get to play in their home province.

Gimli’s Kerri Einarson hasn’t thrown a competitive rock around these parts since early 2020 when she bested Jennifer Jones in the provincial final in Rivers.

It’s also been far too long for Winnipeggers Mike McEwen (2022 provincials in Selkirk) and Matt Dunstone (2023 provincials in Neepawa) who have gotten used to travelling coast-to-coast annually without playing in the Keystone Province.

The good news is the drought ends this week with Steinbach hosting the Grand Slam of Curling’s (GSOC) Crown Royal Players’ Championship inside the Southeast Event Centre. The action kicks off Tuesday and runs through Sunday featuring the top 12 men’s and top 12 women’s teams in the world battling it out for a combined prize purse of $480,000.

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Monday, Jan. 5, 2026

Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Kerri Einarson is looking forward to being ‘a home-crowd favourite’ at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Players’ Championship.

World’s first professional curling league set to throw first stone in April

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

World’s first professional curling league set to throw first stone in April

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

The world’s first professional curling league is hoping to change the future of the sport.

The Curling Group — the owners of the Grand Slam of Curling — announced back in the spring their intentions to start the Rock League and, on Tuesday, they revealed the 30 men and 30 women from around the globe who will make up the six teams of 10 (five men and five women) who will compete.

Curling legends and competition advisors Jennifer Jones and John Morris were tasked with selecting the 60 players and splitting them into their respective groups.

“It’s been over the course of a year where we’ve gone back and forth in trying to formulate the teams with new, energizing talent, and some names that have been around for a long time,” said Jones in an interview with the Free Press.

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Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025

Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Selkirk’s Kerri Einarson said she loves the idea of a professional league. The four-time Scotties Tournament of Hearts winner will be playing for the Shield Curling Club in April.

Winnipeg team advances to Olympic-qualifier final by prevailing in rematch with McEwen

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg team advances to Olympic-qualifier final by prevailing in rematch with McEwen

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025

HALIFAX — Twenty-four hours earlier a dejected Matt Dunstone thought he blew it.

He had just lost his third consecutive game — a 9-5 loss to fellow Winnipegger Mike McEwen — which ripped his playoff hopes at the 2025 Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax out of his hands. It looked so dire he packed up his curling gear and took it back to the hotel to get it ready for the trip home.

Fortunately for Dunstone, he had to unpack.

Brad Gushue and Kevin Koe also closed out the round-robin on Wednesday with losses, which meant the 30-year-old from Winnipeg was able to squeak into Thursday night’s semifinal as the No. 3 seed in a rematch with McEwen. It was a second life and Dunstone made the most of it by bouncing back with a clutch 9-5 victory.

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Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025

Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Skip Matt Dunstone yells instructions to teammates Thursday during semifinal of the Canadian Olympic curling trials in Halifax.

Dunstone sneaks into men’s semifinal at Olympic curling trials

Taylor Allen 8 minute read Preview

Dunstone sneaks into men’s semifinal at Olympic curling trials

Taylor Allen 8 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025

HALIFAX — Matt Dunstone missing the playoffs seemed unfathomable on Monday.

The Winnipeg skip had just outlasted Brad Gushue in a 9-7 nailbiter to become the only men’s team at the Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax to own a perfect 4-0 record.

“We put ourselves in the driver’s seat,” said Dunstone at the time.

They hit a speed bump Tuesday afternoon when Kevin Koe turned back the clock and made a triple takeout to steal a 5-4 win.

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Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025

Darren Calabrese / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Matt Dunstone will face Mike McEwen in the semifinal of the men’s olympic qualifier.

Calvert and McDonald in showdown for Olympic trials berth

Joshua Frey-Sam 4 minute read Preview

Calvert and McDonald in showdown for Olympic trials berth

Joshua Frey-Sam 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 24, 2025

There will be two Manitoba men’s teams in the hunt for an Olympic berth.

While Matt Dunstone’s seat in the Canadian men’s curling trials is already secured, he found out Friday that he will be joined by another team from the Keystone Province.

Assiniboine’s Jordon McDonald and Braden Calvert of Fort Rouge are on the doorstep of the biggest win of their respective careers, facing off in the Canadian men’s pre-trials finals in Wolfville, N.S..

The winner advances to next month’s trials in Halifax, and the winner of that tournament will have earned the right to don the Maple Leaf at the Olympic Winter Games in Italy this winter.

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Friday, Oct. 24, 2025

Matt Packwood / The Brandon Sun files
Jordon McDonald’s team is one win away from a spot in the Canadian men’s Olympic trials.

A young Team McDonald look to the future with changing of old guard

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Preview

A young Team McDonald look to the future with changing of old guard

Taylor Allen 5 minute read Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

The door is wide open for the next great men’s curling team to emerge out of Manitoba.

With Matt Dunstone pre-qualifying for the Brier on an annual basis, and Reid Carruthers gradually shifting his focus to coaching, the opportunity is there for a rising star out of the Keystone Province.

Enter Jordon McDonald.

Despite being just 22 and fresh out of junior ranks, McDonald and his Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club foursome are ranked ninth in the country.

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Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

Matt Packwood / The Brandon Sun Files
Skip Jordon McDonald said Friday he appreciates playing some of the country’s best teams because it’s a learning experience for his young team.

Team Einarson intact and aiming to bring their best

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Team Einarson intact and aiming to bring their best

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

Kerri Einarson describes last season as the most stressful of her career.

The team that made history with four consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts crowns (2020-23) was no longer intact. Second Shannon Birchard was sidelined with a knee injury, and the group parted ways with former lead Briane Harris shortly after her provisional anti-doping ban was lifted. After rotating through several subs throughout the year, Einarson managed to add Karlee Burgess to the lineup which led to Harris joining forces with another national contender out of Manitoba in Kate Cameron.

Despite all the twists and turns, Einarson, Burgess, Val Sweeting and Krysten Karwacki rallied their way to the Scotties final where they were overmatched by Rachel Homan.

“I sure hope no other team has to go through the things we went through because it was so hard on us,” Einarson told the Free Press on Wednesday.

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Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025

February 7, 2026

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