The Brier Explained

Montana's Brier
Logo Size:	150px
Current Host City:	Kelowna, British Columbia
Current Arena:	Prospera Place
Current:	2024 Montana's Brier

The Brier (French: Le Brier), known since 2023 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March.

The winner of the Brier goes on to represent Canada at the World Curling Championships of the same year. The Brier is the best supported curling competition in terms of paid attendance, attracting crowds far larger than even those for World Championships held in Canada.

Its current main sponsor is Montana's, a Canadian restaurant chain. "Brier" originally referred to a brand of tobacco sold by the event's first sponsor, the Macdonald Tobacco Company.^[1]

History

In 1924, George J. Cameron, the president of the W. L. Mackenzie and Company subsidiary of the Macdonald Tobacco Company, pitched the idea of a national curling championship to Macdonald Tobacco and was accepted. At the time Canadian curling was divided between the use of granite and iron curling stones, with the latter being used in Quebec and Eastern Ontario and the former being used everywhere else. The granite camp held the advantage, as Macdonald Tobacco's T. Howard Stewart, brother of company president Walter Stewart, supported the use of granites, and was able to influence the decision to use granite stones for the new national championship.^[2]

Macdonald Tobacco further developed the concept, in 1925 and 1926, by sponsoring the winners of the "Macdonald Brier Trophy" at the MCA Bonspiel to travel to Eastern Canada. In 1925, the Manitoba team played a number of exhibition games against local teams, while the 1926 team played in the Quebec Bonspiel. The visits were deemed popular enough for Macdonald Tobacco to move forward with sponsorship of a full national championship in 1927.

The first Brier was held at the Granite Club in Toronto in 1927. Eight teams from across the country participated, representing Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Northern Ontario, Toronto and Montreal. Games lasted 14 ends, and each team played each other in a 7-game round robin with no playoffs unless there was a tie for first. The first Brier champion was Nova Scotia, a rink skipped by Murray Macneill, with teammates Al MacInnes, Cliff Torey and Jim Donahue – who were normally skips in their own right, but were added to the Macneill rink because the rest of his normal team could not make the trip.^[3]

By 1928, games were shortened to 12 ends in length and the single Western Canada team was replaced by individual teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, increasing the total number of teams to 10 – seven provinces, two cities and the region of Northern Ontario. In the 1932 Brier, the cities of Montreal and Toronto were dropped from competition, but Northern Ontario kept its entry, and still remains the only non provincial or territorial entry to this day. In 1936, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia were given entries. The Dominion of Newfoundland did not become part of Canada until after the 1949 Brier, so the team representing the new province of Newfoundland (later Newfoundland and Labrador) did not join the Brier until 1951. In 1975, a single combined team representing the federal territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories joined the Brier competition. In 1977, games were shortened to 10 ends, which is the current length for matches. Games had to be played in their entirety until the 1974 Brier, when the rules were changed to the present standard of allowing a team to concede defeat before the end of the match if they wished.^[3]

The Brier would continue to be played at the Granite Club in Toronto through to the 1940 competition. After then, the event would travel around the country, and would be played in all 10 provinces. Also at this point, rocks were coloured differently for each team and were matched to be of equal size. Play was discontinued between 1943 and 1945 due to World War II. After World War II, the event became more of a popular sporting spectacle across the country thanks to Macdonald Tobacco enlisting media outlets to cover the event. In 1946, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) began covering the event live across the country on the radio. By the 1960s, the CBC began showing curling on television, at first giving daily half-hour reports. In 1962, the CBC showed the tie-breaking playoff match up. In 1973, CBC began regularly showing live coverage of the final draw of the event.^[4] Today, TSN covers the entire tournament. CBC had covered the semi-finals and the finals up until the 2007–08 season. In 2013, Sportsnet and City began to offer coverage of the finals of the provincial playdowns in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia as well.

