The 2022

Tim Hortons Brier The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply (and more commonly) the Brier (''french: Le Brier''), is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and ...

, Canada's national men's

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

championship, was held from March 4 to 13 at the

ENMAX Centre The ENMAX Centre (formerly Canada Games Sportsplex) is a 5,479-seat multi-purpose arena, in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It features a full-size ice rink, and a walking track. An outdoor sports field, with capacity for 2,000 people, is no long ...

in Lethbridge,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. In the final, the defending Olympic bronze medallist

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 ...

Wild Card #1 team, which also include Mark Nichols,

Brett Gallant Brett Philip Gallant (born February 18, 1990 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) is a Canadian curler from Calgary. He currently plays second for the Brendan Bottcher rink. Career Juniors Gallant has represented Prince Edward Island in t ...

and Geoff Walker from Newfoundland and Labrador defeated Alberta, skipped by

Kevin Koe Kevin Koe ( ; born January 11, 1975) is a Canadian curler. Koe is a two-time World champion and four-time Canadian champion. He was the skip of the Canadian men's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Originally from Yellowknife, No ...

. It was Gushue's fourth career Brier title, and the team did it shorthanded, as Nichols missed the playoffs due to testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

. According to

Curling Canada Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of Curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes C ...

, it was the first time a three-player team won a Brier final. Gushue's four Brier wins ties the record with Ernie Richardson,

Randy Ferbey Randy S. Ferbey (born May 30, 1959) is a Canadian retired curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Ferbey is a six-time Canadian champion and a four-time World Champion. He currently coaches the Rachel Homan women's team. Born in Edmonton, Alberta ...

, Kevin Martin and Koe for most Brier championships as a skip, and his rink tied the "Ferbey Four" for most Brier championships as a foursome with four titles. Gushue played as a Wild Card team as they missed the Newfoundland and Labrador provincials due to their participation in

the Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, and were the first team to ever play at the Brier and the Olympics in the same year. They were also the first Wild Card team to win the Brier. The Gushue rink represented Canada at the

2022 World Men's Curling Championship The 2022 World Men's Curling Championship was held from April 2 to April 10 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, United States. Team Sweden, skipped by Niklas Edin, was the defending championship team. The 2022 WMCC trialed the no-tick rule for the fir ...

at the

Orleans Arena Orleans Arena is a 9,500-seat multi-purpose arena in Paradise, Nevada, in the Las Vegas Valley. It is located at the Orleans Hotel and Casino and is operated by Coast Casinos, a subsidiary of Boyd Gaming Corporation. The arena is the hom ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, where they won the silver medal.

Summary

Prior to the event, four players tested positive for

, delaying their arrival to Lethbridge. Unlike the 2021 Brier, which was held in a centralized "bubble" behind closed doors to avoid the spread of COVID-19, testing was only done before the event, and not during the event. The event was also held after the lifting of many pandemic restrictions in Alberta, meaning not only were fans allowed to attend the Brier, they did not have to wear masks. The event began with the playing of the

Ukrainian national anthem "" ( uk, Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля, , lit=The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished), also known by its official title of "State Anthem of Ukraine" (, ') or by its shortened form "" (, ), is the ...

before the first draw, as a tribute to the country that is currently being invaded by Russia. Draw 3 saw 15 year old Nicholas Codner, the alternate on Newfoundland and Labrador, become the youngest ever curler in recorded Brier history when he was subbed in during their game against Alberta, breaking the record set by Manitoba's John Van Hellemond (brother of hockey referee

Andy Van Hellemond Andy Van Hellemond (born February 16, 1948) is a Canadian former National Hockey League referee and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1999. He is also a former municipal politician, serving on city council for the City of Guelph, Ontario ...

) who was 16 at the 1958 Brier, and whose participation resulted in the ban of junior curlers at the Brier for nearly 60 years. Draw 3 also featured the "highly-anticipated" match between the defending champion

Brendan Bottcher Brendan Michael Bottcher (born December 19, 1991) is a Canadian curler from Sherwood Park, Alberta. Bottcher is a three-time provincial men's champion, and was the skip of the 2021 Canadian men's championship team, having led Alberta to victory ...

rink, representing Team Canada, and Team New Brunswick. Bottcher's former third,

Darren Moulding Darren Moulding (born December 2, 1982) is a Canadian curler from Lacombe, Alberta and curls out of the Saville Sports Centre and the Lacombe Curling Club. He is a former Canadian Junior Silver Medallist, a Canadian Mixed Champion, and represe ...

