Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen rink fell just shy of qualifying for playoffs at the 2026 Brier following a 6-3 loss to Team Dunstone on Mar. 5, 2026. (Image Credit: Andrew Klaver/Curling Canada)

By Scott Roblin/CKOM

Back-to-back losses

Mike McEwen, Kelly Knapp rinks fall short of playoffs at Brier

Mar 6, 2026 | 10:11 AM

Saskatchewan’s decades-long drought at the Montana’s Brier will continue at least one more year after a Thursday that curling fans in the province would probably prefer to forget.

It was a nightmare evening for Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen rink, falling 6-3 to Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone rink to end the week with back-to-back losses.

That loss wasn’t enough on its own to fall short of the playoff round, but a win from the Braden Calvert rink against Northern Ontario saw the Manitoba team leap over McEwen and steal the final playoff spot in Pool B.

Coming in with a 5-2 record on Thursday, McEwen had his playoff fate in his own hands, taking on a Dunstone rink which already had a playoff berth locked up.

Leading 3-2 entering the eighth end, Team McEwen gave up a score of two to Team Dunstone, which took its first lead of the game since the first end to make it 4-3.

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McEwen blanked the ninth end to hold hammer in the 10th, but he missed a couple of huge shots with a house full of yellow stones, including his final throw, which came up well short.

While the team from the Nutana Curling Club tied with the Calvert rink, with a 5-3 record, Calvert won the head-to-head matchup on Wednesday and finished with a better last stone draw.

It’s a second straight disappointing exit for McEwen, third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Daniel Marsh at the Brier after falling in a playoff qualifier in 2025.

Regina’s Kelly Knapp rink, meanwhile, also fell short of the playoffs at the Brier in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

With the group entering their final game of the Brier on Thursday already knowing their playoff hopes would come up short, a 9-4 loss to the Jayden King rink out of Ontario sealed their fate.

Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead following the first end, that momentum was short-lived for the Saskatchewan rink, with King scoring four points in the second end to seize control 4-2.

Knapp put up singles in the third and fourth ends to tie the game at 4-4, but Ontario continued to pour on the pressure in the sixth end with another two points of their own to jump ahead 6-4.

The turning point came in the seventh end, with a key miss by Knapp on his final throw to give up a steal of two, before King stole another point in the eighth to bring the game to an early close.

Thursday’s loss dropped Team Knapp’s record to 3-5 for the week, finishing tied for fifth in Pool A standings.

The team of Knapp, third Brennen Jones, second Dustin Kidby and lead Mat Ring now have a career record of 7-9 at the Brier after representing the province in 2023.

Saskatchewan has not won a Brier title since the Rick Folk rink captured the province’s last Canadian championship in 1980.