In 1977, Macdonald Tobacco announced it would no longer be sponsoring the Brier, and the 1979 event would be the last one titled the Macdonald Brier. A committee headed by the Canadian Curling Association (today's Curling Canada) was put in charge to find a new sponsor, which would end up being the Labatt Brewing Company. The event retained the "Brier" name, despite the word being the property of Macdonald Tobacco. However, with the Labatt sponsorship came some changes to the event, such as adding a new championship trophy and adding a TV-friendly playoff round after the round robin games. Labatt remained the title sponsor until 2001 when Nokia took over. That sponsorship only lasted four years before Tim Hortons took over, until 2024. When the Labatt sponsorship ended, the original Brier trophy was brought back and the names of the winners during the Labatt era were engraved on it.^[5]

Beginning in the 1990s, curling became more profitable, and the event would mostly be held in larger curling friendly markets (such as Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Saskatoon). At the same time, the World Curling Tour made the sport more lucrative, and curlers demanded cash prizes at the Brier, and the ability to display their sponsors on their jerseys. The Canadian Curling Association ignored their demands, and when the Grand Slam curling series was instituted in 2001, many of the top teams in the country boycotted the Brier in favour of playing in the Slams.^[5] Curlers' demands were eventually met and the boycott ended in 2003. The dominant Brier team of the era, the "Ferbey four" did not boycott the Brier, and won four of five Briers during the era, while other top teams such as Kevin Martin's boycotted the event.

Sponsors

For the first fifty years, the Brier was sponsored by Macdonald Tobacco (later RJR Tobacco Company and now part of JTI-Macdonald Corporation). The name "Brier", in fact, came from a brand of tobacco being manufactured by Macdonald at the time (a brier being a small shrub whose roots are commonly used to make tobacco pipes).^[6] Macdonald was also responsible for introducing both the Brier Tankard trophy (originally named the British Consols Trophy after a brand of cigarettes), and the now famous heart-shaped patches awarded to the tournament winners. The patches were modeled after a small tin heart pressed into the centre of Macdonald tobacco plugs, along with the slogan “The Heart of the Tobacco.” The same heart appeared on tins of Macdonald pipe tobacco. Later, when other national championships were developed, many took the heart as their identifying symbol as well.^[7]

Brier sponsors by year

Years	Sponsor
1927–1979	Macdonald Tobacco
1980–2000	Labatt
2001–2004	Nokia
2005–2023^[8]	Tim Hortons
2024–present	Montana's BBQ & Bar

Qualification and eligibility

The Brier is currently contested by 18 teams. Most provinces and territories are represented by one team, with the exception of Ontario, which sends two teams (named Ontario and Northern Ontario). Through 2014 the territories sent one team, but starting in 2015 all three territories were permitted to compete individually. Teams qualify for the Brier through their respective provincial championships, which are held every year and are open to any Canadian men's curling team consisting of Canadian citizens. The formats for these championships vary from province to province, but most entail a series of club, municipal, district and/or regional playdowns prior to the provincial championship. Playdown formats vary, with each member association choosing a format suited to its geography and demographics. Originally, nearly all teams regardless of ability or past performance had to qualify for each Brier, starting at the club level when more than one team from a club seeks to enter the playdowns. Today, member associations typically grant past champions and other strong teams automatic entry to the latter stage(s) of the playdowns.

Until 2013, the champions of the Brier did not automatically qualify for the following year's Brier, and had to qualify again. However, beginning in 2014, following the precedent set by its women's counterpart, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, champions now earn a bye representing Canada during the following year's Brier.^[9]

For the three tournaments from 2015 to 2017, fifteen teams (ten provinces, three territories, Northern Ontario, and Team Canada) competed for twelve places in the Brier proper. The four lowest-ranked regions played a pre-qualifying tournament to open the Brier, with the winner advancing to the full round-robin. In this format's first year Nunavut declined to send a team, and the round was between the winners of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and the Yukon.

Beginning with the 2018 Brier, the event expanded to a sixteen team field, with the ten provinces, three territories, Northern Ontario, and Team Canada being joined by the highest-ranked non-qualified team on the Canadian Team Ranking System standings.^[10] The teams are separated into two pools of eight, each playing a round-robin, with the top four teams in each pool advancing to a second pool to determine the final four teams. ^[11]

