When Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek was warming up ahead of his Montana’s Brier debut on Saturday, Canadian curling heavyweights could be spotted at every turn.
Olympic champions Ben Hebert, Marc Kennedy and Brad Jacobs were by the sheet beside him. Three-time world champion Brent Laing was on the far coach’s bench. Former national champions Brett Gallant and Colton Flasch were also nearby.
Mooibroek has played many of the sport’s top teams during his ascent into the top 25 in the world rankings. But the Brier stage is different and some early jitters could be expected.
Instead the 25-year-old played like a seasoned veteran, scoring five points in the second end en route to an 11-4 rout of Quebec’s Jean-Michel Menard in Kelowna, B.C..
“It’s just like another curling game but with a lot of people watching,” Mooibroek said.
Youth was served in the second draw of the 10-day competition. Mooibroek was joined by Brier freshmen Owen Purcell of Nova Scotia and Rylan Kleiter of Saskatchewan in afternoon play at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., all part of a rookie-heavy Pool B.
Purcell flashed a stone in the fourth end but rebounded with a runback for three in the fifth against Kleiter in a 7-2 win.
“We’ve had the chance to really build some confidence and say, ‘You know what? We belong here,’ said Purcell. “So I think that confidence definitely helped us to begin our first draw.”
The three young skips, all in their mid-20s, came up together at the junior level and now lead a new generation of Canadian curling talent that has arrived at the nationals.
“We desperately need these teams,” said Ontario coach Jake Higgs. “Old guys like me and just slightly younger than me, they’re going to be gone (from the sport soon). We need this new influx of young talent … I expect big things out of all those teams this week.”
McEwen takes opener
The other rookie skip in the nine-team pool is Aaron Bartling of the Northwest Territories, who was scheduled to play his first game against Mooibroek on Sunday morning.
Bartling, who made his Brier debut as an alternate in 2021, earned his berth with an extra-end win over Jamie Koe in the territorial playdowns. British Columbia’s Cameron de Jong and Ty Dilello of Newfoundland and Labrador are the rookie skips in Pool A.
Saskatchewan’s Mike McEwen opened with a 6-4 win over Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith, and Alberta’s Brad Jacobs defeated Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin 10-3.
Kleiter scored a single in the seventh end to make it a one-point game but Purcell closed things out with a pair of deuces.
“This is such a pinnacle for them,” said Nova Scotia coach Colleen Jones. “This is a big moment. I think I know how they can perform and if they do what they did in the provincials, they’re a really talented team that can hopefully not back down to anybody.”
In the evening draw, Canada’s Brad Gushue defeated British Columbia’s Cameron de Jong 5-3 and Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers dumped Newfoundland and Labrador’s Ty Dilello 14-2.
Alberta’s Kevin Koe dropped a 9-5 decision to Northern Ontario’s John Epping and Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone walloped Nunavut’s Shane Latimer 13-2.
“We’re trying to find that extra layer of precision that we’re going to have to find as we head into the middle of the round-robin here,” the top-ranked Dunstone said. “I thought in that game we started a little bit slow and then just got better every end.”
Round-robin play continues through Thursday night. The final is set for March 9.
Koe was the last rookie skip to win the Brier. He led his Alberta team to a 6-5 extra-end win over Ontario’s Glenn Howard in the 2010 final at Halifax.