March 5, 2008…A tremendous field of Brier winners, world champions and Olympic gold medallists is set to battle at the Tim Hortons Brier, presented by Monsanto, March 8-16 at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
It’s a veteran line-up for the 79th edition of the Canadian men’s curling championship, which returns to Winnipeg for a fifth time, but first since 1998, when held at the Winnipeg Arena and won by Ontario’s Wayne Middaugh. Winnipeg joins Toronto, Calgary, Halifax, Saskatoon and Edmonton as the only other cities to host the Brier at least five times since it began in 1927 in Toronto.
Returning as the defending Canadian and world champion is Ontario’s Glenn Howard. Last year, his Coldwater and District Curling Club team of third Richard Hart, second Brent Laing and lead Craig Savill won both the Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton and the Ford world men’s in Edmonton. Howard, a three-time world champion, after earlier victories as third for brother Russ Howard in 1987 and 1993, will be making his 10th Brier appearance while seeking a 10th victory for Ontario.
Alberta will be represented for the third year in a row by 2002 Olympic silver medallist Kevin Martin of Edmonton, who won the 1991 Labatt Brier in Hamilton in his Canadian men’s curling championship debut, then took the 1997 renewal in Calgary. Alberta has won 22 Briers, the last by Randy Ferbey in 2005. Martin makes his ninth Brier appearance.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s 27-year-old Brad Gushue of St. John's, who won Olympic gold in 2006 in Turin, Italy, along with his third Mark Nichols, will be making his fifth Brier appearance. Last year, Gushue, also a 2001 world junior champion, finished the runner-up, losing the final to Howard, 10-6 in Hamilton. He will be trying to win just a second title for his province since Jack MacDuff shocked the curling world with a victory in 1976 in Regina.
Host province Manitoba, which has won a leading 26 Briers, will be represented by two-time Brier winner and former world champion Kerry Burtnyk of Winnipeg. Burtnyk, who captured the 1981 and 1995 Briers, along with the 1995 Ford Worlds, still owns the record for being the youngest skip to ever win the Brier, at 22 years of age in 1981. Manitoba’s last Brier victory came courtesy of Jeff Stoughton in 1999 in Edmonton.
Jean-Michel Ménard once again will represent Quebec at the Brier for the third time as skip. In 2006 in Regina, Ménard upset Glenn Howard in the final, giving his province just a second Brier triumph. He went on to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he earned a silver medal for Canada at the world men’s, losing to Scotland’s David Murdoch in the final.
Completing the field are British Columbia’s Bob Ursel of Kelowna, the 1984 Canadian junior and 1985 world junior champion making his third trip to the Brier, Saskatchewan’s Pat Simmons of Davidson, in his fourth consecutive Brier appearance, New Brunswick’s James Grattan of Oromocto, the third-place finisher at the 1997 Brier in Calgary, now making his sixth appearance, Northern Ontario’s Eric Harnden of Sault Ste. Marie, who is joined by two sons, E.J. and Ryan, at third and second, respectively, in his third trip to the Brier, Nova Scotia’s Brian Rafuse of Bridgewater, who previously played in the 1996 Brier, Prince Edward Island’s Peter Gallant of Charlottetown, who returns as the defending provincial champion in his ninth Brier appearance and Chad Cowan of Whitehorse, representing the Yukon/Northwest Territories for the third time.
After the conclusion of the 12-team round robin, the top four teams advance to the Page Playoffs, whereby the first and second place teams meet in one game (winner to final, loser to semi-final) while the third and fourth place finishers meet in another game (winner to semi-final, loser eliminated).
There will be extensive national television coverage of the Tim Hortons Brier. TSN will air the afternoon and evening draws during the first six days of the round robin (March 8-13), followed by the Page Playoff games on Friday, March 14. CBC-TV will televise the semi-final Saturday, March 15 at 1:30 CT/2:30 pm ET and the final on Sunday, March 16 at 5:30 pm CT/6:30 pm ET. It’s the sixth consecutive year that the Brier final has been televised live in Eastern prime time.
CurlTV (www.curltv.com <http://www.curltv.com> ) will webcast a number of games throughout the week to its subscribers.