Winners

Macdonald Brier

Year	Winning province	Winning team	Host
1927		Murray Macneill, Al MacInnes, Cliff Torey, Jim Donahoe	Toronto, Ontario
1928		Gordon Hudson, Sam Penwarden, Ron Singbush, Bill Grant	Toronto, Ontario (2)
1929		Gordon Hudson, Don Rollo, Ron Singbush, Bill Grant	Toronto, Ontario (3)
1930		Howard Wood, Sr., Jimmy Congalton, Victor Wood, Lionel Wood	Toronto, Ontario (4)
1931		Bob Gourley, Ernie Pollard, Arnold Lockerbie, Ray Stewart	Toronto, Ontario (5)
1932		Jimmy Congalton, Howard Wood, Sr., Bill Noble, Harry Mawhinney	Toronto, Ontario (6)
1933	Alberta	Cliff Manahan, Harold Deeton, Harold Wolfe, Bert Ross	Toronto, Ontario (7)
1934		Leo Johnson, Lorne Stewart, Linc Johnson, Marno Frederickson	Toronto, Ontario (8)
1935	Ontario	Gordon Campbell, Donnie Campbell, Gord Coates, Duncan Campbell	Toronto, Ontario (9)
1936		Ken Watson, Grant Watson, Marvin MacIntyre, Charles Kerr	Toronto, Ontario (10)
1937	Alberta	Cliff Manahan, Wes Robinson, Ross Manahan, Lloyd McIntyre	Toronto, Ontario (11)
1938		Ab Gowanlock, Bung Cartmell, Bill McKnight, Tom McKnight	Toronto, Ontario (12)
1939	Ontario	Bert Hall, Perry Hall, Ernie Parkes, Cam Seagram	Toronto, Ontario (13)
1940		Howard Wood, Sr., Ernie Pollard, Howie Wood, Jr., Roy Enman	Winnipeg, Manitoba
1941	Alberta	Howard Palmer, Jack Lebeau, Art Gooder, Clair Webb	Toronto, Ontario (14)
1942		Ken Watson, Grant Watson, Charlie Scrymgeour, Jim Grant	Quebec City, Quebec
1943	Cancelled due to World War II^[12]
1944
1945
1946	Alberta	Billy Rose, Bart Swelin, Austin Smith, George Crooks	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1947		Jimmy Welsh, Alex Welsh, Jock Reid, Harry Monk	Saint John, New Brunswick
1948	British Columbia	Frenchy D'Amour, Bob McGhie, Fred Wendell, Jim Mark	Calgary, Alberta
1949		Ken Watson, Grant Watson, Lyle Dyker, Charles Read	Hamilton, Ontario
1950	Northern Ontario	Tom Ramsay, Len Williamson, Bill Weston, Billy Kenny	Vancouver, British Columbia
1951		Don Oyler, George Hanson, Fred Dyke, Wally Knock	Halifax, Nova Scotia
1952		Billy Walsh, Al Langlois, Andy McWilliams, John Watson	Winnipeg, Manitoba (2)
1953		Ab Gowanlock, Jim Williams, Art Pollon, Russ Jackman	Sudbury, Ontario
1954	Alberta	Matt Baldwin, Glenn Gray, Pete Ferry, Jim Collins	Edmonton, Alberta
1955	Saskatchewan	Garnet Campbell, Don Campbell, Glen Campbell, Lloyd Campbell	Regina, Saskatchewan
1956		Billy Walsh, Al Langlois, Cy White, Andy McWilliams	Moncton, New Brunswick
1957	Alberta	Matt Baldwin, Gordon Haynes, Art Kleinmeyer, Bill Price	Kingston, Ontario
1958	Alberta	Matt Baldwin, Jack Geddes, Gordon Haynes, Bill Price	Victoria, British Columbia
1959	Saskatchewan	Ernie Richardson, Arnold Richardson, Garnet Richardson, Wes Richardson	Quebec City, Quebec (2)
1960	Saskatchewan	Ernie Richardson, Arnold Richardson, Garnet Richardson, Wes Richardson	Fort William, Ontario
1961	Alberta	Hec Gervais, Ron Anton, Ray Werner, Wally Ursuliak	Calgary, Alberta (2)
1962	Saskatchewan	Ernie Richardson, Arnold Richardson, Garnet Richardson, Wes Richardson	Kitchener, Ontario
1963	Saskatchewan	Ernie Richardson, Arnold Richardson, Garnet Richardson, Mel Perry	Brandon, Manitoba
1964		Lyall Dagg, Leo Hebert, Fred Britton, Barry Naimark	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
1965		Terry Braunstein, Don Duguid, Ron Braunstein, Ray Turnbull	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (2)
1966	Alberta	Ron Northcott, George Fink, Bernie Sparkes, Fred Storey	Halifax, Nova Scotia (2)
1967		Alf Phillips, Jr., John Ross, Ron Manning, Keith Reilly	Hull, Quebec
1968	Alberta	Ron Northcott, Jim Shields, Bernie Sparkes, Fred Storey
1969		Ron Northcott, Dave Gerlach, Bernie Sparkes, Fred Storey	Oshawa, Ontario
1970		Don Duguid, Rod Hunter, Jim Pettapiece, Bryan Wood	Winnipeg, Manitoba (3)
1971		Don Duguid, Rod Hunter, Jim Pettapiece, Bryan Wood	Quebec City, Quebec (3)
1972		Orest Meleschuk, Dave Romano, John Hanesiak, Pat Hailley	St. John's, Newfoundland
1973		Harvey Mazinke, Billy Martin, George Achtymichuk, Dan Klippenstein	Edmonton, Alberta (2)
1974		Hec Gervais, Ron Anton, Warren Hansen, Darrel Sutton	London, Ontario
1975		Bill Tetley, Rick Lang, Bill Hodgson, Peter Hnatiw	Fredericton, New Brunswick
1976	Netherlands	Jack MacDuff, Toby McDonald, Doug Hudson, Ken Templeton	Regina, Saskatchewan (2)
1977		Jim Ursel, Art Lobel, Don Aitken, Brian Ross	Montreal, Quebec
1978		Mike Chernoff, Ed Lukowich, Dale Johnston, Ron Schindle	Vancouver, British Columbia (2)
1979		Barry Fry, Bill Carey, Gordon Sparkes, Bryan Wood	Ottawa, Ontario

