(CCA) …An incredible field is ready to battle at the Tim Hortons Brier, presented by Monsanto, March 7-15 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.
Many are calling this year’s line-up the best in the 80 editions of the Canadian men’s curling championship. And with good reason. The field includes six skips who have won one or more Briers, four of whom who have also won at least one world title, and the 2006 Olympic gold medallists.
This marks the sixth time that the Brier will be staged in Calgary. Only Toronto has hosted the championship more often. But Calgary becomes the first city to have held the Brier under four title sponsors since 1927….Macdonald Tobacco, Labatt Breweries, Nokia and, for the past five years, Tim Hortons, Canada’s largest quick service restaurant chain.
This year, TSN will provide exclusive and comprehensive coverage of the Tim Hortons Brier, televising all morning, afternoon and evening round robin draws, plus the playoffs. The semi-final is scheduled for Saturday, March 14 at 6:00 pm MT/9:00 pm AT, while the final will be on Sunday, March 15 at 6:00 pm MT/9:00 pm Atlantic. It’s the seventh consecutive year that the Brier final has been contested in Eastern prime time.
Returning as the defending Canadian and world champion is Alberta’s Kevin Martin, now a three-time Brier winner (1991, 1997, 2008). Last year, Martin’s Edmonton team of John Morris, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert went unbeaten at the Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg, a perfect 13-0 in becoming just the third team to go undefeated since a playoff format was adopted in 1980. Martin, who will be making his 10th Brier appearance, capped the year by winning his first world title, taking the 2008 world men’s championship in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Alberta has won 23 Briers.
But his challengers are many, including the 2007 Canadian and world champion Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ontario, who was the runner-up to Martin last year and also the Brier runner-up in 2006. Howard, making his 11th Brier appearance, is a three-time Canadian and world champion, having also played third for brother Russ Howard in 1987 and 1993. Ontario has nine Brier titles.
Ironically, among Glenn Howard’s foes is his aforementioned 53-year-old brother, who makes a record 14th Brier appearance, but first since 2004. Russ Howard, who will be skipping New Brunswick for the sixth time, after winning world titles for Ontario in 1987 and 1993, was also a member of Brad Gushue’s 2006 Olympic gold medal-winning team, skipping while throwing second stones. Howard’s son, Steven, is playing second, as part of an alternating front end. New Brunswick has yet to win the Brier.
It’s just the second time in Brier history that two brothers will have faced each other as skips. In 1942, Donald Campbell of British Columbia competed against Gord Campbell of Ontario at the Brier in Quebec City.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue of St. John’s, who won Olympic gold in 2006 in Turin, Italy, along with his third Mark Nichols, will be making his sixth Brier appearance but is still looking for his first win. The 2001 world junior champion finished the runner-up in 2007 in Hamilton, losing the Brier final to Glenn Howard. The 28-year-old skip will be trying to win just a second Brier title for his province since Jack MacDuff pulled off a shocker in 1976 in Regina.
Two-time Brier winner (1996, 1999) and former world champion (1996) Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg will represent Manitoba, which has won a leading 26 Briers since 1928, after not competing in the inaugural event in 1927. Stoughton, in fact, provided his province with its last Brier victory in 1999 in Edmonton, as he’ll make his seventh Brier appearance.
Nova Scotia’s Mark Dacey of Halifax, making his sixth Brier appearance, won the 2004 Nokia Brier in Saskatoon, then subsequently finished third at the Ford Worlds in Gävle, Sweden, despite losing only one game (a semi-final). His shocking 10-9 Brier final win, counting three in the 10th end, came at the expense of Alberta’s Randy Ferbey, who was seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive Canadian title that year. Nova Scotia has three Brier wins.
Once again representing Quebec will be Jean-Michel Ménard of St-Romuald, making his sixth Brier appearance. In 2006 in Regina, Ménard upset Glenn Howard in the final, giving his province just a second Brier triumph. His team went on to Lowell, Massachusetts, where it earned a silver medal for Canada at the world men’s, losing to Scotland’s David Murdoch in the final.
Completing the field are British Columbia’s Sean Geall of New Westminster, Northern Ontario’s Mike Jakubo of Sudbury, Northwest Territories/Yukon’s Jamie Koe of Yellowknife, Prince Edward Island’s Rod MacDonald of Charlottetown and Saskatchewan’s Joel Jordison of Moose Jaw.
After the conclusion of the 12-team round robin, the top four teams advance to the Page Playoffs, whereby the first and second place teams meet in one game (winner to final, loser to semi-final) while the third and fourth place finishers meet in another game (winner to semi-final, loser eliminated).
The winner of the Tim Hortons Brier will then represent Canada at the Ford world men’s curling championship, April 4-12 at the Coliseum in Moncton, New Brunswick, seeking a leading 32nd title for Canada since 1959.
