The 2015

Tim Hortons Brier The Brier ('), known since 2024 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March. The wi ...

was held from February 28 to March 8 at

Scotiabank Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. In the final, the team of Pat Simmons, John Morris,

Carter Rycroft Carter Rycroft (born August 29, 1977) is a Canadian curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. He was a member of the Canadian Olympic team, skipped by Kevin Martin, that won a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Career Rycroft joined the Marti ...

and

Nolan Thiessen Nolan Thiessen (born November 6, 1980, in Pilot Mound, Manitoba) is a Canadian retired curler and sports executive. He is currently the CEO of Curling Canada. Career Thiessen, in his debut at Canadian Juniors, lost the final of the 2001 Canad ...

, representing "Team Canada" as defending Brier champions defeated the reigning Olympic gold medallist

Brad Jacobs Bradley Robert Jacobs (born June 11, 1985) is a Canadian curler from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He currently skips his own team out of Calgary, Alberta. He is an Olympic champion skip, having led Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Oly ...

rink, representing Northern Ontario. Simmons had to make a draw to the button in an extra end to win the championship. With the victory, the Simmons rink went on to represent Canada at the

2015 Ford World Men's Curling Championship The 2015 World Men's Curling Championship (branded as Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2015 for sponsorship reasons) was held from March 28 to April 5 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It marked the first time that ...

in Halifax, where they won the bronze medal.

Changes to competition format

For the first time, the event was expanded to include an entry from

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

, which has previously not participated in the Brier. Another notable change was having separate entries for the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

and

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, which had historically competed as a single entry. Starting with the 2015 tournament, the top ten teams automatically qualified to the main tournament, which was a competition between twelve teams as in years past. An eleventh team was the defending champions from the previous Brier who played as Team Canada. The four remaining unqualified teams played in a pre-qualifying tournament to determine the twelfth team to play in the main tournament. It was the first time in the history of the Brier that a Team Canada partook, which essentially allowed the defending champions direct re-entry into the event. The skip of the previous year's winning team, Kevin Koe, formed a new team in the off-season and was not part of Team Canada. Koe won the

2015 Boston Pizza Cup The 2015 Boston Pizza Cup was held from February 4 to 8 at the Peace Memorial Multiplex in Wainwright, Alberta. The winning Kevin Koe team represented Alberta at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary. Qualification process Twelve teams qualifi ...

with his new team and represented Alberta at the 2015 Brier. Koe's former teammates recruited John Morris to skip the first ever edition of Team Canada at the Brier. Morris was the runner-up from the previous year. Similar changes were also implemented for the

2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held from February 14 to 22 at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The winners represented Canada at the 2015 World Women's Curling Championship held from March 14 to 22 at the Tsukisamu Gymnasium in ...

, meaning that for the first time the Canadian men's and women's curling championships will be conducted using identical formats. Previous versions of the

Scotties Tournament of Hearts The Scotties Tournament of Hearts ('; commonly referred to as the Scotties) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Association. The winner goes on to represent Can ...

differed from the Brier in that they included a Team Canada entry, but did not include a separate entry from Northern Ontario.

Teams

The teams are listed as follows:

CTRS ranking

The #1 ranked Mike McEwen rink lost in the Manitoba final.

Map of teams

Relegation playoff

Combined record of each province/territory from 2012 to 2014

Nunavut declined to send a team while Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and the Yukon played a single round-robin at the Scotiabank Saddledome in order to determine which one of the three teams would qualify for the tournament. The teams with the two best records were to advance to the play-in game which was contested Saturday, February 28, concurrent with the opening draw of the Brier round-robin. However, each team finished the round robin tied with a 1-1 record which saw Nova Scotia eliminated based on pregame draws to the button. Prince Edward Island then defeated the Yukon to advance to the main draw of the tournament.

Round-robin standings

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in

Mountain Standard Time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...

( UTC−7).