, had been controversially kicked off the 2021 champion team, and had joined James Grattan, who won the New Brunswick berth. Despite Bottcher's team being from Alberta, fans were more supportive of New Brunswick, as Moulding is from the Lethbridge area. Team Canada ultimately won the game, 6–4. Draw 10 saw brothers

Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

and

Glen Kennedy A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

play against each other for the first time at the Brier, with the younger Marc playing for Northern Ontario making his 11th Brier appearance, and the older Glen, playing for the Northwest Territories, making his first appearance. Other family connections at the event include the Northern Ontario front end Harnden brothers E.J. and Ryan (playing for their cousin Brad Jacobs), Saskatchewan front end Marsh brothers

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

and

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

, the Koe brothers (

, skip of Team Alberta and

Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film an ...

, skip of Northwest Territories), the Gallant brothers (

Brett Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north- ...

, second for Wild Card #1's

and

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

, alternate for Prince Edward Island), and the father and son duo of Glenn and

Scott Howard Scott William Howard (born July 11, 1990) is a Canadian curler. As an alternate for his father, Glenn Howard, Scott Howard won the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier and the 2012 World Men's Curling Championship. Personal life Howard attended Penetangui ...

, the back end of team Ontario. Draw 17 saw Ontario's

Glenn Howard Glenn William Howard (born July 17, 1962) is a Canadian curler who is one of the most decorated curlers of all time. He has won four world championships, four Briers and 17 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight straight, ...

win his 100th career game as a skip with their win over the Yukon. He is ranked fifth all-time for wins among skips at the Brier. Team Canada was the first team to secure a playoff spot for the six-team championship round, following their Draw 13 match against Wild Card #2 (skipped by

Matt Dunstone Matthew Dunstone, nicknamed "the Sheriff" (born June 25, 1995) is a Canadian curler from Kamloops, British Columbia. Career Dunstone won the Canadian Junior Curling Championships in 2013. He represented Canada at the 2013 World Junior Curlin ...

's Wild Card #1 rink was the second team to secure a playoff spot after defeating Nova Scotia in Draw 14. Team Alberta, skipped by Kevin Koe, became the third team to secure a spot, following their win over Team Canada in Draw 15 in a "

battle of Alberta The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canada, Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city (since 1976), and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta (since 1905). Most often it is u ...

". Following the final draws of pool play, Northern Ontario, skipped by Brad Jacobs clinched a spot in the playoffs after defeating Nova Scotia in their final round robin game. Tie breakers will be necessitated for the final playoff spots in both pools. Team Wild Card #2 lost their final game to Saskatchewan, skipped by

Colton Flasch Colton Flasch (born February 27, 1991) is a Canadian curler from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He currently plays third on Team Mike McEwen. Career Juniors After having curled with the Mike Armstrong junior rink, Flasch joined the Braeden Moskowy ...

resulting in a re-match between those two teams for the pool A tiebreaker, and Manitoba, skipped by Mike McEwen was forced into a tiebreaker against Wild Card #3, skipped by

Jason Gunnlaugson Jason Gunnlaugson is a Canadian curler currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Gunnlaugson is known for having been hired by the Russian Curling Federation (RCF) to represent the country at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The deal which was announce ...

, after McEwen lost their final round robin game to Quebec. In the Group A tiebreaker, Saskatchewan defeated Wild Card #2 (Dunstone), 9–5 in a re-match of their final round robin game, and the Saskatchewan provincial final, in which Flash won all three. In the Group B tiebreaker, Jason Gunnlaugson's Wild Card #3 team defeated their provincial rival Mike McEwen rink, representing Manitoba 9–3. With the win, Gunnlaugson advanced to the quarterfinal of the championship round to play Team Canada, while Saskatchewan advanced to play Northern Ontario. Both Alberta and Wild Card #1 (Gushue) advanced directly to the semifinals as a result of finishing first in their groups. In the semifinals of the championship round, Saskatchewan routed Northern Ontario 10–3 and Team Canada beat Wild Card #3 (Gunnlaugson) 7–3, eliminating both Northern Ontario and Wild Card #3 from the playoffs. In the Saskatchewan–Northern Ontario game, Northern Ontario skip Brad Jacobs and his team conceded after just seven ends, and immediately left the ice in defeat. With the wins, Saskatchewan went on to play Alberta and Team Canada went on to play Wild Card #1 (Gushue) in the championship round finals. Prior to their game against Team Canada, Wild Card #1's third Mark Nichols tested positive for COVID-19, and announced he would not play for the rest of the tournament, leaving the team shorthanded with just three players, as they did not bring an alternate player to the event. Nichols began feeling unwell the night before, and continue to feel unwell the next day, experiencing "mild symptoms". The rest of the team tested negative. In the championship round finals, Team Canada beat Wild Card #1 4–3, while Alberta edged Saskatchewan 7–2. This sent Team Canada and Alberta to the 1 vs. 2 game in the

