The 1989 Labatt Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, was held from March 5 to 12 at the Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Pat Ryan of Alberta defeated Rick Folk of British Columbia to win his second Brier.
"The Ryan Express" Pat Ryan's team was well known for its hitting style. Once they got the lead, the team would just peel off every opposition stone to win the game. This defensive strategy was heavily criticized for being boring. Whenever Ryan switched to this style of play, fans began shouting "bor-ing". However, the strategy worked for Ryan, who won the Brier. The score of the final game (3–2), remains the lowest total score for a final game in Brier history. This caused the implementation of the free guard zone a few years later to cause more offence in the game.
Howard loses his voice Also of note at the 1989 Brier was Ontario skip Russ Howard's loss of his voice. Howard was nicknamed "the Wounded Moose" for the way he screamed in the first few draws of the event. However, he would lose his voice by Tuesday, and could barely speak. So, the team opted to use Walkie-talkies to communicate with their skip. This went unnoticed until their walkie-talkie signals jammed the official's walkie-talkie signals. The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) was quite upset about the matter, but Howard pointed out there was nothing in the rules against their usage, and insisted on continuing to use the walkie-talkies. So, the CCA decided midway through the event to ban the use of walkie-talkies, marking the first time that the rules had been changed in the middle of a tournament.
Teams The teams were listed as follows: British ColumbiaManitobaOttewell CC, Edmonton Skip: Pat Ryan Third: Randy Ferbey Second: Don Walchuk Lead: Don McKenzie Alternate: Murray UrsulakKelowna CC, Kelowna Skip: Rick Folk Third: Bert Gretzinger Second: Rob Koffski Lead: Doug Smith Alternate: Fred TrussellLac du Bonnet CC, Lac du Bonnet Skip: Orest Meleschuk Third: John Usackis Second: John Hyrich Lead: Sean Meleschuk Alternate: Bob LeskoNew BrunswickNewfoundlandNorthern OntarioThistle St. Andrews CC, Saint John Skip: Gary Mitchell Third: Brian Dobson Second: Mark Armstrong Lead: Terry Roach Alternate: Arnie DobsonSt. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Lorne Henderson Third: Alex Smith Second: Peter Hollett Lead: Marc Brophy Alternate: Ken ThomasFort William CC, Thunder Bay Skip: Al Hackner Third: Bill Adams Second: Jim Adams Lead: John Salo Alternate: Keith DolphNova ScotiaOntarioPrince Edward IslandTruro CC, Truro Skip: Ragnar Kamp Third: Bruce Lohnes Second: Rod McCarron Lead: Peter Neily Alternate: Ted LohnesPenetanguishene CC, Penetanguishene Skip: Russ Howard Third: Glenn Howard Second: Tim Belcourt Lead: Kent Carstairs Alternate: Larry MerkleyCharlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Doug Weeks Third: Blair Weeks Second: Roy Rodd Lead: David Weeks Alternate: Allan LedgerwoodQuebecSaskatchewanYukon/Northwest TerritoriesBuckingham CC, Buckingham Skip: Pierre Charette Third: Andre Lafleur Second: Don Westphal Lead: Richard Bisson Alternate: Ted ButlerEstevan CC, Estevan Skip: Jim Packet Third: Bob Doerr Second: Lloyd Schmidt Lead: Dallas Duce Alternate: Peter ShykitkaYellowknife CC, Yellowknife Skip: Al Delmage Third: Roy Giles Second: Bill Strain Lead: Ron Kapicki Alternate: Brad Robertson
Map of teams
Round-robin standings Final Round Robin standings KeyTeams to Playoffs LocaleSkip Pat Ryan 8 3 60 51 39 36 12 7 82% Rick Folk 8 3 62 56 43 40 15 11 81% Russ Howard 8 3 67 51 47 40 6 16 80% Lorne Henderson 7 4 64 64 41 44 7 7 75% Orest Meleschuk 7 4 65 58 45 43 12 7 79% Ragnar Kamp 7 4 65 45 46 31 8 16 77% Jim Packet 6 5 67 53 40 38 15 12 81% Pierre Charette 5 6 75 68 46 45 11 8 77% Al Delmage 3 8 55 71 40 43 10 9 72% Al Hackner 3 8 55 75 40 48 6 7 76% Gary Mitchell 2 9 52 73 37 47 7 8 77% Doug Weeks 2 9 54 76 37 46 6 5 75%
Round-robin results Draw 1
Draw 2
Draw 3
Draw 4
Draw 5
Draw 6
Draw 7
Draw 8
Draw 9
Draw 10
Draw 11
Draw 12
Draw 13
Draw 14
Draw 15
Playoffs
Semifinal
Player Percentages Doug Smith 83% Kent Carstairs 93% Rob Koffski 65% Tim Belcourt 78% Bert Gretzinger 84% Glenn Howard 81% Rick Folk 80% Russ Howard 64% Total 78% Total 79%
Final
Player Percentages Don McKenzie 80% Doug Smith 80% Don Walchuk 85% Rob Koffski 83% Randy Ferbey 79% Bert Gretzinger 76% Pat Ryan 93% Rick Folk 86% Total 84% Total 81%
Statistics Top 5 player percentages Round Robin only Leads % Dallas Duce 87 Don McKenzie 84 Terry Roach 84 Kent Carstairs 81 Marc Brophy 81 Seconds % Don Walchuk 84 Peter Hollett 81 John Hyrich 81 Rob Koffski 81 Tim Belcourt 80 Thirds % Randy Ferbey 81 Bert Gretzinger 80 Brian Dobson 80 Glenn Howard 79 Andre Lafleur 79 Skips % Rick Folk 81 Pat Ryan 81 Russ Howard 81 Jim Packet 80 Orest Meleschuk 77
Team percentages Round Robin only Province Skip % Pat Ryan 82 Jim Packet 81 Rick Folk 81 Russ Howard 80 Orest Meleschuk 79 Gary Mitchell 77 Pierre Charette 77 Ragnar Kamp 77 Al Hackner 76 Lorne Henderson 75 Doug Weeks 75 Al Delmage 72
References