The 1971 Macdonald Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship was held March 1–6 at the 2,800 seat Pavilion de la Jeunesse in Quebec City, Quebec.
A blizzard hit the city late in the week, and was blamed for low attendance. One draw had to be cancelled due to the blizzard, and curlers had to be shuttled from the rink to their hotels on snowmobiles.The Brier, Bob Weeks, pg 118
Manitoba, Northern Ontario, and Saskatchewan all finished round robin play with 8-2 records, necessitating a tiebreaker playoff between the three teams to determine the Brier championship. Despite Saskatchewan defeating both Manitoba and Northern Ontario in round robin play, lots were drawn to determine the seeds. Team Manitoba won the draw and were given a bye into the final.The Brier, Bob Weeks, pg 119
Team Manitoba, who was skipped by Don Duguid ended up capturing the Brier Tankard by beating Northern Ontario in the final 11-6 as Northern Ontario skip Bill Tetley conceded in the final end. Northern Ontario earlier advanced to the final with a 10-9 victory over Saskatchewan. This was the fourth time in Brier history in which a three-way tiebreaker determined the championship with the other instances being in , , and . This was also the last tiebreaker playoff to determine a champion prior to the institution of the playoffs in .
This was Manitoba's eighteenth Brier championship overall. Duguid became only the fifth skip to ever win back-to-back Briers joining Gordon Hudson, Matt Baldwin, Ernie Richardson (twice), and Ron Northcott to ever accomplish that feat. Duguid's team (Rod Hunter, Jim Pettapiece, and Bryan Wood) joined Richardson's 1959 and 1960 teams as they only rinks to have won back-to-back Briers with the same four team members.
Duguid's rink would represent Canada in the 1971 Air Canada Silver Broom, which was the men's world curling championship in which they also defended their title from the previous year.
After winning the 1971 World Championship, Duguid retired from competitive curling, and joined the CBC in 1972 as a curling commentator.The Brier, Bob Weeks, pg 119
Teams British ColumbiaManitobaDerrick G&WC, Edmonton Skip: Matt Baldwin Third: Tom Kroeger Second: Rich Cust Lead: Reg Van WassenhovePrince George CC, Prince George Skip: Kevin Smale Third: Pete Sherba Second: Pat Carr Lead: Bob McDonaldGranite CC, Winnipeg Skip: Don Duguid Third: Rod Hunter Second: Jim Pettapiece Lead: Bryan WoodNew BrunswickNewfoundlandNorthern OntarioBeausejour CC, Moncton Skip: Paul Bordage Third: Art Gillard Second: Dale Somers Lead: Murray LegerSt. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Bob Cole Third: Les Bowering Second: Ken Ellis Lead: Alex AndrewsThunder Bay CC, Thunder Bay Skip: Bill Tetley Third: Frank Sargent Second: Jim Sargent Lead: Eric KnudsonNova ScotiaOntarioPrince Edward IslandTruro CC, Truro Skip: Frank Hoar Third: Doug Carter Second: John Sanford Lead: Don FultonAvonlea CC, Don Mills Skip: Bob Charlebois Third: Rich Palmer Second: Ray Lilly Lead: Jim McGrathCharlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Kip Ready Third: Bill MacGregor Second: David Kassner Lead: Norm MacNeillQuebecSaskatchewanOutremont CC, Outremont Skip: Bill Ott Third: Tom Fisher Second: Herb Miyashita Lead: John WallingAvonlea CC, Avonlea Skip: Bob Pickering Third: Garnet Campbell Second: John Keys Lead: Gary Ford
Map of teams
Round-robin standings KeyTeams to Tiebreaker ProvinceSkipWLPFPA Bob Pickering 8 2 104 80 Bill Tetley 8 2 103 81 Don Duguid 8 2 109 64 Matt Baldwin 5 5 92 98 Kevin Smale 5 5 103 88 Bob Charlebois 5 5 89 101 Bob Cole 4 6 89 93 Kip Ready 4 6 99 97 Frank Hoar 3 7 85 111 Paul Bordage 3 7 83 102 Bill Ott 2 8 80 121
Round-robin results All draw times are listed in Eastern Time (UTC−05:00)
Draw 1 Monday, March 1, 3:00 pm
Draw 2 Monday, March 1, 8:00 pm
Draw 3 Tuesday, March 2, 9:00 am
Draw 4 Tuesday, March 2, 2:30 pm
Draw 5 Wednesday, March 3, 2:30 pm
Draw 6 Wednesday, March 3, 8:00 pm
Draw 7 Thursday, March 4, 9:00 am
Draw 8 Thursday, March 4, 2:30 pm
Draw 9 Friday, March 5, 9:00 am
Draw 10 Friday, March 5, 2:30 pm
Draw 11 Friday, March 5, 8:00 pm
Tiebreakers
Semifinal Saturday, March 6, 9:00 am
Final Saturday, March 6, 1:00 pm
Awards All-Star Team The media selected the following curlers as All-Stars.BRIER INDIVIDUAL AWARDS & ALL-STAR TEAMS
Position Name Team Skip Bill Tetley Third Rod Hunter Second Jim Pettapiece Lead Gary Ford (2)
Ross G.L. Harstone Award The Ross Harstone Award was presented to the player chosen by their fellow peers as the curler who best represented Harstone's high ideals of good sportsmanship, observance of the rules, exemplary conduct and curling ability.
Name Team Position Bob Pickering Skip
Notes
References Curling Canada: 1971 Macdonald Brier 2018 Brier Media Guide: Previous Rosters Results at Soudog Curling Results at CurlingZone