The winning Brier team also becomes one of 16 teams eligible for the 2009 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials, December 6-13 in Edmonton, which will determine Canada’s representatives for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Currently, only the Kevin Martin and Glenn Howard teams have earned berths directly into the Trials, while a number of others have qualified for the pool. Only four teams will get berths directly into the Trials, while the remaining 12 teams will battle in a pre-Trials competition, November 10-14 in Prince George, to determine the other four Trials spots.
The Brier-winning team also receives $144,000 in Sport Canada funding over a two-year period, and, for the fifth consecutive year, all four Brier playoff teams will receive money for television cresting value: $40,000 to each of the two finalist teams, with $30,000 to third and $20,000 to fourth.
The entertaining and always popular Ford Hot Shots, the curling skills competition, gets underway Friday, March 6 with the preliminary round from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm. The playoffs take place Saturday at 11:00 am, following the Opening Ceremonies, which start at 9:30 am.
Ford of Canada will provide the winner of the Ford Hot Shots with a two-year lease on a 2009 Ford F-150 XLT 4×4, with a retail value in excess of $20,000. The Ford F-150 was recently named the 2009 Motor Trend Truck of the Year. The second place finisher earns $2,000 while the third place finisher receives $1,000.
The first draw of the Tim Hortons Brier gets underway at 1:00 pm MT/3:00 pm ET on Saturday, March 7.
The Brier began in 1927 in Toronto and has been played in 31 different cities across Canada, from Victoria to St. John’s. In addition to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Yukon/Northwest Territories have also yet to win.
Calgary held its first Brier in 1948, followed by 1961, 1980, 1997 and most recently, 2002. When the Brier was in Calgary in 1997, a then-attendance record of 223,322 was established, as Alberta’s Kevin Martin defeated Manitoba’s Vic Peters in a wild, thrilling final, 10-8.
In 2002, Calgary’s attendance was 245,296, now the third highest in Brier history. The Brier was won by Alberta’s Randy Ferbey, who defeated Ontario’s John Morris in the final, 9-4.
The Brier was last held in Alberta in 2005 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, when an attendance record of 281,985 was set, eclipsing the previous mark of 248,793 in Saskatoon in 2000. It was won by Alberta, skipped by Randy Ferbey.
Up-to-the-minute draw results will be available on the Canadian Curling Association (CCA) website (www.curling.ca <http://www.curling.ca> ).
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2009 TIM HORTONS BRIER, MARCH 7-15, PENGROWTH SADDLEDOME, CALGARY, ALBERTA
(Teams listed in order of skip, third, second, lead, alternate and coach)
ALBERTA – Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton
Kevin Martin
John Morris
Marc Kennedy
Ben Hebert
Terry Meek
Jules Owchar
BRITISH COLUMBIA – Royal City CC, New Westminster
Sean Geall
Brent Pierce
Kevin Recksiedler
Mark Olson
Tyler Klitch
Glen Pierce
MANITOBA – Charleswood CC, Winnipeg
Jeff Stoughton
Kevin Park
Rob Fowler
Steve Gould
Randy Dutiaume
Norm Gould
NEW BRUNSWICK – Curling Beauséjour, Moncton
& Gage Golf & Curling Association, Oromocto
Russ Howard
James Grattan
*Steven Howard
*Jason Vaughan
*Peter Case
Daryell Nowlan
*will rotate
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR – Bally Haly Golf & CC, St. John’s
Brad Gushue
Mark Nichols
Ryan Fry
Jamie Korab
Glenn Goss
Ken Bagnell
NORTHERN ONTARIO – Copper Cliff CC, Sudbury
Mike Jakubo
Matt Seabrook
Luc Ouimet
Lee Toner
Scott Seabrook
Bruce Melville
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES/YUKON – Yellowknife CC
Jamie Koe
Jon Solberg
Brad Chorostkowski
Martin Gavin
Tom Naugler
Terry Shea
NOVA SCOTIA– Mayflower CC, Halifax
Mark Dacey
Bruce Lohnes
Andrew Gibson
Kris Granchelli
Mat Harris
Peter Corkum
ONTARIO – Coldwater & District CC, Coldwater
Glenn Howard
Richard Hart
Brent Laing
Craig Savill
Steve Bice
Scott Taylor
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND –
Charlottetown CC, Charlottetown
Rod MacDonald
Kevin Champion
Andrew Robinson
Mark O’Rourke
Peter MacDonald
Pat Aylward
QUEBEC – Etchemin CC, St-Romuald
Jean-Michel Ménard
Martin Crête
Éric Sylvain
Jean Gagnon
Philippe Ménard
Michel St-Onge
SASKATCHEWAN – Bushell Park CC, Moose Jaw
Joel Jordison
Scott Bitz
Aryn Schmidt
Dean Hicke
Rod Montgomery
Ron Meyers