Brier update: Saskatchewan’s McEwen wins, Kleiter loses to open Brier

Team Sask skip Mike McEwen watches his team deliver the rock during pool B action at the 2024 Montana's Brier inside the Brandt Centre on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 in Regina.

After spectating the opening draw of the 2025 Montana’s Brier on Friday night, both Saskatchewan teams were in action on Saturday on Day 2 of the Canadian men’s curling championship in Kelowna, B.C.

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And in their opening draw, Mike McEwen and his Saskatoon squad — also featuring third Colton Flasch, second Kevin Marsh and lead Dan Marsh — beat Prince Edward Island’s Tyler Smith 6-4 to improve to 1-0 for the tournament.

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After losing in the Brier final last year to defending champion Brad Gushue and Team Canada, McEwen — one of three teams to pre-qualifier for the Brier — opened the 2025 tankard by curling 95 per cent, stealing two points in the third end and scoring three in the fifth to power the team to victory.

Meanwhile Kleiter and his Saskatoon rink — also featuring third Joshua Mattern, second Matthew Hall and lead Trevor Johnson — were on the losing end in their opening game as they fell 7-2 to Nova Scotia’s Owen Purcell.

With both teams making their Brier debuts, the game started out with three blank ends before Kleiter, the 2025 provincial champion, got on the board first with a single. However, after giving up three points in the fifth end, Nova Scotia took control and didn’t look back as they scored two points in the ninth and stole two in the 10th for the win.

McEwen and company will now get set for a pair of games on Sunday as they face Purcell and Team Nova Scotia at 10:30 a.m. before taking on Ontario’s Sam Mooibroek, who beat Quebec’s Felix Asselin in the opening draw, at 8:30 p.m.

Kleiter and his squad will have just one game on Sunday as they face Smith and P.E.I. at 10:30 p.m. before having the evening off.

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Both teams will play a single draw on Monday before two games apiece on Tuesday. On Wednesday, it will be an all-Saskatchewan battle with Kleiter and McEwen going head-to-head at 3:30 p.m. The round robin then wraps up on Thursday.

The top three teams in each pool will make the playoff round with head-to-head results serving as the first tiebreaker if teams have the same record. If head-to-head results don’t solve anything, last-shot draw standings will be used as there are no tiebreaker games.