February 8...Glenn Howard won his fourth straight Ontario title, defeating Peter Corner, 8-1 in the February 8 final of the TSC Stores Tankard, which took place at the Woodstock District Community Complex.

Howard and his Coldwater & District Curling Club team of third Richard Hart, second Brent Laing and lead Craig Savill, are enjoying their fifth year together.   And it's been five very successful years, highlighted by winning the 2007 Tim Hortons Brier in Hamilton and the Ford world men's in Edmonton.  

His team has also qualified directly into the Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials, December 6-13 in Edmonton, which will determine Canada's representatives at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Last year, Howard was the Brier runner-up in Winnipeg, losing to Alberta's Kevin Martin in the final, 5-4.   He had also defeated Corner in last year's provincial final to advance to the Brier.

Howard completed the Tankard 10-team round robin with a 8-1 mark, losing only to Joe Frans of Oshawa, 7-6 to finish first overall.    He then defeated Corner, 5-4 in the Page 1 vs 2 game to go to the final.

Brampton's Corner defeated Frans in the semi-final, 8-5 to advance to another rematch with Howard.   But the result was the same.   And like last year's final, there was an early knockout, as Howard opened with three, then proceeded to steal three in the second and one in the third for a 7-0 lead.   Corner conceded after five ends.

This will be the 11th Brier appearance for the 46-year-old Howard.  He played third for brother Russ in seven Briers, winning the Canadian and world championships in 1987 and 1993, before skipping his team to a runner-up finish in 2006 in Regina, shockingly losing the final to Quebec's Jean-Michel Ménard, then defeating Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue in the final in Hamilton in 2007.

Hart makes his fourth consecutive appearance at the Tim Hortons Brier, while Laing and Savill are making their fifth trips.  In addition to playing with Howard the last three years, they also teamed with Ontario skip John Morris in 2002, finishing the runner-up to Alberta's Randy Ferbey at the Nokia Brier in Calgary.  

In addition, Savill and Laing are Canadian and world junior champions, playing third and lead, respectively, for Ontario's John Morris in 1998 and 1999, while Hart won a silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, as third for Canada's Mike Harris.

Ontario has won nine Briers, the last by Glenn Howard in 2007.