| 1994 Labatt Brier | |
| Host City: | Red Deer, Alberta |
| Arena: | Centrium |
| Dates: | March 5–13 |
| Attendance: | 130,625 |
| Winner: | |
| Curling Club: | Kelowna CC, Kelowna |
| Skip: | Rick Folk |
| Third: | Pat Ryan |
| Second: | Bert Gretzinger |
| Lead: | Gerry Richard |
| Alternate: | Ron Steinhauer |
| Finalist: | (Russ Howard) |
| Prev: | 1993 |
| Next: | 1995 |
The 1994 Labatt Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5 to 13 at the Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta.
In the final, former Brier champion Rick Folk of British Columbia, who won the Brier in 1980 representing Saskatchewan, defeated Russ Howard of Ontario to win his second Brier title, by a score of 8–5.[1] The game was a re-match of the 1993 Labatt Brier, which saw Howard defeat Folk. In the game, the two teams traded singles in the first two ends. Ontario took a 2–1 lead in the third, after when B.C.'s third Bert Gretzinger missed his shots, leading to a steal of one for Ontario. However, B.C. rebounded with a three-ender in the fourth when Howard wrecked on a guard with his final shot, and Folk made an open draw to score three. In the fifth, Folk make a come-around raise to lie three on his last. Howard's final shot came up a bit short, giving up a steal of two. Ontario tried in vain to come back, scoring two in the sixth, but it was too little too late, with Folk eventually claiming victory. After the game, Howard called the Folk rink "uptight", as Folk did not engage with him for much of the game. [2] There was also some controversy before the game, as the Folk rink chose to pick the same set of rocks that the Howard rink had already carefully chosen for their semifinal match, and had intended to use for the final. After finishing first in the round robin, Folk's team had the privilege of having first selection of rocks. Team Folk countered that the Howard team had broken a rule by selecting rocks of different colours (and changing their handles).[3]
With the win, Folk became the first person to have won the Brier for two different provinces, and it was the longest time between two Brier victories (14 years) for a skip since Ab Gowanlock's 15 year gap between 1938 and 1953. It was the first Brier title for B.C. in 30 years.[2] With the win, Folk and his rink would go on to represent Canada at the 1994 World Men's Curling Championship.[4]
The 1994 Brier is remembered primarily for the antagonistic relationship between the mostly Albertan crowd and the Ontario team. This led it to be dubbed the "redneck brier" by some media commentators.[5]
| bgcolor=#0033ff width=200 | bgcolor=#0099ff width=200 | British Columbia | bgcolor=#ffff99 width=200 | Manitoba | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glencoe CC, Calgary Skip: Ed Lukowich Third: Fred Maxie Second: Dan Petryk Lead: Steve Petryk Fifth: John Ferguson | Kelowna CC, Kelowna Skip: Rick Folk Third: Pat Ryan Second: Bert Gretzinger Lead: Gerry Richard Fifth: Ron Steinhauer | St. Vital CC, Winnipeg Skip: Dave Smith Third: Peter Nicholls Second: Scott Grant Lead: Charlie Salina Fifth: Dave Nicholls | |||
| bgcolor=#ffff33 width=200 | New Brunswick | bgcolor=#ff5577 width=200 | Newfoundland and Labrador | bgcolor=#00CC66 width=200 | Northern Ontario |
| Thistle-St. Andrews CC, Saint John Skip: Brian Dobson Third: Charlie Sullivan Jr. Second: Andrew Buckle Lead: Dan Philip Fifth: Gary Dobson | St. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Mark Noseworthy Third: Frank O'Driscoll Second: Rob Thomas Lead: Eugene Trickett Fifth: Peter Hollett | Granite CC, North Bay Skip: Scott Patterson Third: Phil Loevenmark Second: John McClelland Lead: Wayne Lowe Fifth: Rob Abrams | |||
| bgcolor=#cc99ee width=200 | Nova Scotia | bgcolor=#ff7777 width=200 | Ontario | bgcolor=#009900 width=200 | Prince Edward Island |
| Dartmouth CC, Dartmouth Skip: Alan O'Leary Third: Jim Walsh Second: Steve Johnston Lead: Steve Piggott Fifth: Stuart MacLean | Penetanguishene CC, Penetanguishene Skip: Russ Howard Third: Glenn Howard Second: Wayne Middaugh Lead: Peter Corner Fifth: Larry Merkley | Charlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Mike Gaudet Third: Eddie MacKenzie Second: Tyler Harris Lead: Craig Arsenault Fifth: Daryell Nowlan | |||
| bgcolor=#00ffff width=200 | Quebec | bgcolor=#33cc00 width=200 | Saskatchewan | bgcolor=#cccccc width=200 | Yukon/Northwest Territories |
| CC Amos, Amos Skip: Ghislain Doyon Third: Jean-Yves Lemay Second: Jean Maurice Lead: Martin Gervais Fifth: Serge Rocheleau | Quill Lake CC, Quill Lake Skip: Doug Harcourt Third: Kevin Kalthoff Second: Greg Harcourt Lead: Brian Wempe Fifth: Lyle Muyres | Atlin CC, Atlin Skip: Robert Andrews Third: Clinton Abel Second: Alfred Feldman Lead: Wayne Lewis Fifth: Gordon Moffatt |
| Province | Skip | W | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | |||
| 9 | 2 | |||
| 8 | 3 | |||
| 7 | 4 | |||
| 7 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | |||
| 5 | 6 | |||
| 5 | 6 | |||
| 3 | 8 | |||
| 3 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 9 | |||
| 2 | 9 |
Round Robin only
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| valign=top |
| valign=top |
| valign=top |
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Round Robin only
| Province | Skip | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | |||
| 82 | |||
| 79 | |||
| 78 | |||
| 76 | |||
| 76 | |||
| 75 | |||
| 75 | |||
| 74 | |||
| 73 | |||
| 70 | |||
| 67 |