![]() Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue (photo: Grand Slam of Curling) is in Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan, at the Astec Safety Challenge to kick off their 2025 season. By Connor Simms, Brad Gushue with Mark Nichols at third, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker on the front end looking to find their first event win of the season. The #6 Year-to-Date ranked team has yet to find the top of an event this season, which is rare for a team that won four events last season. Losing the final in three events, the PointsBet Invitational, The Hearing Life Tour Challenge Tier 1 and the Co-op Canadian Open. In their last event, Gushue was in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, at the RBC Dominion Securities Western Showdown in early December. They qualified C-side, losing their quarterfinal match versus Manitoba's Matt Dunstone. Bottcher is coming off a second-place finish at the 2025 Canadian Mixed Doubles Trials with his partner Rachel Homan and losing the final to Jocelyn Peterman/Brett Gallant (Chestermere). Gushue will be in Kelowna, British Columbia, at the beginning of March for the 2025 Montana's Brier, where they will look to win their fourth title in a row. They are in Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan, at the Astec Safety Challenge, a 24-team triple knockout qualifying round. Gushue will face Swift Current's Carl deConinck Smith on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Newfoundland Time (NT). Select games, including Gushue's opening game against Smith, can be watched on the CurlingZone Youtube page or by going to the CurlingZone Website and clicking the red play button next to the linescore. |