Alberta’s Kevin Koe wraps up top spot in pool at Brier

Alberta’s Kevin Koe wrapped up top spot in Pool B in Thursday’s early draw at the Montana’s Brier, while Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone clinched a playoff spot.

Koe, a four-time Canadian men’s curling champion, improved to 7-0 with an 11-4 win over B.C.’s Cody Tanaka in the morning.

Dunstone assured himself a playoff spot with a 9-3 win over Northern Ontario’s Sandy MacEwan. He improved to 6-1, but can’t catch Koe after losing to the Alberta skip earlier in the tournament. 

It sets up a key match in the final draw between Dunstone and Saskatchewan skip Mike McEwen, who was idle in the morning. McEwen enters the final match at 5-2, and would take second from Dunstone with a win, as the first tiebreaker is head-to-head record.

Meanwhile, rookie Manitoba skip Braden Calvert and New Brunswick’s James Grattan were still in the mix for the third playoff spot, should McEwen lose to Dunstone.

Grattan beat Calvert 8-7 in an extra end to give both rinks 4-3 records.

In the morning’s other game, Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories defeated Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin 10-4.

Two more draws were scheduled for Thursday, including a highly anticipated afternoon matchup between Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue and Canada’s Brad Jacobs.

The winner of the showdown between Gushue, a six-time Canadian men’s champion and local favourite, and Jacobs, the reigning Brier and Olympic champion, will finish first in Group A heading into the playoffs.