LETHBRIDGE, Alta., - At just about every Tim Hortons Brier, you can look out at the sheets of ice and spot at least a couple curling families.

There are the Brush Brothers – E.J. and Ryan Harnden – who have played for their cousin Brad Jacobs for over a decade in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Then there’s twin brothers Kevin and Daniel Marsh, front enders for Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch. Kevin and Jamie Koe, brothers and skips for Alberta and Northwest Territories, are Brier regulars, and the father-son duo of Glenn and Scott Howard are competing together this week in their fifth Canadian championship.

But there’s a fresh family connection at this year’s event in Lethbridge, Alta. Northern Ontario third Marc Kennedy, one of the most familiar faces in the sport, is making his 11th appearance at the national championship. For the first time ever, Kennedy’s older brother, Glen, is playing under the bright lights of the Brier at Enmax Centre.

The 42-year-old from Edmonton played in the 2006 and 2007 Canada Cups but had long accepted that an appearance at the Brier was probably not in the cards. Then came a call from Koe of the Northwest Territories this past off-season.

“I basically semi-retired over the summer,” Glen told TSN.ca. “Curling was priority five or six in my life. So, it was really cool to have the chance to play with Jamie and the boys, representing the Territories.”

The elder Kennedy has loved every second of his experience so far, with a clash against his younger brother slated for Tuesday morning.

“It’s been an unbelievable experience. It’s so great playing in front of this many fans. There’s probably a good 4,000 people out here today cheering us on, which is awesome, post COVID,” said Glen following a loss to British Columbia Sunday night. “It’s been a pretty unreal experience for me so far.”

Back in the day, curling was priority No. 1 for both Kennedy brothers. They were teammates during their junior years until a devastating knee injury forced Glen to take a different path in his life, including focusing on his career as an engineer.

Glen says he’s not sure how things would have played out if not for the injury but is perfectly happy with the results.

“I messed it [knee] up pretty bad playing soccer for a lot of years and was on crutches for many, many months and just got tired of not being able to walk,” Glen said. “But no regrets. At the end of the day, I took my path with career and family and curling just took a bit of a back seat.”

Glen and Marc started curling young with their parents getting them into the Little Rocks program when they were just seven and five, respectively. Their late father was their first coach and was integral in laying the foundation for future success.

“Our dad pushed us to enjoy the game. To try to win and get better,” said Marc. “We both always pushed each other to get better, and I have very fond memories of those days.”

Marc, a three-time Brier champion and 2010 Olympic gold medalist, remembers how the competitive nature of brotherly love pushed them to new heights during in their junior careers.

“I think of how much we used to fight. Fought like brothers. We had pretty high expectations of one another. You know what? I think once his knee injury happened, I developed more of a respect for him because I really felt some sympathy for him,” said Kennedy. “But we were both great curlers and we loved to win, and we were very competitive. That’s never changed.”

Playing for Carter Rycroft, the Kennedys reached the 1998 Canadian Junior Championship final where they lost to John Morris.

“We had a lot of success playing together. We had a lot of big losses, which I think those type of things obviously helped Marc with his career as well,” said Glen. “You have to go through some big losses in your career, too.”

Even though they went separate paths as far as their curling careers, the sport has kept the brothers close over the years.

“Always good conversations around the dinner table. I had a lot of tremendous experiences curling and he’s shared them with me. He’s been to the Olympics in Vancouver and the Olympics in Korea,” explained Marc. “He’s seen me play a lot of events. It’s always made for good conversation.”

As for Tuesday’s big game?

“Hopefully I can keep up with him,” joked Glen.