Draw 1

''Thursday, February 26, 7:00 pm''

Draw 2

''Friday, February 27, 8:00 am''

Draw 3

''Friday, February 27, 3:30 pm''

Pre-qualifying final

''Saturday, February 28, 1:30 pm''

Round-robin standings

''Final round-robin standings''

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in

( UTC−7).

Draw 1

''Saturday, February 28, 1:30 pm''

Draw 2

''Saturday, February 28, 6:30 pm''

Draw 3

''Sunday, March 1, 8:30 am''

Draw 4

''Sunday, March 1, 1:30 pm''

Draw 5

''Sunday, March 1, 6:30 pm''

Draw 6

''Monday, March 2, 1:30 pm''

Draw 7

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

Draw 8

''Tuesday, March 3, 8:30 am''

Draw 9

''Tuesday, March 3, 1:30 pm''

Draw 10

''Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 pm''

Draw 11

''Wednesday, March 4, 8:30 am''

Draw 12

''Wednesday, March 4, 1:30 pm''

Draw 13

''Wednesday, March 4, 6:30 pm''

Draw 14

''Thursday, March 5, 8:30 am''

Draw 15

''Thursday, March 5, 1:30 pm''

Draw 16

''Thursday, March 5, 6:30 pm''

Draw 17

''Friday, March 6, 8:30 am''

Playoffs

1 vs. 2

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

3 vs. 4

''Saturday, March 7, 1:00 pm''

Semifinal

''Saturday, March 7, 6:00 pm''

Bronze medal game

''Sunday, March 8, 9:30 am''

Final

The 2015 Brier final was the first Brier final to start with four blanks. This game came down to the final stone of the eleventh end, where Pat Simmons had a draw to the pin for the win. ''Sunday, March 8, 5:00 pm''

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

''Round Robin only''

Perfect games

Awards

The awards and all-star teams are listed as follows: ;All-Star Teams ''First Team'' *Skip:

, Northern Ontario *Third:

Ryan Fry Ryan Bennett Fry (born July 25, 1978) is a Canadian retired curler currently living in Toronto. He most recently played third on the Mike McEwen team and coached the Rachel Homan team. He currently coaches the Joël Retornaz rink. He previousl ...

, Northern Ontario *Second:

, Team Canada *Lead:

Colin Hodgson Colin Sterling-Wyatt Hodgson (born June 8, 1990) is a Canadian curler originally from Lacombe, Alberta. He is the former lead for Team Mike McEwen and currently plays mixed doubles with Chelsea Carey. He also coaches the Julia Weagle rink. C ...

, Manitoba ''Second Team'' *Skip:

Brad Gushue Bradley Raymond Gushue, ONL ( ; born June 16, 1980) is a Canadian curler from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Gushue, along with teammates Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Jamie Korab and Mike Adam, represented Canada in curling at the 2006 ...

, Newfoundland and Labrador *Third:

Marc Kennedy Marc Kennedy (born February 5, 1982) is a Canadian curler, and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist from St. Albert, Alberta. He currently plays third on Team Brad Jacobs. In 2019, Kennedy was named the greatest Canadian male second ...

, Alberta *Second:

Brent Laing Brent George Laing (born December 10, 1978) is a Canadian curler from Barrie, Ontario. He grew up in Meaford, Ontario. Career Curling out of the Ottawa Curling Club (in Ottawa) and later the Stayner Curling Club (in Stayner, Ontario), Lain ...

, Alberta *Lead:

Ben Hebert Benjamin "Ben" Hebert (born March 16, 1983) is a Canadian curler, a Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist, 2008 and 2016 World Champion, and Five time Brier Champion from Chestermere, Alberta. He currently plays lead on Team Brad Jaco ...

, Alberta ;Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award * Jim Cotter, British Columbia skip ;Paul McLean Award *Jim Young, longtime camera man for TSN's curling broadcasts ;Hec Gervais Most Valuable Player Award * Pat Simmons, Team Canada skip

Notes

References

External links

* {{2014–15 curling season Curling competitions in Calgary The Brier