P.E.I.'s Tyler Smith turning heads in pursuit of province's 1st Brier playoffs since 1996

Tyler Smith was not yet born when a Prince Edward Island team last reached the playoffs at the Canadian men's curling championship.

Peter MacDonald's Summerside foursome reached the Brier's final four in 1996 via a tiebreaker victory before falling to Quebec's Don Westphal in the Page playoff between the third and fourth seeds.

Smith, born in 1998, has led P.E.I. to a 4-1 start at the 2024 Montana's Brier in Regina.

While there are still tough opponents ahead, including Wednesday's clash with defending champion Brad Gushue, Smith's Crapaud Curling Club foursome has turned heads in Regina.

"To put P.E.I. colours on your back and go out and perform the way we have so far really means a lot," the 25-year-old skip said after a 10-5 doubling of Quebec's Julien Smith on Tuesday afternoon.

"We're getting a lot of support from back home. People are becoming very, very interested because it's been awhile since P.E.I.'s been four and one at the Brier."

Smith and Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen joined Northwest Territories' Jamie Koe, who had the day off, at 4-1 atop Pool B.

Gushue was 4-2 after an 8-3 win over Nunavut. McEwen was an 11-6 winner over Alberta's Aaron Sluchinski, who dropped to 2-3 alongside Quebec.

Northern Ontario's Trevor Bonot (4-1) controlled Pool A heading into an evening clash with B.C.'s Catlin Schneider (3-2).

The top three teams in each pool of nine Thursday advance to Friday's six-team playoff round, from which Saturday's four Page playoff teams emerge.

Tiebreaker games have been eliminated from the format. Head-to-head results followed by cumulative scores in the draw-the-button that precede each game is the tiebreaking formula.

Three losses are considered the playoff danger zone, although a team reached the women's championship playoffs with four losses.

Wednesday morning's clash between Smith and Gushue is playoff pivotal for both teams.

"I've seen Tyler play. He's a great player and he's playing really well this week, so I'm not super shocked," Gushue said. "I know, we're going to have a challenging game against them.