The 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5–13, 2016 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario.

It is the fourth time the Brier has been held in Ottawa, and the fifth time the Brier has been held in the Ottawa-Gatineau region. It is the first time the Brier has been held in Ottawa since the 2001 Nokia Brier.

Alberta won the Brier 9–5 in the final against Newfoundland and Labrador, giving skip Kevin Koe his third Brier title. With the win, the Koe rink represented Canada at the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship held from April 2–10, 2016 at St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. They also represented Team Canada at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and earned $225,000 for the victory. The bronze medal game was won by Northern Ontario.

The total attendance for the event was 115,047, down from the 154,136 that went to the last Brier held in Ottawa. The attendance for the final was a sellout of 8,419, which was standing-room only in the 8,200 seat arena.

Broomgate The Brier was held during the infamous "broomgate" season. Prior to the event, a "gentleman's agreement" was attempted at the instigation of Alberta lead Ben Hebert with the aim of stopping teams from swapping brooms among themselves, which had been an issue at that years Scotties Tournament of Hearts. There, some teams had swapped the skip's broom, as skips do less sweeping, and therefore would be fresher, and therefore more effective. However, the teams at the Brier could not come to an agreement, and so some teams took advantage of broom swapping, with Team Alberta themselves mastering the practice, helping them to win the event.

Ice conditions Toward the end of the week, ice conditions became poor, as warmer, wet weather descended upon the capital, creating a layer of frost on the ice. The arena lacked a dehumidifier which made the problem worse, as there was no way of removing the moisture in the air. Manitoba skip Mike McEwen claimed the ice was the "second-worst ice conditions he's ever played on". Conditions returned to normal for the final championship weekend.

Teams The 2016 Brier field has been considered by some to be among the best ever. The event features two Olympic champion skips, two World Champion skips, four Brier champion skips, and ten of the top 17 teams in the country (including six of the top ten in the world), according to the CTRS standings.

Coming off of a bronze medal showing at the 2015 Ford World Men's Curling Championship, the defending Brier champion Pat Simmons rink from Calgary returns to represent Team Canada. Also returning from the 2015 Brier is the 2010 World Champion Kevin Koe rink (also from Calgary), representing Alberta; 2014 Brier runner-up Jim Cotter representing British Columbia; 2006 Olympic Champion Brad Gushue and his Newfoundland and Labrador team; the 2014 Olympic champions Brad Jacobs representing Northern Ontario; 2009 Canadian Junior Champion Adam Casey and his Prince Edward Island team; 2006 Brier champion Jean-Michel Ménard skipping the Quebec team; 2003 World Junior Champion Steve Laycock and his Saskatchewan team; ten-time Territories champion Jamie Koe, representing the Northwest Territories; and four-time Territorial Champion Bob Smallwood representing the Yukon. The 2016 Brier also features four-time provincial champion Mike Kennedy skipping New Brunswick; Three-time provincial champion Jamie Murphy representing Nova Scotia; and Four-time World Champion Glenn Howard, who is making his Brier record 17th appearance at the national championships. Two teams are making their debut at the 2016 Brier. The World #2 ranked Mike McEwen rink who lost in five of the last six provincial championship finals, finally won the Manitoba championship, earning the right to represent Manitoba for the first time at the Brier. Also making their debut is Team Nunavut, skipped by Wade Kingdon. Nunavut was granted a direct entry to the Brier for the first time in 2015, but opted to field a team for the first time in 2016.

For the first time, Curling Canada is allowing each team to field a player from out of province. Players living outside the province or territory of their team includes Brent Laing of Alberta (lives in Ontario), Chris Schille of the Northwest Territories (lives in Alberta) and Ryan Fry of Northern Ontario (who lives in Ontario, but in Toronto). Also, Team Canada skip Pat Simmons lives in Saskatchewan, while the rest of his team lives in Alberta.

