For the first time ever, two teams only had three players at a Brier game. On Friday at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Team Canada’s Brad Jacobs defeated Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith, 8-3.
The reason why Jacobs only had three players is because lead Ben Hebert was ill. Meanwhile, Smith had three curlers at the Prince Edward Island Provincial Curling Championship in Montague, and now he is only at the Brier with two other players. Smith’s second Chris Gallant was unavailable to compete at the Brier due to work commitments according to Jason Simmonds of The Guardian.
Jacobs’s teammates on Friday were third Marc Kennedy, and second Brett Gallant. It is interesting that Jacobs’s alternate is listed as Michael Caione, but he decided to only go with three players. Smith’s third is Adam Cocks, and his front end player is Ed White.
Jacobs, Kennedy and Gallant are all Olympic gold medalists. Jacobs skipped Canada to gold at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, and teamed up with Gallant, Hebert and Kennedy to win gold at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo. Herbert and Kennedy also won gold for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.
On Friday, we also saw Newfoudland’s Brad Gushue beating Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard 10-2. Gushue and Menard are retiring at the end od the curling season. Newfoundland’s Nathan Young also beat Nunavut 8-4, and Ontario beat Nova Scotia 11-4.