| 1949 Macdonald Brier | |
| Host City: | Hamilton, Ontario |
| Arena: | Hamilton Forum |
| Dates: | March 7–11 |
| Attendance: | 16,500[1] |
| Winner: | |
| Curling Club: | Strathcona CC, Winnipeg |
| Skip: | Ken Watson |
| Third: | Grant Watson |
| Second: | Lyle Dyker |
| Lead: | Charles Reid |
The 1949 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 7 to 11, 1949 at Hamilton Forum in Hamilton, Ontario.
Team Manitoba, who was skipped by Ken Watson captured the Brier Tankard by finishing round robin play unbeaten with a 9-0 record. This was Manitoba's twelfth Brier championship and the sixth time that a team finished the Brier unbeaten. Watson would become the first skip to win the Brier three times as his rink won previously in 1936 and 1942.
This was the first Brier in which two teams (Manitoba and British Columbia) entered the final draw unbeaten and the first Brier since 1936 to feature a "winner take all" match in the round robin to decide the Brier champion.
This was also the fourth Brier in which there were no extra ends.[2]
Both Manitoba and the defending champion British Columbia dominated the 1949 Brier as they were both unbeaten heading into the final draw, which would be a "winner take all" match to decide the Brier.
In the deciding game, BC opened with 3 in the first end, but Manitoba would score 7 in the next five ends to take a 7-3 lead through the halfway point. BC would score 3 in the seventh to cut Manitoba's lead to 7-6, but Manitoba would counter in the next end with 3 of their own to increase the lead to 10-6. The next two ends ended in similar fashion as BC scored 2 in the ninth and Manitoba countering with 2 in the tenth. BC would score 1 in the eleventh end and trailed 12-9 heading into the last end needing a big steal to keep their hopes alive. Manitoba would clinch the Brier with 2 in the final end for a 14-9 victory, securing Watson's place in Brier history as the first skip to win three Briers.
The teams are listed as follows:[3] [4]
| bgcolor=#0033FF width=200 | British Columbia | Manitoba | bgcolor=#000000 width=200 | Northern Ontario | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackie CC, BlackieSkip: Stu Beagle Third: Walker Evans Second: Ray Wellman Lead: Ed Seney | Trail CC, TrailSkip: Reg Stone Third: Hugh Miller Second: Roy Stone Lead: Scotty Ross | Granite CC, WinnipegSkip: Ken Watson Third: Grant Watson Second: Lyle Dyker Lead: Charles Reid | Newcastle CC, NewcastleSkip: Bob Galloway Third: Waldo Crocker Second: Clarence McDonald Lead: Arthur Galloway | McIntyre CC, SchumacherSkip: Jimmy Sutherland Third: Elmer Dick Second: Ken Vail Lead: Hugh Calverley | |||
| bgcolor=#0080C0 width=200 | bgcolor=#FF0000 width=200 | Ontario | Prince Edward Island | bgcolor=#009900 width=200 | |||
| Halifax CC, HalifaxSkip: Horace Webb Third: Urban Harrington Second: Bernard Cleveland Lead: Ted Sievert | Chatham Granite Club, ChathamSkip: Peter Gilbert Third: Gord Gilbert Second: Don Painter Lead: John DeKoning | Charlottetown CC, CharlottetownSkip: Russ Cruikshank Third: Heath McIntyre Second: James Howatt Lead: Hiram Atkinson | C de C Matane, MataneSkip: Roderique Cote Third: Herm Gagnon Second: Charles Cote Lead: Maurice Piuze |
| Province | Skip | W | L | PF | PA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 0 | 130 | 70 | |||
| 8 | 1 | 119 | 76 | |||
| 7 | 2 | 121 | 84 | |||
| 5 | 4 | 102 | 96 | |||
| 4 | 5 | 95 | 100 | |||
| 4 | 5 | 98 | 90 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 77 | 109 | |||
| 2 | 7 | 77 | 112 | |||
| 2 | 7 | 72 | 112 | |||
| 1 | 8 | 68 | 110 |