British ColumbiaThe Glencoe Club, Calgary Skip: Pat Simmons Third: John Morris Second: Carter Rycroft Lead: Nolan Thiessen Alternate: Tom SallowsThe Glencoe Club, Calgary Skip: Kevin Koe Third: Marc Kennedy Second: Brent Laing Lead: Ben Hebert Alternate: Scott PfeiferVernon CC, VernonKelowna CC, Kelowna Skip: Jim Cotter Third: Ryan Kuhn Second: Tyrel Griffith Lead: Rick Sawatsky Alternate: Pat Ryan Manitoba New Brunswick Fort Rouge CC, Winnipeg Skip: Mike McEwen Third: B.J. Neufeld Second: Matt Wozniak Lead: Denni Neufeld Alternate: Jon MeadGrand Falls CC, Grand Falls Skip: Mike Kennedy Third: Scott Jones Second: Marc LeCocq Lead: Jamie Brannen Alternate: David KonefalBally Haly G&CC, St. John's Skip: Brad Gushue Third: Mark Nichols Second: Brett Gallant Lead: Geoff Walker Northern Ontario Community First CC, Sault Ste. Marie Skip: Brad Jacobs Third: Ryan Fry Second: E.J. Harnden Lead: Ryan Harnden Alternate: Lee TonerMayflower CC, Halifax Skip: Jamie Murphy Third: Jordan Pinder Second: Scott Saccary Lead: Phil Crowell Alternate: Alan DarraghSt. George's G&CC, Etobicoke Skip: Glenn Howard Third: Richard Hart Second: Adam Spencer Lead: Scott Howard Alternate: Joey Hart, Craig Savill Quebec SaskatchewanSilver Fox C&YC, SummersideCharlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Adam Casey Third: David Mathers Second: Anson Carmody Lead: Robbie Doherty Alternate: Ryan GiddensCC Etchemin, Mt. Bruno CC, Skip: Jean-Michel Ménard Third: Martin Crête Second: Éric Sylvain Lead: Philippe Ménard Alternate: Pierre CharetteNutana CC, Saskatoon Skip: Steve Laycock Third: Kirk Muyres Second: Colton Flasch Lead: Dallan Muyres Alternate: Gerry Adam Northwest Territories Nunavut Yellowknife CC, Yellowknife Skip: Jamie Koe Third: Chris Schille Second: Brad Chorostkowski Lead: Robert BordenIqaluit CC, Iqaluit Skip: Wade Kingdon Third: Dennis Masson Second: Aaron Fraser Lead: Bruce Morgan Alternate: Chris WestWhitehorse CC, Whitehorse Skip: Bob Smallwood Third: Jon Solbert Second: Clint Abel Lead: Scott Odian Alternate: David Rach

CTRS ranking Member Association (Skip) Rank Points (Gushue) 1 468.463 (K. Koe) 2 452.488 (McEwen) 3 402.570 (Laycock) 6 303.603 (Jacobs) 7 275.950 (Howard) 8 238.723 (Cotter) 11 217.124 (Simmons) 12 154.806 (Ménard) 15 126.860 (Murphy) 17 109.393 (Casey) 27 87.452 (Kennedy) 82 27.807 (J. Koe) 135 7.207 (Kingdon) NR 0.000 (Smallwood) NR 0.000

Map of teams

Pre-qualifying tournament The Northwest Territories rink won the pre-qualifying event, qualifying the team to play at the full Brier event round robin against the other 11 teams. Nova Scotia missed out in playing in the main event for the second straight year.

Standings LocaleSkip Jamie Koe 3 0 26 12 15 10 3 5 86% Jamie Murphy 2 1 32 11 15 9 3 4 84% Bob Smallwood 1 2 22 22 12 13 0 2 76% Wade Kingdon 0 3 8 42 7 17 0 0 54%

Results All draw times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5).

Draw 1 Thursday, March 3, 7:00 pm

Draw 2 Friday, March 4, 7:30 am

Draw 3

Friday, March 4, 4:20 pm

Pre-qualifying Final Saturday, March 5, 2:30 pm

Round-robin standings Final round-robin standings KeyTeams to PlayoffsTeam relegated to 2017 Pre-qualifying Tournament Locale Skip Brad Jacobs 11 0 77 40 47 28 26 13 92% Brad Gushue 9 2 66 50 42 38 27 9 91% Kevin Koe 8 3 78 50 43 35 21 5 92% Mike McEwen 8 3 66 52 41 36 26 8 91% Pat Simmons 6 5 61 62 37 35 30 9 88% Steve Laycock 5 6 65 58 42 45 21 9 87% Jean-Michel Ménard 4 7 59 70 40 44 20 5 88% Glenn Howard 4 7 60 71 41 43 22 7 90% Jamie Koe 3 8 65 76 43 50 24 5 83% Mike Kennedy 3 8 59 80 44 46 14 5 84% Jim Cotter 3 8 60 73 39 48 15 2 86% Adam Casey 2 9 49 79 36 46 16 1 82%

Round-robin results All draw times are listed in Eastern Standard Time (UTC−5).

