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2018 Tim Hortons Brier

The 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 3 to 11, 2018 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan. The winning team represented Canada at the 2018 World Men's Curling Championship from March 31 to April 8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, United States.

This marked the fifth time the Brier was held in Regina, the first time since 2006.

The 2018 tournament was the first to use a new 16-team format, featuring representation by all fourteen member associations of Curling Canada, alongside the defending champions (as Team Canada), and a new wildcard team. As part of this new format, the Bronze medal game was removed from the schedule.

Teams

Curling Canada introduced a new 16-team format for both the Brier and Tournament of Hearts for 2018, under which all 14 member associations of Curling Canada are now represented in the main field, rather than being limited by a pre-qualifying tournament. The teams were divided into two pools for round robin play, after which the top four teams from each advanced to a Championship Pool. Alongside the inclusion of the previous year's champions as Team Canada, the final spot in the tournament was filled by a wildcard play-in game held on the Friday before the tournament.[1]

The rinks of John Epping (Ontario), Mike Fournier (Quebec), and Greg Smith (Newfoundland and Labrador) made their Brier debuts.

Team Canada's Brad Gushue set a new record for the most Canadian national men's championship game wins as a skip when he skipped the 114th victory of his Brier career over the Northwest Territories on March 5.[2]

CTRS ranking

Wildcard game

A play-in game was held on March 2, 2018 that determined the wildcard team that rounded out the tournament field. It was played between the top two teams on the Canadian Team Ranking System standings who lost[1] in their provincial championship: the Fort Rouge Curling Club's Mike McEwen rink and the Granite Curling Club's Jason Gunnlaugson rink, both from Winnipeg.

CTRS standings as of February 12
Wildcard Game

Friday, March 2, 19:00

Map of teams

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Team Canada Provincial Winners Wild-Card Team

Round-robin standings

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (UTC−06:00).

Draw 1

Saturday, March 3, 14:00

Draw 2

Saturday, March 3, 19:00

Draw 3

Sunday, March 4, 09:00

Draw 4

Sunday, March 4, 14:00

Draw 5

Sunday, March 4, 19:00

Draw 6

Monday, March 5, 09:00

Draw 7

Monday, March 5, 14:00

Draw 8

Monday, March 5, 19:00

Draw 9

Tuesday, March 6, 09:00

Draw 10

Tuesday, March 6, 14:00

Draw 11

Tuesday, March 6, 19:00

Draw 12

Wednesday, March 7, 09:00

Draw 13

Wednesday, March 7, 14:00

Draw 14

Wednesday, March 7, 19:00

Placement round

Each team that finished fifth through eight in their pool played the team that finished in the same position in the opposite pool for the purpose of determining final tournament ranking. For example, the winner of the game between fifth place teams was ranked ninth place overall, the loser of that game was ranked tenth place, and so on.

Seeding games

All game times are listed in Central Standard Time (UTC−06:00).

A5 vs. B5

Friday, March 9, 09:00

A6 vs. B6

Friday, March 9, 09:00

A7 vs. B7

Friday, March 9, 09:00

A8 vs. B8

Friday, March 9, 09:00

Championship pool standings

All wins and losses earned in the round robin (including results against teams that failed to advance) were carried forward into the Championship Pool.

Championship pool results

All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (UTC−06:00).

Draw 15

Thursday, March 8, 14:00

Draw 16

Thursday, March 8, 19:00

Draw 17

Friday, March 9, 14:00

Draw 18

Friday, March 9, 19:00

Playoffs

1 vs. 2

Saturday, March 10, 19:00

3 vs. 4

Saturday, March 10, 14:00

Semifinal

Sunday, March 11, 09:00

Final

Sunday, March 11, 16:00

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

Final Round Robin Percentages; minimum 6 games

Perfect games

Round Robin and Championship Pool only

Awards

The awards and all-star teams are listed as follows:

All-Star Teams[8]

First Team

Second Team

Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award[8]
Paul McLean Award[9]
Hec Gervais Most Valuable Player Award[10]

Provincial and territorial playdowns

Notes

  1. ^ British Columbia's alternate Brad Wood threw lead stones after the fourth end during Draw 2, because lead David Harper abruptly left the tournament to join his wife for the birth of their second child.[3] Wood continued to throw lead stones for the rest of the Brier except for Draw 10; Harper returned to throw lead stones against Newfoundland and Labrador before leaving once again.[4] Before Team BC's placement round match, third Jeff Richard left to join his wife for the birth of their child; in their game against New Brunswick, second Andrew Nerpin threw third stones, while alternate Brad Wood and Nerpin split the throwing of second stones.[5]
  2. ^ a b Northern Ontario's alternate Tanner Horgan threw lead stones during Draws 9, 19 & 20; lead Ryan Harnden was hospitalized with an illness for a day during Draws 19 and 20.[6]
  3. ^ a b During Draw 9, Quebec's alternate Émile Asselin threw lead stones for the last 3 ends.
  4. ^ a b c During Draw 8, Yukon's Wade Scoffin threw second stones for six ends; lead Steve Fecteau threw second stones for three ends, while alternate Clint Ireland threw lead stones for three ends.

References

  1. ^ a b "Format finalized for 16-team championships in 2018". Curling Canada. June 28, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  2. ^ "Gushue breaks Tim Hortons Brier career victories record". Curling Canada. March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2018.
  3. ^ Zerr, Arielle (March 3, 2018). "With babies on the way, family comes first for Team B.C." News Talk 980. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  4. ^ Cameron, Al (March 6, 2018). "Tim Hortons Brier Battle of Golden Bears goes to Bottcher". Curling Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Cameron, Al (March 9, 2018). "Northwest Territories ends on winning note at Tim Hortons Brier". Curling Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ^ Granger, Grant (March 10, 2018). "'Phenomenal shot' propels Team Alberta to Tim Hortons Brier semifinal". Curling Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "Team Personnel".
  8. ^ a b McCormick, Murray (March 10, 2018). "Bottcher steals win from Jacobs at Brier". Regina Leader-Post. Postmedia. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  9. ^ Cameron, Al (March 10, 2018). "All-stars, award winners announced at 2018 Tim Hortons Brier". Curling Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  10. ^ Jones, Terry (March 11, 2018). "Gushue wins Brier, but Bottcher's future shows promise". Edmonton Sun. Postmedia News. Retrieved March 12, 2018.

External links