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.
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.
British Columbia ManitobaBally Haly G&CC &St. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Brad Gushue Third: Mark Nichols Second: Brett Gallant Lead: Geoff Walker Alternate: Tom Sallows Saville SC, Edmonton Skip: Brendan Bottcher Third: Darren Moulding Second: Brad Thiessen Lead: Karrick MartinKelowna CC, Kelowna Skip: Sean Geall Third: Jeff Richard Second: Andrew Nerpin Lead: David Harper Alternate: Brad WoodWest St. Paul CC, West St. Paul Skip: Reid Carruthers Third: Braeden Moskowy Second: Derek Samagalski Lead: Colin Hodgson New Brunswick Northern Ontario Gage G&CC, Oromocto Skip: James Grattan Third: Chris Jeffrey Second: Andy McCann Lead: Peter Case Alternate: Brian KingBally Haly G&CC &St. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Greg Smith Third: Matthew Hunt Second: Andrew Taylor Lead: Ian Withycombe Alternate: Connor StapletonCommunity First CC, Sault Ste. Marie Skip: Brad Jacobs Third: Ryan Fry Second: E.J. Harnden Lead: Ryan Harnden Alternate: Tanner HorganHalifax CC, Halifax Skip: Jamie Murphy Third: Paul Flemming Second: Scott Saccary Lead: Phil Crowell Quebec SaskatchewanLeaside CC, East York, Toronto Skip: John Epping Third: Mat Camm Second: Pat Janssen Lead: Tim MarchCharlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Eddie MacKenzie Third: Josh Barry Second: Christopher Gallant Lead: Sean Ledgerwood Alternate: Robbie YounkerGlenmore CC, &CC Valleyfield, Skip: Mike Fournier Third: Félix Asselin Second: William Dion Lead: Jean-François Trépanier Alternate: Émile AsselinNutana CC, Saskatoon Fourth: Matt Dunstone Skip: Steve Laycock Second: Kirk Muyres Lead: Dallan Muyres Alternate: Lyle Muyres Northwest Territories Nunavut Yellowknife CC, Yellowknife Skip: Jamie Koe Third: Chris Schille Second: Brad Chorostkowski Lead: Robert BordenIqaluit CC, Iqaluit Skip: Dave St. Louis Third: Wade Kingdon Second: Peter Mackey Lead: Jeff NadeauWhitehorse CC, Whitehorse Skip: Thomas Scoffin Third: Tom Appelman Second: Wade Scoffin Lead: Steve Fecteau Alternate: Clint IrelandFort Rouge CC, Winnipeg Skip: Mike McEwen Third: B.J. Neufeld Second: Matt Wozniak Lead: Denni Neufeld
CTRS ranking Member Association (Skip) Rank Points Wildcard (McEwen) 2 365.181 (Gushue) 3 361.585 (Carruthers) 4 270.599 (Jacobs) 5 265.245 (Bottcher) 7 233.333 (Epping) 8 212.384 (Laycock) 12 140.208 (Murphy) 28 85.656 (Geall) 31 78.758 (Fournier) 49 53.503 (Grattan) 74 34.131 (Scoffin) 155 5.038 (Koe) 156 4.725 (Smith) 156 4.725 (MacKenzie) NR 0.000 (St. Louis) NR 0.000
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 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 Rank Team Member Association Eligibility 1 Kevin Koe Qualified for Olympics (ineligible) 2 Mike McEwen Eliminated from provincials 3 Brad Gushue Qualified as Team Canada (ineligible) 4 Reid Carruthers Won Manitoba provincials 5 Brad Jacobs Won Northern Ontario provincials 6 Jason Gunnlaugson Eliminated from provincials
Wildcard Game Friday, March 2, 19:00
Map of teams
Round-robin standings KeyTeams to Championship RoundTeams to Placement Draw Pool ASkip Brendan Bottcher 6 1 50 31 30 19 7 11 85% Brad Gushue 6 1 55 31 29 23 7 6 90% Wildcard Mike McEwen 5 2 43 31 25 22 14 7 86% Jamie Murphy 4 3 44 44 31 29 8 9 85% Jamie Koe 3 4 36 46 25 28 8 7 78% Sean Geall 2 5 40 53 25 32 6 6 78% Greg Smith 1 6 32 58 20 34 9 3 75% Thomas Scoffin 1 6 31 44 26 25 11 7 78% Pool BSkip Brad Jacobs 6 1 45 29 29 21 12 9 87% John Epping 6 1 62 30 30 26 7 6 86% Reid Carruthers 5 2 55 42 29 26 8 6 85% Steve Laycock 4 3 45 37 27 25 12 9 84% Mike Fournier 3 4 38 41 28 24 12 7 82% James Grattan 2 5 42 50 28 32 7 9 83% Eddie MacKenzie 2 5 49 56 27 28 7 6 81% Dave St. Louis 0 7 22 73 18 34 5 1 67%
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.
KeyTeams to PlayoffsTeams to Tiebreakers TeamSkipWLPFPA Brad Gushue 10 1 77 44 43 35 21 6 91% John Epping 9 2 91 55 49 44 11 10 87% Brendan Bottcher 8 3 89 45 51 35 14 17 85% Brad Jacobs 8 3 65 48 42 32 22 13 87% Wildcard Mike McEwen 7 4 65 54 38 35 22 9 86% Steve Laycock 6 5 68 59 44 41 20 11 86% Jamie Murphy 5 6 66 70 46 50 11 12 84% Reid Carruthers 5 6 67 72 40 41 20 11 83%
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 KeyFirst All-Star TeamSecond All-Star Team Leads % WC Denni Neufeld 92 Geoff Walker 91 Tim March 89 Dallan Muyres 89 Colin Hodgson 89 Seconds % Brett Gallant 91 E.J. Harnden 89 Pat Janssen 86 WC Matt Wozniak 86 Brad Thiessen 85 Thirds % Mark Nichols 88 Steve Laycock (Skip) 86 Ryan Fry 85 Mat Camm 85 WC B.J. Neufeld 85 Skips % Brad Gushue 93 John Epping 86 Brad Jacobs 85 Brendan Bottcher 84 83
Perfect games Round Robin and Championship Pool only Player Team Position Shots Opponent Brad Gushue Skip 16 B.J. Neufeld Wildcard Third 16 Denni Neufeld Wildcard Lead 12 Denni Neufeld Wildcard Lead 14
Awards The awards and all-star teams are listed as follows:
All-Star Teams First Team Skip: Brad Gushue, Team Canada Third: Mark Nichols, Team Canada Second: Brett Gallant, Team Canada Lead: Denni Neufeld, Team Wildcard
Second Team Skip: John Epping, Ontario Third: Steve Laycock, Saskatchewan Second: E.J. Harnden, Northern Ontario Lead: Geoff Walker, Team Canada
Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award Greg Smith, Newfoundland and Labrador Skip
Paul McLean Award Murray McCormick, Regina Leader-Post
Hec Gervais Most Valuable Player Award Brad Gushue, Team Canada Skip
Notes
References
External links Official website