Alberta鈥檚 Aaron Sluchinski, Manitoba鈥檚 Reid Carruthers and wild-card Kevin Koe completed the 18-team field for the national men鈥檚 curling championship Sunday.

Carruthers, whose team is skipped by Brad Jacobs, doubled Braden Calvert 6-3 in Manitoba鈥檚 men鈥檚 final in Stonewall.

Jacobs, winner of 11 快盈v3 Ontario championships and an Olympic gold medal in 2014, came out of retirement to join Carruthers鈥� team last year. Carruthers announced in December his shift to throwing third stones to make Jacobs his skip.

Jacobs will wear Manitoba colours March 1-10 at the Montana鈥檚 Brier in Regina.

鈥淭his was an eye-opening experience for me,鈥� Jacobs told Curl Manitoba. 鈥淚鈥檝e never played a provincial championship in Manitoba before.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a ton of talent here. There鈥檚 great young teams and players coming up. Team Calvert, obviously a world-class team. They played awesome today. I feel for them right now. It sucks to lose that final, but I鈥檓 sure they鈥檒l keep working hard and we have a ton of respect for them.鈥�

Jacobs, Carruthers, second Derek Samagalski and Connor Njegovan led 4-3 after eight ends Sunday. Calvert blanked the ninth and gave up a steal of two in the 10th.

Sluchinski upset Koe 6-3 in Alberta鈥檚 final Sunday. Sluchinski, third Jeremy Harty, second Kerr Drummond and lead Dylan Webster from the Airdrie Curling Club scored two in the first end and stole a point in the seventh to lead 5-1.

After blanking the eighth, Koe, who comes from Yellowknife, scored two to trail by two coming home without hammer. Sluchinski hit against three Koe stones to secure the provincial title in Hinton.

Four-time Brier champion Koe earned the third and final wild-card berth by virtue of this season鈥檚 highest national rank among non-qualified men鈥檚 teams at No. 3.

The 2024 Brier will feature three teams from Alberta.

Under new Curling Canada entry criteria, Alberta鈥檚 Brendan Bottcher and Manitoba鈥檚 Matt Dunstone pre-qualified for the 2024 Brier last year based on their rankings at the end of the 2022-23 season. Gushue returns to the Brier as defending champion.

Other teams headed to Regina are Saskatchewan鈥檚 Mike McEwen, B.C.鈥檚 Catlin Schneider, Newfoundland and Labrador鈥檚 Andrew Symonds, New Brunswick鈥檚 James Grattan, 快盈v3 Ontario鈥檚 Trevor Bonot, Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories, Ontario鈥檚 Glenn Howard, Nova Scotia鈥檚 Matthew Manuel, Nunavut鈥檚 Shane Latimer, Prince Edward Island鈥檚 Tyler Smith, Quebec鈥檚 Julien Tremblay and Yukon鈥檚 Thomas Scoffin.

The winner represents Canada at the world men鈥檚 championship March 30 to April 7 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

The 18-team Canadian women鈥檚 curling championship starts Friday in Calgary.

Four-time defending Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion Kerri Einarson returns as Team Canada with Ontario鈥檚 Rachel Homan and Manitoba鈥檚 Jennifer Jones pre-qualified based on last season鈥檚 rankings.

The lineup also includes 快盈v3 Ontario鈥檚 Krista McCarville, B.C.鈥檚 Clancy Grandy and Corryn Brown, Quebec鈥檚 Laurie St-Georges, Kerry Galusha of the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia鈥檚 Heather Smith, Alberta鈥檚 Selena Sturmay, Manitoba鈥檚 Kaitlyn Lawes and Kate Cameron, New Brunswick鈥檚 Melissa Adams, Stacie Curtis of Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario鈥檚 Danielle Inglis, Jane DiCarlo of Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan鈥檚 Skylar Ackerman and Yukon鈥檚 Bayly Scoffin. Nunavut will not enter a team.

The Hearts winner Feb. 25 represents Canada at the women鈥檚 world curling championship March 16-24 in Sydney, N.S.

鈥擝y The Canadian Press