Yukon’s Team Scoffin hits win column at 2025 Montana’s Brier
Playing in his sixth Montana’s Brier, Team Yukon skip Thomas Scoffin knows his goals and those of the top-seeded teams competing this week at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C., are different.
Which isn’t to say that the 30-year-old Whitehorse account doesn’t have the same kind of aspirations when it comes to performance, and that was apparent again Sunday night at the 2025 Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI.
Scoffin, the most accomplished curler ever produced by the Yukon Territory, made two wonderful shots in the eighth end that proved pivotal in his team’s 7-5 win over Nova Scotia’s Team Owen Purcell (1-2; Halifax).
It was the first win in three starts for the Yukon team, which is rounded out by third Kerr Drummond, second Trygg Jensen, lead/vice-skip Joe Wallingham and coach Darren Moulding.
“We play to win and we play to make every shot,” said Scoffin, a former bronze-medallist at the Youth Winter Olympics as Team Canada skip in 2012 and, like Purcell, a former U SPORTS Canadian university champion as skip of the University of Alberta Golden Bears in 2015. “We’ve got the whole tool bag. You know, the reality is that we’ve been playing well — just on the wrong side of the inch and a couple ends that got away from us in the first two games. But, you know, we’re a really strong team.
“We don’t get a chance to play together as much as some of these other teams that are here, obviously. And we know that coming in, right? So, we’re getting better every game.”
Team Yukon was in control much of the game, opening with a steal of one in the first and then stealing two more in the fifth when Purcell was heavy on his last-rock draw to go up 4-1.
Nova Scotia mounted a second-half comeback, getting the deuce back in the sixth and forcing Yukon to a single in the seventh, and had a promising end of three or more building in the eighth.
Scoffin, though, would snuff it out single-handedly, with a double takeout and then a wonderful (and a tiny bit fortunate, Scoffin would be the first to admit) hit-and-roll to freeze to shot stone, and Nova Scotia had to settle for a disheartening single.
And in the ninth, the former For The Love of Curling Scholarship recipient made a short angle-slash takeout to score a crucial deuce.
“I mean, those are the shots that you visualize and that you practise at home, right?” said Scoffin, who’s looking to improve on his previous best record at the Montana’s Brier; he’s finished 2-6 on three previous occasions, including the past two years. “So to have those come to fruition and to make those on the big stages is exactly what we want.”
One difference this year is the presence of Moulding, a former Montana’s Brier champion who joined the team shortly before the Montana’s Brier.
“We were looking for a guy who’s going to bring us some experience and maybe some new perspectives,” said Scoffin. “He’s a Brier champ and obviously a great guy with a ton of experience. He’s been awesome for us, and just that breath of fresh air and helping us in looking to take it to the next level.”
In other games Sunday, Alberta’s Team Brad Jacobs (2-0; Calgary) set a playoff-era Brier scoring record (since 1980) with a 20–2 win over the Northwest Territories’ Team Aaron Bartling (0-2; Hay River); it broke a record set in 2022 when Manitoba defeated Nunavut 18-1.
Also Sunday, Saskatchewan’s Team Mike McEwen (3-0; Saskatoon) doubled Ontario’s Team Sam Mooibroek (2-1; Whitby); and Québec’s Team Félix Asselin (2-1; Glenmore/Valleyfield/Etchemin/Des Collines/Belvedere) got by Prince Edward Island’s Team Tyler Smith (0-3; Crapaud) 7-5.
Saskatchewan’s Team Rylan Kleiter (1-1; Saskatoon) had the Pool B bye Sunday night.
The Montana’s Brier continues Monday with draws at 8:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (all times Pacific).
Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2025 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/.
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This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025brier/nouvelles/?lang=fr