The 2010 Tim Hortons Brier will mark the sixth time Halifax has hosted the Canadian men’s curling championship, after staging the 1951, 1966, 1981, 1995 and 2003 Briers. It will join Calgary and Toronto as the only cities to have staged the Brier at least six times, since it began in 1927, when the 81st edition gets underway.

When Halifax held the 2003 Nokia Brier, it was won by Alberta’s Randy Ferbey, who went unbeaten during the week, finishing with a perfect 13-0 mark after defeating the host province’s Mark Dacey in the final. The total attendance was 158,414, a Brier record for an Eastern Canada site (east of Winnipeg).  Two years later, Halifax hosted another major curling event, the 2005 Tim Hortons Canadian Curling Trials during which a record event attendance of 159,235 was established.   This competition determined Canada’s representatives for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy which saw Brad Gushue win a gold medal and Shannon Kleibrink earn a bronze.

Nova Scotia boasts three Brier wins. The first victory, by Halifax skip Murray Macneill, came in the inaugural Brier of 1927 in Toronto. The province’s second win came in 1951, ironically in Halifax, by Kentville’s Don Oyler, before Dacey defeated Ferbey at the 2004 Brier in Saskatoon, in a rematch of the 2003 final.

The Brier competition involves 10 provinces plus teams representing Northern Ontario and Yukon/Northwest Territories playing a round robin, leading to the Page Playoff system involving the top four teams. The first and second place teams meet in the Page 1 vs 2 game, with the winner advancing to the final while the loser goes to the semi-final. The third and fourth place teams meet in the Page 3 vs 4 game, with the winner advancing to the semi-final while the loser is eliminated.

The 2010 Tim Hortons Brier will be televised exclusively and extensively in Canada by TSN, from the round robin, through the Page Playoffs, semi-final and final.