page playoff The Page playoff system is a playoff format used primarily in softball and curling at the championship level, the Indian Premier League and Pakistan Super League cricket tournaments. Teams are seeded using a round-robin tournament and the top four ...

round, and sent Saskatchewan and Wild Card #1 into the 3 vs. 4 game. In the page playoff 3 vs. 4 game, Brad Gushue's shorthanded Wild Card #1 rink took on Saskatchewan, skipped by Colton Flasch. Gushue, who started the game with the

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as ...

opened the scoring in the second end, by making a soft raise takeout for two. Flasch responded with a hit for two in the third to tie the game, and forced Gushue to one in the fourth, with Gushue drawing through a narrow port against three. In the fifth end, Saskatchewan took a 4–3 lead after Flasch made an in-off to score two. Gushue scored two in the sixth, and forced Flasch to one in the seventh. Back with the hammer, Gushue was forced to a single of his own in the eighth, after making an in-off to take a 6–5 lead. Flasch capitalized in the ninth end by scoring two more points after making a soft tap. In the final end, Gushue successfully made an angle-run back to score three points on his last rock, giving his Wild Card #1 team a 9–7 win. After the game, Gushue compared playing with just three players (third Nichols did not play due to testing positive for COVID-19) as "killing a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalt ...

for 60 minutes (in a hockey game)". Flasch called the match a "great game" due to the shot making of both teams. The win put Gushue into the page playoff semifinal against the loser of the 1 vs. 2 game, and eliminated Saskatchewan from contention. In the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game, Alberta, skipped by Kevin Koe, took on the defending champion Team Canada rink, skipped by Brendan Bottcher. Trailing 5–6 in the seventh end without the hammer, Bottcher missed a key triple takeout attempt, allowing Koe to score two, to go up 8–5. After the teams traded singles in the eighth and ninth ends, Koe ran Bottcher out of rocks in the 10th, giving Bottcher a single point, and beating him for a final score of 9–7. Compared to the 3 vs. 4 game, the 1 vs. 2 match was considered "definitely not a classic" by Koe, who stated the "ice got a little trickier". The win put Alberta directly in to the Brier final, and bumped Team Canada into a semifinal showdown against Brad Gushue's Wild Card #1 rink. Brad Gushue's Wild Card #1 rink continued to roll in the semifinal, despite playing with just three players, beating Team Canada 9–3. Defence played a role early in the game, with both teams trading singles in the first two ends, and blanking the third. In the fourth, Gushue made a draw under a centre guard, forcing Bottcher to make a tap for a single to take a 2–1 lead. Bottcher was wide with a runback attempt in the fifth, allowing Gushue to draw for three. In the sixth, Bottcher was forced to take a single, after his first stone picked, but made a run back double-takeout to score one point. Bottcher came up light with hist last shot in the seventh end, allowing Gushue to draw to score another three points. Gushue stole two more points in the eighth before Team Bottcher conceded the game. The win advanced Gushue to the final to play Alberta, skipped by Kevin Koe. The final between Koe's Alberta rink and Gushue's Wild Card team started as a struggle for both teams. Gushue's normal second

, who was throwing stones four through six on the still shorthanded team, flashed a hit in the second end, leading to a score of two for Alberta. Alberta third B. J. Neufeld rubbed on guards on both of his shots, which led to a three-ender for Gushue in the third. After a blank end, Koe made a tap for two to take a 4–3 lead after five ends. In the sixth end, Koe missed on a triple takeout attempt, hitting just one rock, which led to a Gushue draw for three to take a 6–4 lead. In the seventh, Gushue failed to bury his rock on a hit-and-roll attempt, allowing Koe a hit for two to tie the game. Koe forced Gushue to a single in eight, but Gushue responded with a steal of one in the ninth after Koe came up short on a draw, to go up 8–6. In the tenth end, following a successful raise takeout by Gushue, Koe could only hit for two on his last shot to tie the game, forcing an extra end without hammer. In the extra end, Gushue had a hit and stay against two to win the game, and his fourth career Brier. It was the last Brier for the Koe rink, as they plan on breaking up after the season.