Draw 1 Saturday, March 5, 2:30 pm

Draw 2

Saturday, March 5, 7:30 pm

Draw 3 Sunday, March 6, 9:00 am

Draw 4 Sunday, March 6, 2:00 pm

Draw 5 Sunday, March 6, 7:30 pm

Draw 6 Monday, March 7, 2:30 pm

Draw 7

Monday, March 7, 7:30 pm

Draw 8 Tuesday, March 8, 9:30 am

Draw 9 Tuesday, March 8, 2:30 pm

Draw 10 Tuesday, March 8, 7:30 pm

Draw 11 Wednesday, March 9, 9:30 am

Draw 12 Wednesday, March 9, 2:30 pm

Draw 13

Wednesday, March 9, 7:30 pm

With Northern Ontario's win over the Northwest Territories, they become the first team to clinch a playoff spot.

Draw 14 Thursday, March 10, 9:30 am

With their wins, both Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador clinch playoff berths.

Draw 15 Thursday, March 10, 2:30 pm

Draw 16 Thursday, March 10, 7:30 pm

With Manitoba's win, they clinch the remaining playoff spot.

Draw 17 Friday, March 11, 9:30 am

With Prince Edward Island losing and Northwest Territories winning, PEI will be relegated into the pre-qualifying tournament at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier, as they have finished last.

Playoffs

1 vs. 2 Friday, March 11, 7:30 pm

3 vs. 4 Saturday, March 12, 2:30 pm

Semifinal Saturday, March 12, 7:30 pm

Bronze medal game Sunday, March 13, 2:30 pm

Final Sunday, March 13, 7:30 pm

Statistics Player percentages After Round Robin Leads % Ben Hebert 94.4 Denni Neufeld 94.0 Philippe Ménard 93.2 Ryan Harnden 92.0 Rick Sawatsky 91.4 Geoff Walker 91.3 Scott Howard 91.3 Nolan Thiessen 89.7 Dallan Muyres 89.4 Jamie Brannen 85.7 Robbie Doherty 85.7 Robert Borden 85.2 Seconds % Brent Laing 92.7 E.J. Harnden 92.3 Adam Spencer 91.2 Brett Gallant 90.3 Tyrel Griffith 90.0 Colton Flasch 88.8 Matt Wozniak 88.1 Éric Sylvain 88.0 Carter Rycroft 85.9 Marc LeCocq 85.1 Anson Carmody 84.4 Brad Chorostkowski 82.8 Thirds % Ryan Fry 92.7 Mark Nichols 91.9 Marc Kennedy 91.7 B.J. Neufeld 91.4 Richard Hart 89.8 John Morris 89.6 Kirk Muyres 88.6 Martin Crête 86.6 Chris Schille 84.6 Ryan Kuhn 84.5 Scott Jones 82.3 David Mathers 80.5 Skips % Brad Jacobs 92.8 Brad Gushue 91.5 Kevin Koe 88.6 Mike McEwen 88.7 Pat Simmons 88.3 Glenn Howard 86.0 Jean-Michel Ménard 83.3 Jamie Koe 82.9 Mike Kennedy 82.7 Steve Laycock 82.5 Jim Cotter 79.6 Adam Casey 79.5

Perfect games Player Team Position Shots Opponent Marc Kennedy Third 16 Marc LeCocq Second 20 Philippe Ménard Lead 18 Scott Howard Lead 18 Glenn Howard Skip 16 Nolan Thiessen Lead 20 E.J. Harnden Second 16 Denni Neufeld Lead 17 Kevin Koe Skip 18 Brett Gallant Second 18

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

All-Star Teams First Team Skip: Brad Jacobs, Northern Ontario Third: Ryan Fry, Northern Ontario Second: Brent Laing, Alberta Lead: Denni Neufeld, Manitoba

Second Team Skip: Brad Gushue, Newfoundland and Labrador Third: Mark Nichols, Newfoundland and Labrador Second: E.J. Harnden, Northern Ontario Lead: Ben Hebert, Alberta

Ross Harstone Sportsmanship Award Tyrel Griffith, British Columbia second

Paul McLean Award Paul Wiecek, sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press

Hec Gervais Most Valuable Player Award Kevin Koe, Alberta skip

Notes

References

External links