Labatt Brier

Year	Winning province	Winning team	Finalist province	Finalist team	Host
1980		Rick Folk, Ron Mills, Tom Wilson, Jim Wilson		Al Hackner, Rick Lang, Bob Nicol, Bruce Kennedy	Calgary, Alberta (3)
1981		Kerry Burtnyk, Mark Olson, Jim Spencer, Ron Kammerlock		Al Hackner, Rick Lang, Bob Nicol, Bruce Kennedy	Halifax, Nova Scotia (3)
1982		Al Hackner, Rick Lang, Bob Nicol, Bruce Kennedy		Brent Giles, Greg Monkman, Al Roemer, Brad Giles	Brandon, Manitoba (2)
1983		Ed Werenich, Paul Savage, John Kawaja, Neil Harrison		Mike Chernoff, Ed Lukowich, Neil Houston, Brent Syme	Sudbury, Ontario (2)
1984		Michael Riley, Brian Toews, John Helston, Russ Wookey		Ed Werenich, Paul Savage, John Kawaja, Neil Harrison	Victoria, British Columbia (2)
1985		Al Hackner, Rick Lang, Ian Tetley, Pat Perroud		Pat Ryan, Gord Trenchie, Don Mckenzie, Don Walchuk	Moncton, New Brunswick (2)
1986		Ed Lukowich, John Ferguson, Neil Houston, Brent Syme		Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Tim Belcourt, Kent Carstairs	Kitchener, Ontario (2)
1987		Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Tim Belcourt, Kent Carstairs		Bernie Sparkes, Jim Armstrong, Monte Ziola, Jamie Sexton	Edmonton, Alberta (3)
1988		Pat Ryan, Randy Ferbey, Don Walchuk, Don McKenzie		Eugene Hritzuk, Del Shaughnessy, Murray Soparlo, Don Dabrowski	Chicoutimi, Quebec
1989		Pat Ryan, Randy Ferbey, Don Walchuk, Don McKenzie		Rick Folk, Bert Gretzinger, Rob Koffski, Doug Smith
1990		Ed Werenich, John Kawaja, Ian Tetley, Pat Perroud		Jim Sullivan, Charlie Sullivan, Jr., Craig Burgess, Paul Power	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
1991		Kevin Martin, Kevin Park, Dan Petryk, Don Bartlett		Randy Woytowich, Brian McCusker, Wyatt Buck, John Grundy	Hamilton, Ontario (2)
1992		Vic Peters, Dan Carey, Chris Neufeld, Don Rudd		Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Peter Corner	Regina, Saskatchewan (3)
1993		Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Peter Corner		Rick Folk, Pat Ryan, Bert Gretzinger, Gerry Richard	Ottawa, Ontario (2)
1994		Rick Folk, Pat Ryan, Bert Gretzinger, Gerry Richard		Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Peter Corner	Red Deer, Alberta
1995		Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Ryan, Rob Meakin, Keith Fenton		Brad Heidt, Mark Dacey, Wayne Charteris, Dan Ormsby	Halifax, Nova Scotia (4)
1996		Jeff Stoughton, Ken Tresoor, Garry VanDenBerghe, Steve Gould		Kevin Martin, Don Walchuk, Shawn Broda, Don Bartlett	Kamloops, British Columbia
1997		Kevin Martin, Don Walchuk, Rudy Ramcharan, Don Bartlett		Vic Peters, Dan Carey, Chris Neufeld, Scott Grant	Calgary, Alberta (4)
1998		Wayne Middaugh, Graeme McCarrel, Ian Tetley, Scott Bailey		Guy Hemmings, Pierre Charette, Guy Thibaudeau, Dale Ness	Winnipeg, Manitoba (4)
1999		Jeff Stoughton, Jon Mead, Garry VanDenBerghe, Doug Armstrong		Guy Hemmings, Pierre Charette, Guy Thibaudeau, Dale Ness	Edmonton, Alberta (4)
2000		Greg McAulay, Brent Pierce, Bryan Miki, Jody Sveistrup		Russ Howard, Wayne Tallon, Rick Perron, Grant Odishaw	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (4)

