1989 Labatt Brier Explained

1989 Labatt Brier
Host City:Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Arena:Saskatchewan Place
Dates:March 5–12[1]
Winner:
Curling Club:Ottewell CC, Edmonton
Skip:Pat Ryan
Third:Randy Ferbey
Second:Don Walchuk
Lead:Don McKenzie
Alternate:Murray Ursulak
Finalist: (Rick Folk)
Attendance:151,538
Prev:1988
Next:1990

The 1989 Labatt Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, was held from March 5 to 12 at the Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[2]

Pat Ryan of Alberta defeated Rick Folk of British Columbia to win his second Brier.

"The Ryan Express"

Pat Ryan's team was well known for its hitting style. Once they got the lead, the team would just peel off every opposition stone to win the game. This defensive strategy was heavily criticized for being boring. Whenever Ryan switched to this style of play, fans began shouting "bor-ing". However, the strategy worked for Ryan, who won the Brier. The score of the final game (3–2), remains the lowest total score for a final game in Brier history. This caused the implementation of the free guard zone a few years later to cause more offence in the game.[3]

Howard loses his voice

Also of note at the 1989 Brier was Ontario skip Russ Howard's loss of his voice. Howard was nicknamed "the Wounded Moose" for the way he screamed in the first few draws of the event. However, he would lose his voice by Tuesday, and could barely speak. So, the team opted to use Walkie-talkies to communicate with their skip. This went unnoticed until their walkie-talkie signals jammed the official's walkie-talkie signals. The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) was quite upset about the matter, but Howard pointed out there was nothing in the rules against their usage, and insisted on continuing to use the walkie-talkies. So, the CCA decided midway through the event to ban the use of walkie-talkies, marking the first time that the rules had been changed in the middle of a tournament.[4]

Teams

The teams were listed as follows:[5]

British ColumbiaManitoba
Ottewell CC, Edmonton
Skip

Pat Ryan
Third

Randy Ferbey
Second

Don Walchuk
Lead

Don McKenzie
Alternate: Murray Ursulak

Kelowna CC, Kelowna
Skip: Rick Folk
Third: Bert Gretzinger
Second: Rob Koffski
Lead: Doug Smith
Alternate: Fred Trussell
Lac du Bonnet CC, Lac du Bonnet
Skip: Orest Meleschuk
Third: John Usackis
Second: John Hyrich
Lead: Sean Meleschuk
Alternate: Bob Lesko
New BrunswickNewfoundlandNorthern Ontario
Thistle St. Andrews CC, Saint John
Skip: Gary Mitchell
Third: Brian Dobson
Second: Mark Armstrong
Lead: Terry Roach
Alternate: Arnie Dobson
St. John's CC, St. John's
Skip: Lorne Henderson
Third: Alex Smith
Second: Peter Hollett
Lead: Marc Brophy
Alternate: Ken Thomas
Fort William CC, Thunder Bay
Skip: Al Hackner
Third: Bill Adams
Second: Jim Adams
Lead: John Salo
Alternate: Keith Dolph
Nova ScotiaOntarioPrince Edward Island
Truro CC, Truro
Skip: Ragnar Kamp
Third: Bruce Lohnes
Second: Rod McCarron
Lead: Peter Neily
Alternate: Ted Lohnes
Penetanguishene CC, Penetanguishene
Skip: Russ Howard
Third: Glenn Howard
Second: Tim Belcourt
Lead: Kent Carstairs
Alternate: Larry Merkley
Charlottetown CC, Charlottetown
Skip: Doug Weeks
Third: Blair Weeks
Second: Roy Rodd
Lead: David Weeks
Alternate: Allan Ledgerwood
QuebecSaskatchewanYukon/Northwest Territories
Buckingham CC, Buckingham
Skip: Pierre Charette
Third: Andre Lafleur
Second: Don Westphal
Lead: Richard Bisson
Alternate: Ted Butler
Estevan CC, Estevan
Skip: Jim Packet
Third: Bob Doerr
Second: Lloyd Schmidt
Lead: Dallas Duce
Alternate: Peter Shykitka
Yellowknife CC, Yellowknife
Skip: Al Delmage
Third: Roy Giles
Second: Bill Strain
Lead: Ron Kapicki
Alternate: Brad Robertson

Round-robin standings

Final Round Robin standings

width=225Localewidth=140Skipwidth=20width=20width=20width=20width=20width=20width=20width=20width=20
8 3 60 51 39 36 12 7 82%
8 3 62 56 43 40 15 11 81%
8 3 67 51 47 40 6 16 80%
7 4 64 64 41 44 7 7 75%
7 4 65 58 45 43 12 7 79%
7 4 65 45 46 31 8 16 77%
6 5 67 53 40 38 15 12 81%
5 6 75 68 46 45 11 8 77%
3 8 55 71 40 43 10 9 72%
3 8 55 75 40 48 6 7 76%
2 9 52 73 37 47 7 8 77%
2 9 54 76 37 46 6 5 75%

Round-robin results

Draw 15

Playoffs

Semifinal

Player Percentages
83%93%
65%78%
84%81%
80%64%
Total 78%Total 79%

Final

Player Percentages
80%80%
85%83%
79%76%
93%86%
Total 84%Total 81%

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

Round Robin only

valign=top
Leads %
87
84
84
81
81
valign=top
Seconds %
84
81
81
81
80
valign=top
Thirds %
81
80
80
79
79
valign=top
Skips %
81
81
81
80
77

Team percentages

Round Robin only

Province Skip %
82
81
81
80
79
77
77
77
76
75
75
72

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 1989 Labatt Brier . CurlingZone . https://web.archive.org/web/20050306191103/http://www.curlingzone.com/forums/soc.php?view=Main&eventid=88 . March 6, 2005 .
  2. Web site: Labatt Brier Archived Statistics. Canadian Curling Association. 2011-12-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20120516152056/http://cdn.curling.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/1989_Labatt_Brier.pdf. 2012-05-16. dead.
  3. Book: Weeks, Bob. Bob Weeks

    . Bob Weeks. The Brier: The History of Canada's Most Celebrated Curling Championship. 1995. Gage Learning Corporation. 978-0-7715-7544-0. 201–204.

  4. Book: Weeks, Bob. Bob Weeks

    . Bob Weeks. Curling for Dummies, 2nd Edition. 2006. John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.. Mississauga, Ontario. 978-0-470-83828-0. 107.

  5. Web site: 1989 Labatt Brier . Curling Canada Stats Archive . Curling Canada . 28 February 2024.