February 15...Jean-Michel Ménard, the 2006 Tim Hortons Brier champion and world men's runner-up, once again defeated Martin Ferland of Trois-Rivières in a Quebec final. 

Last year, he won the provincial final, 7-5, to qualify for the Brier.  Today, Ménard repeated with a 9-6 victory at the Aréna de Salaberry de Valleyfield, clinched by counting four in the seventh end for an 8-4 lead.

Representing the Etchemin Curling Club of St-Romuald, the Ménard team had finished the 16-team round robin with an 8-1 record, tied for first in Section A with two-time Brier runner-up Guy Hemmings, but awarded top spot for its round robin win.  Meanwhile, Ferland was a clear winner in Section B, also with an 8-1 mark.

Ménard met Ferland in the A1 vs B1 Page playoff game, but lost 9-3.  The result meant Ferland advanced to the final, while Ménard played Hemmings again, this time in the semi-final, which he won 8-3, to advance to a rematch with Ferland.

Joining Ménard are Martin Crête at third, Éric Sylvain at second and Jean Gagnon at lead.  In 2006, Ménard upset Ontario's Glenn Howard at the Tim Hortons Brier final in Regina, 8-7, then went on to finish second to Scotland's David Murdoch at the world men's in Lowell, Massachusetts.

This will be the sixth Brier appearance for Ménard, the 2001 Canadian Mixed champion, who also played second for Guy Hemmings in 2003, was the alternate for the François Roberge team in 2002 in Calgary (playing one game), before skipping Quebec in 2005 (7-5 in Edmonton), 2006 (10-4 in Regina) and 2008 (4-7 in Winnipeg). 

It's also the sixth Brier appearance for Sylvain, all at second, after playing in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008. 

For Crête, a five-time provincial junior champion, who holds the record for most wins (41) as a skip at the Canadian Juniors, it will be his second Brier appearance.  For Gagnon, it will be his fifth appearance, after playing lead for Roberge in 2000 and 2002, getting into one game as lead for Ménard in 2005 and 2006, then becoming a full-time lead in 2008.
 
Quebec has two Brier victories to its credit, by Jim Ursel in 1977 in Montreal and by Ménard in 2006 in Regina.

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