Foursome of Saskatoon Quartets to Contend For Canadian Olympic Curling Berths

Photo credit: Grand Slam of Curling website (L-R) Mike McEwen, Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh, Dan Marsh

Four Saskatoon teams are in contention to represent Canada in four player curling at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy next February.

On the men’s side, foursomes skipped by Mike McEwen (pictured) and Rylan Kleiter have directly qualified for the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, to be held November 22 through 30 in Halifax. Seven women’s and seven men’s quartets have directly qualified. The eighth team on each side will be determined through the Canadian Curling Pre-Trials, to be held October 20 through 26 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. There will be eight women’s and eight men’s teams in each gender division, including Saskatoon squads skipped by Ashley Thevenot and Nancy Martin on the women’s side. Following is the news release from Curling Canada…..

For Immediate Release
April 22, 2025

Women’s and men’s fields for Trials,
Pre-Trials in Nova Scotia officially set

It’s down to fifteen teams in each gender who still are in the race to represent Canada in four-player curling in 2026, it was confirmed today by Curling Canada.

Seven teams in each gender have qualified directly for the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, which will take place Nov. 22-30 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax and will determine the women’s and men’s teams that will be nominated to the Canadian Olympic Committee to be part of the Canadian team for the 2026 Winter Games.

One more team of each gender will get a Trials invite by winning their berth at the 2025 Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials, Oct. 20-26 at the Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville, N.S.

The Home Hardware Pre-Trials and Montana’s Trials will have identical formats — eight-team round robins, with three teams making the playoffs. The first-place team will get a bye to the final, while the second- and third-place teams will meet in the semifinal.

For the first time in Trials and Pre-Trials history, both events will feature best-of-three finals.

The qualifying period for both events concluded after the Grand Slam AMJ Players’ Championship earlier this month in Toronto.

To be eligible for the berths, teams had to meet various qualifying standards, as well as maintaining the standard three-of-four player rule (with potential exceptions in the case of medical exemptions).

Here are the qualifying teams, and the order and method in which they qualified, for the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials:

Women

1 — Team Rachel Homan (Ottawa), 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion.
2 — Team Kerri Einarson (Gimli, Man.), leading team in the 2023-24 Canadian Team Ranking System standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
3 — Team Kayla Skrlik (Calgary), 2025 Scotties champion or highest non-qualified team on the 2024-25 CTRS standings.
4 — Team Kaitlyn Lawes (Winnipeg), leading team in the combined two-year (2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons) CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
5 — Team Kate Cameron (Winnipeg), leading team in the combined two-year (2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons) CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
6 — Team Christina Black (Halifax), leading team in the combined two-year (2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons) CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
7 — Team Corryn Brown (Kamloops, B.C.), leading team in the 2024-25 CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
8 — Pre-Trials winner.

Men

1 — Team Brad Gushue (St. John’s, N.L.), 2024 Montana’s Brier champion.
2 — Team Brad Jacobs (Calgary), leading team in the 2023-24 Canadian Team Ranking System standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
3 — Team Matt Dunstone (Winnipeg), 2025 Montana’s Brier champion or highest non-qualified team on the 2024-25 CTRS standings.
4 — Team Mike McEwen (Saskatoon), leading team in the combined two-year (2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons) CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
5 — Team Kevin Koe (Calgary), leading team in the combined two-year (2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons) CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
6 — Team Rylan Kleiter (Saskatoon), leading team in the combined two-year (2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons) CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
7 — Team John Epping (Sudbury, Ont.) leading team in the 2024-25 CTRS standings (that hadn’t already qualified and meets eligibility requirements).
8 — Pre-Trials winner.

The eight women’s and eight men’s teams competing in the Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials qualified based on their ranking on the 2024-25 CTRS standings, and had to meet the same eligibility requirements as those who qualified for the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials.

Here are the teams that qualified and accepted invitations for the Home Hardware Canadian Curling Pre-Trials (in some cases, teams turned down invitations because of lineup changes or other commitments for the 2025-26 curling season):

Women

1. Team Beth Peterson (Winnipeg)
2. Team Kayla MacMillan (Victoria)
3. Team Danielle Inglis (Ottawa)
4. Team Selena Sturmay (Edmonton)
5. Team Ashley Thevenot (Saskatoon)
6. Team Krista McCarville (Thunder Bay, Ont.)
7. Team Myla Plett (Edmonton)
8. Team Nancy Martin (Saskatoon)

Men

1. Team Jordon McDonald (Winnipeg)
2. Team Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg)
3. Team Sam Mooibroek (Whitby, Ont.)
4. Team Scott Howard (Navan, Ont.)
5. Team Braden Calvert (Winnipeg)
6. Team Mark Kean (Woodstock, Ont.)
7. Team Owen Purcell (Halifax)
8. Team Félix Asselin (Montreal)

Today’s announcement also officially confirms that Home Hardware will once again be the title sponsor of the Canadian Curling Pre-Trials.

“Home Hardware Stores Limited has been partnered with Curling Canada since 2013, and has been the title sponsor of numerous major championships over the years,” said Nolan Thiessen, Chief Executive Officer of Curling Canada. “Today’s announcement of its continued sponsorship of the Pre-Trials is yet another example of this Canadian-owned-and-operated company’s longstanding support of Canadian curlers, and we are truly appreciative for this partnership.”

Home Hardware also was the title sponsor of the 2017 (Summerside, P.E.I.) and 2021 Canadian Curling Pre-Trials (Liverpool, N.S.).

“Deeply rooted in communities across Canada, curling is a sport that embodies skill, teamwork and strategy- values that align perfectly with Home Hardware,” said Robert Allen, Director, Paid Media at Home Hardware Stores Limited. “We are thrilled to be the title sponsor of the 2025 Canadian Curling Pre-Trials and look forward to supporting Canadian athletes on their journey in pursuit of their goals and dreams on the world stage.”