Teams

Source:

CTRS ranking

Source:

Wild card selection

included three wild card teams, continuing a process started with the 2021 Brier. The teamsskipped by

(Newfoundland and Labrador),

(Saskatchewan) and

(Manitoba)were the top three in the Canadian Team Ranking System standings who had not otherwise qualified by winning their provincial championship nor by being the reigning Team Canada champion.

Round robin standings

''Final Round Robin Standings''

Round robin results

All draw times are listed in

Mountain 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−07:00).

Draw 1

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

Draw 2

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

Draw 3

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

Draw 4

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

Draw 5

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

Draw 6

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

Draw 7

''Monday, March 7, 8:30 am''

Draw 8

''Monday, March 7, 1:30 pm''

Draw 9

''Monday, March 7, 6:30 pm''

Draw 10

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

Draw 11

''Tuesday, March 8, 1:30 pm''

Draw 12

''Tuesday, March 8, 6:30 pm''

Draw 13

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

Draw 14

''Wednesday, March 9, 1:30 pm''

Draw 15

''Wednesday, March 9, 6:30 pm''

Draw 16

''Thursday, March 10, 8:30 am''

Draw 17

''Thursday, March 10, 12:30 pm''

Draw 18

''Thursday, March 10, 6:30 pm''

Tiebreakers

''Friday, March 11, 8:30 am''

Championship round

The winners of the Finals advance to the 1 vs. 2 game in the Page playoff, while the losers play in the 3 vs. 4 game.

Semifinals

''Friday, March 11, 12:30 pm''

Finals

''Friday, March 11, 6:30 pm''

Playoffs

1 vs. 2

''Saturday, March 12, 6:30 pm''

3 vs. 4

''Saturday, March 12, 1:30 pm''

Semifinal

''Sunday, March 13, 11:00 am''

Final

''Sunday, March 13, 6:00 pm''

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

''Final Round Robin Percentages; minimum 6 games''

Perfect games

''Round robin and championship round only; minimum 10 shots thrown''

Awards

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

, Team Wild Card 1 *Third:

Marc Kennedy Marc Kennedy (born February 5, 1982) is a Canadian curler, and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist from St. Albert, Alberta. In 2019, Kennedy was named the greatest Canadian male second in history in a TSN poll of broadcasters, r ...

, Northern Ontario *Second:

Kevin Marsh Kevin Marsh (born 14 November 1954) is the Editor of the BBC College of Journalism. Early life He was born in Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1954 to John and Elizabeth Jill Marsh. He attended Doncaster Grammar School from 1966–73 a ...

, Saskatchewan *Lead:

Karrick Martin Karrick Martin (born May 24, 1989 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian curler. He currently plays lead on Team Kevin Koe. He is the son of 2010 Olympic champion skip Kevin Martin. Career Juniors Despite being the son of one of curling's greates ...

, Team Canada ''Second Team'' *Skip:

, Alberta *Third: Mark Nichols, Team Wild Card 1 *Second: John Morris, Alberta *Lead:

Ben Hebert Benjamin "Ben" Hebert (born March 16, 1983) is a Canadian curler, a Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist, 2008 World Champion and four time Brier Champion from Chestermere, Alberta. In 2019, Hebert was named the greatest Canadian ma ...

, Alberta ;Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award * Scott Saccary, third, Nova Scotia ;Paul McLean Award *Phil LaPlante, TSN technical producer ;Hec Gervais Most Valuable Player Award *

, skip, Team Wild Card 1

Notes

References

External links

* {{2021–22 curling season

Brier Briar, Briars, Brier, or Briers may refer to: * Briar, or brier, common name for a number of unrelated thorny plants that form thicket People * Brier (surname) * Briers, a surname * Briars (surname) Places * Briar, Missouri, U.S. * Briar, ...

Curling in Alberta

Sport in Lethbridge The Brier