Brent MacDougall is a friendly face at the Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, but he is a fierce competitor. The 2026 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship marks MacDougall’s fifth appearance at the tournament since 2013.
MacDougall capped off Thursday at the West Prince Curling Club in Woodstock, P.E.I., with one win and one loss and heads into the final day of pool play on Friday with a 6-2 record.
Nova Scotia’s MacDougall (Halifax) started the day with a 5-3 win over Team Alberta’s Andrew Hodgson (3-5; Airdrie) before falling 6-5 to Team Saskatchewan’s Tyler Hartung (4-4; Regina) on Thursday evening.
The afternoon matchup with Alberta almost took a different direction in the fifth end when MacDougall lined up to draw against three countering stones.
“That would have killed us if I would have been heavy,” said MacDougall. “We were able to get one there. That was big for us. I felt like we, with the exception of that end, we controlled most of the game.”
The game stayed close, but MacDougall hung on to the hammer heading into the eighth end with a one-point lead. While Hodgson had two rocks set up in the house, MacDougall made a near-perfect draw to the button.
“I’m a good drawer and I have a really good sweeper in Scott (Weagle), and Marie (Christianson) is very good at judging weight,” said MacDougall. “So, yeah, I was feeling the pressure, but I was confident that if I put it in the ballpark that they would do whatever needed to be done.”
The evening’s matchup posed an even greater challenge as Team Saskatchewan’s shot-making was unrelenting.
Hartung pulled away in the sixth end with three points on the board and made it difficult for MacDougall to come back. In the seventh end, Saskatchewan stones guarded the house well and forced Nova Scotia to take only one point. The game was tied heading into the eighth end, but Hartung used his last-rock advantage to secure the 6-5 win.
“Well, this is my fifth time here,” said MacDougall after his Thursday afternoon win. “It seems like we’re on a bit of a roll this time, so we’ll see what happens. At my age, I’m having fun. I got all these young men and women in front of me, and they’re all really playing well. It’s a very good team.”
Meanwhile, Team Québec’s Félix Asselin (8-0; Dollard-des-Ormeaux) and Team New Brunswick’s Sylvie Quillian (7-1; Moncton) both came out with two wins on Thursday in the Championship Pool.
Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Team Northern Ontario’s Bryan Burgess (6-2; Thunder Bay) currently hold the top four spots in the Championship Pool.
In the Seeding Pool, Team Newfoundland & Labrador’s Scott Eaton (4-4; St. John’s) and Team Ontario’s Cory Heggestad (4-4; Innisfil) both picked up two wins on Thursday.
Action from the 2026 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship will continue Friday with draws at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 6 p.m. (all times Atlantic).
For the 2026 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship live results, click here.
For the full event schedule, click here.
For ticket information, click here.
The French version of this story will be posted as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/fr/nouvelles-media/
