The 1981 Labatt Brier, the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

men's

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

championship was held from March 1 to 8, 1981 at the

Halifax Metro Centre Scotiabank Centre (formerly known as Halifax Metro Centre) is the largest multi-purpose facility in Atlantic Canada, located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The main entrances to the building are located on Brunswick Street, at the c ...

in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. The total attendance for the week was 67,257. Team Manitoba, who was skipped by

Kerry Burtnyk Kerry Burtnyk (born November 24, 1958) is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He grew up in Reston, Manitoba. He is a two time Canadian champion skip, and the 1995 World Champion skip. He is currently the coach of the Darcy Robertson ri ...

won the Brier tankard as they defeated

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

, skipped by

Al Hackner Allan A. Hackner (born July 18, 1954), nicknamed "the Iceman", is a retired Canadian Hall of Fame curler from Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was born in Nipigon, Ontario. He is a two-time Brier and World Champion skip. He is of Ojibwa descent and ...

in the final 5–4. Manitoba advanced to the final after beating

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in the semifinal 5–4. This was Manitoba's twenty-first Brier championship and the first of two skipped by Burtnyk. At 22 years, 3 months, and 15 days, Burtnyk became the youngest skip to ever win a Brier surpassing Hec Gervais' record by nearly five years when he won the . The Burtynk rink would go onto represent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the

1981 Air Canada Silver Broom The 1981 Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship, was held from at the Thompson Arena in London, Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and thre ...

, the men's world curling championship on home soil in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

where they lost in the semifinal to eventual champion

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The event set a record for the most extra end games in a single Brier as fourteen games went to an extra end breaking the record of eleven set in . This remains a record and would only be matched in .

Teams

The teams were listed as follows:

Map of teams

Round-robin standings

''Final Round Robin standings''

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in

Atlantic Standard Time The Atlantic Time Zone is a geographical region that keeps standard time—called Atlantic Standard Time (AST)—by subtracting four hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), resulting in UTC−04:00. AST is observed in parts of North America i ...

( UTC-04:00).

Draw 1

''Sunday, March 1, 2:00 pm''

Draw 2

''Sunday, March 1, 8:00 pm''

Draw 3

''Monday, March 2, 9:30 am''

Draw 4

''Monday, March 2, 2:30 pm''

Draw 5

''Monday, March 2, 8:00 pm''

Draw 6

''Tuesday, March 3, 9:30 am''

Draw 7

''Tuesday, March 3, 2:30 pm''

Draw 8

''Tuesday, March 3, 8:00 pm''

Draw 9

''Wednesday, March 4, 9:30 am''

Draw 10

''Wednesday, March 4, 2:30 pm''

Draw 11

''Wednesday, March 4, 8:00 pm''

Draw 12

''Thursday, March 5, 2:30 pm''

Draw 13

''Thursday, March 5, 8:00 pm''

Draw 14

''Friday, March 6, 9:30 am''

Draw 15

''Friday, March 6, 2:30 pm''

Tiebreakers

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

was awarded the bye into the second tiebreaker round based on head-to-head victories over both

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

in the round robin.

Round 1

''Friday, March 6, 8:00 pm''

Round 2

''Saturday, March 7, 9:30 am''

Playoffs

Semifinal

''Saturday, March 7, 3:30 pm''

Final

''Sunday, March 8, 3:00 pm''

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

''Final Round Robin Percentages''

Awards

All-Star Team

The media selected the following curlers as All-Stars.BRIER INDIVIDUAL AWARDS & ALL-STAR TEAMS
/ref>

Ross G.L. Harstone Award

The Ross Harstone Award was presented to the player chosen by their fellow peers as the curler who best represented Harstone's high ideals of good sportsmanship, observance of the rules, exemplary conduct and curling ability. Alberta skip, Mel Watchorn became the first player to win the Harstone Award twice after previously winning the award in .

External links

Final on YouTube

References

{{Canadian Men's Curling Championships Labatt Brier

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

Curling competitions in Halifax, Nova Scotia Labatt Brier Labatt Brier