One more year: Jacobs’ Olympic curling champions are back, and they’re not done winning yet

There will be no farewell tour just yet.

No last dance.

No dramatic goodbyes.

No riding off into the sunset with Olympic gold medals hanging off their necks.

At least not this year.

Brad Jacobs and his Olympic champion rink are back together for another season, with third Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert both deciding that retirement can wait.

And while nobody is promising a long-term commitment or signing up for another four-year Olympic odyssey just yet, one more year with this group is a pretty terrific proposition.

Especially when you consider what they accomplished last season.

Jacobs, Kennedy, Hebert and Brett Gallant captured Olympic gold for Canada in Italy, delivering on the biggest stage in curling. They did it with the experience, talent and competitive fire that have made them formidable for years but also with a perspective that comes with age, family, a few battle scars and the realization that curling, even at its most important, is still a game.

“I’m not certainly signing up for a four-year another Olympic gold medal championship run,” said Hebert, when talking of the future. “Year-to-year basis and signing one-year deals and see how it goes.”

That sounds like somebody keeping his options open — and that’s precisely the point.

Hebert, who has spent more than two decades grinding away on the curling circuit, isn’t interested in committing to another Olympic cycle simply because he can. He’s still good enough to compete, still loves the game and still has plenty of competitive fire. But he also has kids growing up, sports to watch, a fastball team to coach and a life away from the rink that deserves his attention.

“I’m still plenty good enough to do that,” said Hebert of continuing to compete. “I just don’t know if I want to anymore.”

The compromise, then, for 2026-27?

A lighter schedule, more time at home and a commitment to the events that matter most.

“This year, we’re doing a lighter schedule — we’re playing just the grand slams (including next week’s Masters in Medicine Hat, Alta.) and the Brier,” Hebert explained. “So for me, it was a no-brainer this year to just be able to lighten the load a little bit and have a good balance.”

That’s the plan, anyway.

And if the competitive itch gets scratched along the way, well, that’s a bonus.

Hebert also believes playing less can make the time on the ice more enjoyable.

“When we’re out there less, you know, it really keeps me fiery and competitive and wanting to do well when we’re curling,” said the Regina native who now lives in the Calgary area. “The grand slams and being in an arena … you know … and certainly the 100th anniversary Brier in my home province of Saskatchewan (in Saskatoon) is going to be amazing. And then we’ll see what happens at the end of the season.

“But as far as playing this year goes, I’m really excited.”

The 42-year-old has nothing left to prove.

He’s won two Olympic gold medals — including last winter’s much celebrated one in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — a handful of Briers and a couple of world championships, and he’s already experienced the sort of career most curlers can only dream about. Walking away now would mean going out on top.

“I mean … we’re going out on top no matter what,” corrected Hebert. “I mean … if we play this year and then I retire, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re defending Olympic gold-medal champions, which is all that you know really moves the needle these days. And to be able to do that last year at 42 years old with some of my best buddies, that is going out on top.

“I never dreamt I would have won two Olympic golds and been to the third and won five Briers and world championships. So I certainly have nothing else to win or to prove or anything like that.”

And why walk away anyway when you’re still enjoying the ride?

“I’m just playing because I love my teammates,” Hebert said. “I love competing. I’m still able to do it at a high level. And … you know … there’s going to be a day that that isn’t the case.”

But that day hasn’t arrived.

And with 44-year-old Kennedy reaching the same conclusion, Team Jacobs — including skip Jacobs, second Gallant and coach Paul Webster — gets another season with a lineup that has virtually everything a skip could want: experience, shot-making, sweeping power, big-game composure and a collective understanding of what it takes to win.

The trick will be keeping it fun while maintaining the standards that come with being Olympic champions.

Hebert doesn’t believe those two things are mutually exclusive. In fact, he thinks fun has been central to the rink’s glory.

“A big part of our team’s success the last two years with Brad and Brett and Mark and Paul has been enjoyment,” Hebert said. “I think that’s the reason we won the Olympics. You saw some really tight, young, high-stressed players in situations where the outcome mattered to them more, and they played a certain way, and we played loose.”

That approach isn’t changing.

And don’t mistake a relaxed attitude for lowered expectations. The rink is still a competitive one, and nobody in the lineup is interested in spending a season simply enjoying the scenery.

“We’re going to want to win every event,” Hebert said. “The minute you’re on a team with Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy and Brett Gallant and myself, those expectations just kind of go without saying — just because everybody’s so competitive and because the talent on that team is so high.”

There is plenty left to accomplish, too.

Last season’s Brier was something of an afterthought in the immediate aftermath of Olympic gold. The team went straight from Italy to the Canadian championship, exhausted and emotionally spent and somehow managed to reach the semifinals despite having little left in the tank.

Hebert remembers very little about it.

“Last year we were kind of the walking dead at the Brier,” added Hebert. “I think that we’ll be ready to go this year, and that’s certainly going to be our goal. We want to be to be consistent and continue to get better throughout the regular season at the grand slams.”

 “I think we’re going to continue to build on a great season that we had last year.”

• John Epping’s Winnipeg crew won the Henderson Metal Fall Classic presented by Kioti Tractors of Ontario on Saturday in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

Skip Epping, third B.J. Neufeld, second Ryan Wiebe and lead Ian McMillan went 6-0 at the spiel, wrapping it up with a 5-4 edge of Italy’s Joel Retornaz in the finale.

• Regina’s Catlin Schneider won the Full Line Ag Curling Stadium SaskTour Series event in Swift Current, Sask.

Skip Schneider, third Shaun Meachem, second Brady Scharback and lead Chris Haichert finished unbeaten with a 6-0 mark, ending with Sunday’s 7-6 top of Ottawa’s Owen Nicholls in the championship draw.

• Seung-youn Ha won the Lloydminster SaskTour Spiel on Sunday in Lloydminster, Sask.

Ha defeated fellow South Korean rink Eun-jung Kim 5-1 in the final to finish with a 6-0 run.

• Christina Black won the Dave Jones Stanhope Simpson Insurance Mayflower Cashspiel on Sunday in Halifax.

Fellow Haligonian Nick Mosher took home the men’s money from the Mayflower.

• The Sundbyberg Open in Sweden was won by Jacob Schmidt on the men’s side and Sarah Meuller on the women’s side.

• B.C.’s Jorja Kopytko and Daniel Deng won the Abbotsford Elite Mixed Doubles Classic presented by Major Welding in Abbotsford, B.C.

They beat B.C.’s Courtney Woo and Daniel Wenzek 8-6 in the finale to wrap up the spiel with a 6-1 record.

• The 2026 Le Gruyere AOP European Curling Champions for both men and women began Tuesday in Ostrava, Czechia.

• Molson Canadian is serving up sponsorship to the sport in a partnership with the Grand Slam of Curling for the 2026 season.

The presenting partner joins GSOC for its second event of the calendar — beginning next Tuesday at the Masters in Medicine Hat — and continues for the rest of the slam season with in-venue branding, broadcast assets and original social and broadcast content celebrating Canadian curling athletes.