Reaching Brier playoffs a ‘dream come true’ for Ontario rookie skip King

Jayden King and his rookie rink from the Tillsonburg Curling Club is headed to the playoffs at the 2026 Montana’s Brier.

Ontario’s Team King finished round robin play on Thursday afternoon with a 9-4 win over Saskatchewan’s Team Kelly Knapp, securing the third and final playoff spot in Pool A with a 5-3 record.

“It means everything. This is a dream come true,” King told reporters at Mary Brown’s Centre after shooting 75 per cent against Saskatchewan.

“It’s really nice to see our hard work coming though today.”

King, third Dylan Niepage, second Owen Henry and lead Victor Pietrangelo started their week in St. John’s, Nfld., strong with back-to-back wins over Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island before dropping three of their next four games, including a difficult loss to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Team Nathan Young on Wednesday afternoon.

Sitting with a 3-3 record, King’s team rebounded with an impressive 8-7 win over 2006 Brier champion Jean-Michel Menard and his veteran-laden Quebec rink on Wednesday night to stay in the playoff hunt.

King shot 85 per cent in the win, 29 per cent better than Felix Asselin, his last rock throwing opponent.

Ontario carried their momentum over to Thursday’s playoff-clinching win against Saskatchewan.

The 23-year-old King, who’s making history this week as the first Black skip in Brier history, said the roller-coaster week has been valuable for his young team.

“This has been a key learning moment and hopefully pivotal in our careers. We had some good conversations, some hard conversations, some good lessons, some hard lessons and it’s led to us being a much more cohesive unit and a much better team out there,” said King.

King says the team’s closeness has paid major dividends at their first Canadian men’s curling championship.

“When you’re friends with the people you’re playing with it’s a lot easier to say ‘Hey, I’m wrong,’ or ‘Hey, I want to help you out.’ At the end of the day that what it boils down to,” explained the MSc-Physiotherapy student at McMaster University. “It just happens to also make us better curlers when you come together as a team. You really can’t win with just individuals out there, you do have to be a team.”

King and Niepage almost qualified for the 2024 Brier, but lost the provincial final in an extra end to Team Scott Howard. King and company defeated defending champion Team Sam Mooibroek in this year’s final in Elmira.

With their third place finish in Pool A, Team King will play in the 3 vs. 4 page qualifier Friday evening against the loser of Team Brad Gushue and Team Matt Dunstone, who will clash in the 1 vs. 2 page qualifier in the afternoon.

Hometown hero Gushue and his St. John’s rink finished first in Pool A with an 8-0 record while reigning Olympic and Brier champion Team Brad Jacobs finished second at 7-1. Alberta’s Team Kevin Koe (8-0), Manitoba’s Team Dunstone (7-1) and Manitoba’s Team Braden Calvert (5-3), also Brier rookies, are the playoff teams in Pool B.

Team King will be considered significant underdogs in the playoffs, a perception the Courtland, Ont., has no issue with.

Team King will need to win four straight elimination games in the playoffs to become Brier champions.

“We like having our backs against the wall and being the Cinderella story of the event,” King said. “The pressure is on them [top contenders] right now. There’s not really any pressure on us. We’re just going out there and throwing rocks, so hopefully they end up in good spots.”

Kevin Koe, 51, is the last rookie skip to win a Brier Tankard, accomplishing the feat in 2010 in Halifax.