The winner of the Tim Hortons Brier will then represent Canada at the world men’s curling championship, April 5-13 at the Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota, seeking a leading 31st title for Canada since 1959.
The winning Brier team also earns a berth into the 2008 Continental Cup, December 18-21 in Camrose Alberta, the 2009 Canada Cup in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, March 18-22 and also becomes one of 16 teams eligible for the 2009 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials, which will determine Canada’s representatives for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
In addition, the winning team receives $144,000 in Sport Canada funding over a two-year period, and, for the fourth consecutive year, the four Brier playoff teams will receive money for television cresting value: $40,000 to each of the two finalist teams, with $30,000 to third and $20,000 to fourth.
The popular Ford Hot Shots, the curling skills competition, gets underway Friday, March 7 with the preliminary round from 1:00 – 4:30 pm. The playoffs take place Saturday at 12 Noon, following the Opening Ceremonies (10:30 am), with the winner receiving a two-year lease on a new 2008 Ford Fusion SEL V6, valued at approximately $15,240. The second place finisher earns $2,000 while the third place finisher receives $1,000. The first draw gets underway at 2:00 pm CT/3:00 pm ET.
The Brier began in 1927 in Toronto and has been played in 31 different cities across Canada, from Victoria to St. John’s. Manitoba has won a leading 26 times, while Alberta is next with 22. New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Yukon/Northwest Territories have yet to win. The Brier attendance record of 281,985 was set in Edmonton in 2005. In 1998 in Winnipeg, the Brier attracted 147,017.
Up-to-the-minute draw results will be available on the CCA website (www.curling.ca <http://www.curling.ca> ).
2008 TIM HORTONS BRIER, MARCH 8-16, MTS CENTRE, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA
(Teams listed in order of skip, third, second, lead, fifth and coach)
ALBERTA – Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton
Kevin Martin
John Morris
Marc Kennedy
Ben Hebert
Adam Enright
Jules Owchar
BRITISH COLUMBIA – Kelowna CC, Kelowna
Bob Ursel (third rocks)
Jim Cotter (fourth rocks)
Kevin Folk
Rick Sawatsky
Tom Buchy
Jim Ursel
MANITOBA – Assiniboine Memorial CC, Winnipeg
Kerry Burtnyk
Dan Kammerlock
Richard Daneault
Garth Smith
Reid Carruthers
Rob Meakin
NEW BRUNSWICK – Gage Golf & Curling Association, Oromocto
James Grattan
Mike Kennedy
Jason Vaughan
Peter Case
Andy McCann
Dean Grattan
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR – Bally Haly Golf & CC, St. John’s
Brad Gushue
Mark Nichols
Chris Schille
David Noftall
Glenn Goss
Geoff Cunningham
NORTHERN ONTARIO – Soo Curlers Association, Sault Ste. Marie
Eric Harnden
E.J. Harnden
Ryan Harnden
Caleb Flaxey
Brad Jacobs
Ross Boston
NOVA SCOTIA– Bridgewater CC, Bridgewater
Brian Rafuse
Curt Palmer
Alan Darragh
Dave Slauenwhite
Glenn Josephson
Peter MacPhee
ONTARIO – Coldwater & District CC, Coldwater
Glenn Howard
Richard Hart
Brent Laing
Craig Savill
Steve Bice
Scott Taylor
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – Charlottetown CC, Charlottetown
Peter Gallant
Kevin Champion
Mark O’Rourke
John Desrosiers
Mark Butler
Rod MacDonald
QUEBEC – Victoria CC, Ste-Foy & Etchemin CC, St-Romuald
Jean-Michel Ménard
Martin Crête
Éric Sylvain
Jean Gagnon
Philippe Ménard
Michel St-Onge
SASKATCHEWAN – Davidson CC, Davidson
Pat Simmons
Jeff Sharp
Gerry Adam
Steve Laycock
Warren Jackson
Barry Fiendell
YUKON/NORTHWEST TERRITORIES - Whitehorse CC, Whitehorse
Chad Cowan
Wade Scoffin
James Buyck
Clint Ireland
Doug Gee
Bill Tschirhart
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