Nokia Brier

Year	Winning province	Winning team	Finalist province	Finalist team	Host
2001		Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer, Marcel Rocque		Kerry Burtnyk, Jeff Ryan, Rob Meakin, Keith Fenton	Ottawa, Ontario (3)
2002		Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer, Marcel Rocque		John Morris, Joe Frans, Craig Savill, Brent Laing	Calgary, Alberta (5)
2003		Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer, Marcel Rocque		Mark Dacey, Bruce Lohnes, Rob Harris, Andrew Gibson	Halifax, Nova Scotia (5)
2004		Mark Dacey, Bruce Lohnes, Rob Harris, Andrew Gibson		Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer, Marcel Rocque	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (5)

Tim Hortons Brier

Year	Winning province	Winning team	Finalist province	Finalist team	Host
2005		Randy Ferbey, David Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer, Marcel Rocque		Shawn Adams, Paul Flemming, Craig Burgess, Kelly Mittelstadt	Edmonton, Alberta (5)
2006		Jean-Michel Ménard, François Roberge, Éric Sylvain, Maxime Elmaleh		Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing, Craig Savill	Regina, Saskatchewan (4)
2007		Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing, Craig Savill		Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Chris Schille, Jamie Korab	Hamilton, Ontario (3)
2008		Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Ben Hebert		Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing, Craig Savill	Winnipeg, Manitoba (5)
2009		Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Ben Hebert		Jeff Stoughton, Kevin Park, Rob Fowler, Steve Gould	Calgary, Alberta (6)
2010		Kevin Koe, Blake MacDonald, Carter Rycroft, Nolan Thiessen		Glenn Howard, Richard Hart, Brent Laing, Craig Savill	Halifax, Nova Scotia (6)

Tournament	Gold		Silver		Bronze		Host
	Locale	Team	Locale	Team	Locale	Team
2011		Jeff Stoughton Jon Mead Reid Carruthers Steve Gould		Glenn Howard Richard Hart Brent Laing Craig Savill		Brad Gushue Mark Nichols Ryan Fry Jamie Danbrook	London, Ontario (2)
2012		Glenn Howard Brent Laing Craig Savill		Kevin Koe Pat Simmons Carter Rycroft Nolan Thiessen		Rob Fowler Allan Lyburn Richard Daneault Derek Samagalski	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (6)
2013		Brad Jacobs Ryan Fry E.J. Harnden Ryan Harnden		Jeff Stoughton Jon Mead Reid Carruthers Mark Nichols		Glenn Howard Wayne Middaugh Brent Laing Craig Savill	Edmonton, Alberta (6)
2014		Kevin Koe Pat Simmons Carter Rycroft Nolan Thiessen		John Morris Jim Cotter Tyrel Griffith Rick Sawatsky		Jeff Stoughton Jon Mead Mark Nichols Reid Carruthers	Kamloops, British Columbia (2)
2015		Pat Simmons John Morris Carter Rycroft Nolan Thiessen		Brad Jacobs Ryan Fry E.J. Harnden Ryan Harnden		Steve Laycock Kirk Muyres Colton Flasch Dallan Muyres	Calgary, Alberta (7)
2016		Kevin Koe Marc Kennedy Brent Laing Ben Hebert		Brad Gushue Mark Nichols Brett Gallant Geoff Walker		Brad Jacobs Ryan Fry E.J. Harnden Ryan Harnden	Ottawa, Ontario (4)
2017		Brad Gushue Mark Nichols Brett Gallant Geoff Walker		Kevin Koe Marc Kennedy Brent Laing Ben Hebert			St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (2)
2018		Brad Gushue Mark Nichols Brett Gallant Geoff Walker		Darren Moulding Brad Thiessen Karrick Martin		John Epping Mat Camm Pat Janssen Tim March	Regina, Saskatchewan (5)
2019		Kevin Koe B.J. Neufeld Colton Flasch Ben Hebert	Wild Card	Brendan Bottcher Darren Moulding Brad Thiessen Karrick Martin		Brad Jacobs Ryan Fry E.J. Harnden Ryan Harnden	Brandon, Manitoba (3)
2020		Brad Gushue Mark Nichols Brett Gallant Geoff Walker		Brendan Bottcher Darren Moulding Brad Thiessen Karrick Martin		Matt Dunstone Catlin Schneider Dustin Kidby	Kingston, Ontario (2)^[13]
2021		Darren Moulding Brad Thiessen Karrick Martin	Wild Card 2	Kevin Koe B.J. Neufeld John Morris Ben Hebert		Matt Dunstone Braeden Moskowy Kirk Muyres Dustin Kidby	Calgary, Alberta (8)^[14]
2022	Wild Card 1	Brad Gushue Mark Nichols Brett Gallant Geoff Walker		Kevin Koe B.J. Neufeld John Morris Ben Hebert		Pat Janssen Brad Thiessen Karrick Martin	Lethbridge, Alberta^[15]
2023		Brad Gushue Mark Nichols E.J. Harnden Geoff Walker		Matt Dunstone B.J. Neufeld Colton Lott Ryan Harnden	Wild Card 1	Brendan Bottcher Marc Kennedy Brett Gallant Ben Hebert	London, Ontario (3)^[16]

