It didn’t take too long for Mike McEwen to find a new home.
The veteran curler will stay in Saskatchewan next season to skip a Saskatoon-based team of third Rylan Kleiter, second Joshua Mattern and lead Trevor Johnson.
“I’m not leaving,” McEwen said in a statement. “I’m excited for both the team and myself to stay in Saskatchewan.”
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A Winnipeg resident and native of Brandon, Man., the 45-year-old McEwen has spent the past three seasons in Saskatchewan, but was recently let go by Colton Flasch, Kevin Marsh and Dan Marsh after missing the playoffs at the Montana’s Brier earlier this month.
Team McEwen also dropped the semifinal to Team Matt Dunstone at the Canadian Curling Trials in November.
Tyler Tardi, who made the Brier final this season with Team Kevin Koe, took over McEwen’s former rink last week in his return to the skip position.
The new-look rinks led by McEwen and Tardi instantly become strong contenders in the prairie province as Saskatchewan gets set to host the 100th Brier next season in Saskatoon.
McEwen has been to 11 straight Briers, losing to Brad Gushue in the 2024 final in Regina with his former team.
Kleiter, 27, has skipped teams in Saskatchewan for the past 12 seasons, but will now have a new role. A spot opened up on his squad following the departure of Matthew Hall earlier this week.
Team Kleiter represented Saskatchewan at the 2025 Montana’s Brier, missing the playoffs with a 3-5 record. They went 2-5 at the Canadian Curling Trials and lost the provincial final to Team Kelly Knapp this season.
Kleiter and company were ranked 30th in the world in 2025-26 while McEwen’s former team ranked 14th.
