February 17...Skip James Grattan will make his sixth appearance at the Canadian men’s curling championship when the Tim Hortons Brier gets underway March 8 in Winnipeg.

On Sunday, Grattan won New Brunswick’s Keith’s Tankard at the Capital Winter Club in Fredericton, defeating Jeremy Mallais, 9-2 in the final.  Grattan took three’s in the third, fifth and seventh ends in claiming his sixth provincial title, third as skip.

Grattan and his Gage Curling Club team from Oromocto of third Mike Kennedy, second Jason Vaughan and lead Peter Case had wound up in first place in the eight- team round robin with a 5-2 record, earning a bye to the final.

There was a five-way tie for second, all with 4-3 marks, but Mallais was accorded that spot and a berth in the semi-final after tie-breaking procedures.  Four other teams...Russ Howard of Moncton, Charlie Sullivan of Saint John, Ryan Sherrard of Rothesay and Jamie Brannen of Fredericton then met in two tiebreakers for third, with Sullivan eventually emerging as the other semi-finalist.

However, Mallais, representing curling clubs in both Moncton and Fredericton, dispatched Sullivan, 6-5 in an extra end semi-final to advance to the final showdown with Grattan.

Grattan last skipped at the 2006 Tim Hortons Brier in Regina, finishing with a 5-6 mark.  He also skipped in 1997 in Calgary in his Brier debut, finishing a surprising third to Alberta’s Kevin Martin, with an overall mark of 9-4, after losing the semi-final to Manitoba’s Vic Peters.   In 2002, 2003 and 2004, he played third for Russ Howard.

Mike Kennedy will make his fourth Brier appearance, after skipping New Brunswick in 1992, 1993 and 1996.  Jason Vaughan was Grattan’s second in 2006, while lead Peter Case makes his Brier debut.

New Brunswick has never won the Brier.

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