Montana's Brier

Tournament	Gold		Silver		Bronze		Host
	Locale	Team	Locale	Team	Locale	Team
2024					(Bottcher)	Brendan Bottcher Marc Kennedy Brett Gallant Ben Hebert	Regina, Saskatchewan (6)^[17]
2025

Top 3 finishes table

As of the 2024 Brier Final

Prior to the 2011 Brier, there were no bronze medal games, so the third-place finishes listed in the table are for the teams that finished third in the tournament. Following the introduction of bronze medal games, which were played between the loser of the 3 versus 4 page playoff game and the loser of the semifinal game, the third-place finishes listed are for the teams that won the bronze medal games in each Brier. The bronze medal games were discontinued with the 2018 Brier.

Province / Locale	1st	2nd	3rd	Top 3 finishes
	29	21	9	59
	27	15	15	57
	10	18	13	41
	7	16	18	41
	5	6	13	24
	4	13	14	31
	4	1	1	6
	3	3	6	12
	3	2	2	7
	2	4	4	10
	1	2	1	4
	0	3	7	10
	0	1	0	1
	0	0	5	5
	0	0	2	2

Awards

Hec Gervais Playoff MVP Award

Year	Player	Locale
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002	David Nedohin (2)
2003	David Nedohin (3)
2004
2005	David Nedohin (4)
2006
2007
2008
2009	Kevin Martin (2)
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016	Kevin Koe (2)
2017
2018	Brad Gushue (2)
2019	Kevin Koe (3)
2020	Brad Gushue (3)
2021
2022	Brad Gushue (4)	Wild Card 1
2023	Brad Gushue (5)
2024	Brad Gushue (6)

Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award

Year	Player	Locale
1966		Netherlands
1967
1968
1969		Netherlands
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977		Netherlands
1978
1979
1979
1980		Netherlands
1981	Mel Watchorn (2)
1982		Netherlands
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987	Jim Armstrong (2)
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992	Jim Armstrong (3)
1993
1994	Mark Noseworthy (2)	Netherlands
1995
1996
1997
1998		Netherlands
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013	Paul Flemming (2)
2014
2015	Jim Cotter (2)
2016
2017	Jean-Michel Ménard (2)
2018
2019		Wild Card
2020		Wild Card
2021
2022
2023
2024

Shot of the Week Award

See main article: Tim Hortons Brier Shot of the Week Award.

Year	Player	Province
1997
1998
1999	Guy Hemmings (2)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005	David Nedohin (2)
2006
2007
2008
2009	Glenn Howard (2)
2010
2011
2012	Glenn Howard (3)
2013

Ford Hot Shots

Records

Most Brier wins as skip

Only one skip, Brad Gushue, has won the Brier six times (2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024).

