After three years of frustration, Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons is off to a hot start at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

The chiropractor from Moose Jaw and his team from the Davidson Curling Club — third Jeff Sharp, second Gerry Adam and lead Steve Laycock — moved into a four-way tie for first place at 2-0 by beating Peter Gallant of Prince Edward Island 8-5 in Sunday morning action.

Simmons had never won his opening game in three previous trips to the Brier; he joins a leading pack at 2-0 that includes Alberta's Kevin Martin, Ontario's Glenn Howard and Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk.

"There are some small things to keep improving on, but these are games we're winning that another year we may not have, and that's a good sign," said Simmons. "And it's also a good sign that we know we can play a whole lot better."

P.E.I. completed its opening weekend with an 0-3 record.

While Ontario and Manitoba were idle on Sunday morning, Alberta rolled to an 8-4 win over B.C.'s Bob Ursel. Martin opened the game with three in the first end and never looked back. B.C. dropped to 0-2 with the loss.

Also enjoying byes Sunday morning were Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden (1-0), Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse (1-0), New Brunswick's James Grattan (0-1), Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard (0-1), Chad Cowan of the Yukon/Northwest Territories (0-1) and Newfoundland/Labrador's Brad Gushue (0-2).

Play at the Tim Hortons Brier resumes Sunday, with games scheduled for 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. (all times Eastern). TSN will televise both draws.