Four people have won the Brier four times as skip:

• Ernie Richardson (1959, 1960, 1962, 1963)
• Kevin Martin (1991, 1997, 2008, 2009)
• Randy Ferbey (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005)
• Kevin Koe (2010, 2014, 2016, 2019)

Top Attendance Records

	Brier	Venue	Total attendance
1		Rexall Place, Edmonton	281,985
2		Saskatchewan Place, Saskatoon	248,793
3		Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary	246,126
4		Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary	245,296
5		Skyreach Centre, Edmonton	242,887
6		Saskatchewan Place, Saskatoon	238,129
7		Canadian Airlines Saddledome, Calgary	223,322
8		Rexall Place, Edmonton	190,113
9		Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon	177,226
10		MTS Centre, Winnipeg	165,075
11		Metro Centre, Halifax	158,414
12		Civic Centre, Ottawa	154,136
13		Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary	151,835
14		Saskatchewan Place, Saskatoon	151,538
15		Winnipeg Arena, Winnipeg	147,017
16		Centrium, Red Deer	130,625
17		Civic Centre, Ottawa	130,076
18		Riverside Coliseum, Kamloops	127,746
19		Brandt Centre, Regina	125,971
20		Mile One Centre, St. John's	122,592
21		Metro Centre, Halifax	121,896
22		Agridome, Regina	121,555
23		TD Place Arena, Ottawa	115,047
24		John Labatt Centre, London	113,626
25		Brandt Centre, Regina	110,555
26		Metro Centre, Halifax	107,242
27		Copps Coliseum, Hamilton	107,199
28		Keystone Centre, Brandon	106,394
29		Brandt Centre, Regina	101,401

Perfect games

A perfect game in curling is one in which a player scores 100% on all their shots in a game. Statistics on shots have been kept since 1980 (except for 1982).

Curler	Team	Position	Shots	Year	Opponent
		Lead	22	1985
		Lead	18	1987
		Lead	18	1988
		Lead	20	1988
		Second	18	1988
		Lead	10	1992
		Third	18	1992
		Skip	10	1992
		Lead	20	1993
		Lead	20	1993
		Lead	20	1993
		Lead	20	1993
		Third	20	1993
		Lead	16	1994
		Skip	14	1995
		Second	20	1997
		Third	12	1998
		Third	18	1999
		Third	10	1999
		Lead	14	2000
		Lead	20	2000
		Third	16	2000
		Skip	10	2001
		Skip	16	2001
		Second	16	2001
		Lead	20	2004
		Second	12	2004
		Second	12	2004
		Lead	20	2004
		Lead	10	2006
		Skip	14	2006
		Lead	18	2006
		Lead	12	2007
		Lead	10	2007
		Skip	12	2008
		Second	14	2009
		Lead	18	2009
		Skip	12	2009
		Third	12	2009
		Lead	18	2010
		Second	14	2011
		Lead	16	2011
		Second	14	2011
		Second	20	2011
		Lead	20	2011
		Skip	15	2011
		Skip	14	2012
		Second	16	2012
		Lead	14	2013
		Lead	17	2013
		Lead	10	2013
		Skip	14	2013
		Second	14	2013
		Second	14	2013
		Lead	18	2013
		Lead	16	2013
		Lead	16	2013
		Lead	14	2013
		Lead	10	2014
		Lead	20	2014
		Lead	15	2014
		Lead	16	2014
		Lead	18	2014
		Lead	16	2014
		Lead	16	2014
		Third	18	2015
		Lead	18	2015
		Lead	16	2015
		Second	18	2015
		Third	16	2016
		Second	20	2016
		Lead	18	2016
		Lead	18	2016
		Skip	16	2016
		Lead	20	2016
		Second	16	2016
		Third	18	2016
		Lead	20	2016
		Lead	17	2016
		Skip	18	2016
		Second	18	2016
		Second	18	2016
		Lead	18	2016
		Skip	19	2017
		Second	16	2017
		Lead	16	2017
		Third	22	2017
		Skip	16	2018
		Skip	18	2018
	Wild Card	Third	16	2018
	Wild Card	Lead	12	2018
	Wild Card	Lead	14	2018
		Second	16	2019
		Second	16	2019
		Second	16	2020
		Skip	16	2020
		Skip	19	2020
		Skip	15	2020
		Skip	18	2020
		Skip	20	2020
		Third	12	2020
	Wild Card	Lead	20	2020
		Third	16	2020
		Skip	20	2020	Wild Card
		Skip	18	2021
		Skip	16	2021
		Lead	16	2021
		Skip	16	2021
		Third	16	2021
		Lead	20	2022
	Wild Card 1	Third	16	2022
		Lead	16	2022
	Wild Card 1	Lead	14	2023
		Lead	20	2023	Wild Card 1
		Lead	16	2024
	(Bottcher)	Lead	18	2024
	(Bottcher)	Lead	16	2024
	(Bottcher)	Second	16	2024
		Lead	16	2024
		Skip	16	2024
		Lead	22	2024	(Dunstone)
	(Dunstone)	Lead	14	2024
		Second	16	2024	(Dunstone)
		Lead	20	2024	(Carruthers)
		Lead	17	2024	(Bottcher)
		Lead	18	2024

Number of games played

As of the 2024 Brier

Rank	Player	Team(s) / Province(s)	Games played
1		Wild Card 1	257
2		Wild Card 1	244
3		Wild Card 3	227
4			197
5		Wild Card 2 Wild Card 1 (Bottcher)	195
6			183
6		(Dunstone)	183
8			178
9			176
10			174
11			169
12			166
13		Wild Card 1	160
14		Wild Card 1 (Bottcher)	158
15			150
16			150
17		Wild Card 2	150
17		Wild Card 1 Wild Card 1 (Bottcher)	150
19		Wild Card 2 (Koe)	147
20			139
21			137
22			129
23		Wild Card 3	127
24			121
25			121
26			120
27			120
28			119
28		Wild Card Wild Card 1 Wild Card 2	119
30			118
31			112
32	Martin Crête		112
33		Wildcard Wild Card 2 (Dunstone)	109
34			107
34			107
34			107
37			106
38			104
39			103
40		Wild Card Wild Card 1	102
41			101
41		Wild Card 3	101
41		Wildcard Wild Card 1 (Bottcher)	101
44			100
44			100

Most Brier game wins as skip

On March 5, 2018 Brad Gushue skipped the 114th win of his Brier career, breaking a three-way tie with previous record-holders Russ Howard and Kevin Martin. His first victory took place on March 1, 2003, 15 years earlier.^[18]

See also

• Scottish Men's Curling Championship
• United States Men's Curling Championship
• World Curling Championships
• Scotties Tournament of Hearts (Canada)
• Scottish Women's Curling Championship

Further reading

• Shot Stone: Curling in Canada at Library and Archives Canada
• SOUDOG'S Curling History Site

External links

• Curling Canada
• Brier news at CurlingRink.ca
• Archives

Notes and References

1. The Brier, by Bob Weeks, pg 20
2. "Canada Curls", by Doug Maxwell, pg 106
3. "Canada Curls", by Doug Maxwell, pg 109
4. "Canada Curls", by Doug Maxwell, pg 114
5. "Canada Curls", by Doug Maxwell, pg 121
6. News: CBC Digital Archives: Curling at the 1947 Macdonald Brier. CBC.
7. Web site: The History of Curling. Canadian Curling Association.
8. News: Curling's iconic Brier seeks corporate home . November 29, 2022 . . . March 12, 2023.
9. News: Brier to follow Scotties in awarding a Team Canada bye to champion. Canadian Press. 10 March 2014.
10. Web site: New Formats, New Event Introduced at 2016 National Curling Congress . . December 25, 2019.
11. Web site: Curling Canada . Facebook.com . Breaking News. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/118338991511476/1249133898431974 . 2022-02-26 . limited. June 19, 2016 . December 25, 2019.
12. Web site: Cancel Brier! . Newspapers.com . Regina Leader-Post. April 22, 2022 . December 8, 1942.
13. News: MacAlpine . Ian . It's official: Brier coming to Kingston in 2020 . . November 1, 2018 . November 1, 2018.
14. Web site: Curling Canada aims to hold series of events in hub city . December 1, 2020 . December 1, 2020.
15. Web site: Lethbridge to host the Brier in 2022 . January 8, 2021 . January 9, 2021.
16. News: The 2023 Tim Hortons Brier is coming to London, Ont. . January 24, 2022 . . December 7, 2022.
17. News: Dort . Brit . Postey . Drew . 2024 Brier coming to Regina . December 6, 2022 . . December 7, 2022.
18. News: Gushue breaks Tim Hortons Brier career victories record. March 6, 2018. Curling Canada. March 5, 2018.