The 1966 Macdonald Brier the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held March 7 to 11, 1966 at the Halifax Forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the Brier the year before broke attendance records, the 1966 edition only drew 11,905 fans. At the time, only the 1947 Brier drew fewer fans.
Both Alberta and Ontario finished round robin play with identical 8–2 records, necessitating a tiebreaker playoff between the two teams for the Brier championship. Team Alberta, skipped by Ron Northcott, won the Brier Tankard over Ontario 7–6 in the tiebreaker playoff. This was the ninth time that Alberta won the Brier championship and the first of three Briers that Northcott won as a skip.
Northcott and his team would go on to represent Canada at the 1966 Scotch Cup, the World Curling Championship, which they won.
Event Summary After the Thursday afternoon draw (Draw 8), there were five teams with a legitimate shot at the championship. Alberta was sitting at 6–1 with Ontario sitting at 6–2, Manitoba and Saskatchewan both sitting at 5–2, and Nova Scotia sitting at 5–3.
The Thursday evening draw saw the standings tighten up even more. Manitoba scored two in the final end for a 9–8 victory over Alberta, Saskatchewan rolled past PEI 17–5, and Ontario beat Newfoundland 10-8 while Nova Scotia drew a bye. This caused four teams to now be sitting at two losses heading into the final two draws on Friday.
The penultimate draw on Friday morning saw Alberta beat British Columbia 10–8, Nova Scotia beating Quebec 9–6, and Saskatchewan rolling past New Brunswick 14-5 while Ontario drew a bye. However, Newfoundland (who entered the draw with only one win) pulled off a stunning upset as they blew out Manitoba 17–5. This would cause a three-way tie between Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan with 7-2 records while Manitoba and Nova Scotia both now sitting a game back at 6–3. With matchups featuring Manitoba and Ontario along with Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan in the final draw, there was a high chance that at least one tiebreaker would be needed to determine the Brier champion after round robin play concluded.
The final draw of the round robin on Friday afternoon ended up living up to its hype. Saskatchewan, who was one of the teams tied for first led Nova Scotia 7-5 heading into the twelfth and final end without hammer. Nova Scotia would end up scoring two and forced the game into an extra end. Nova Scotia then would steal one in the extra end to beat Saskatchewan 8–7 as both teams now needed Alberta and Ontario to both lose to still have a shot at the championship via a five-way tiebreaker. However, this would not be up to fruition as Alberta pulled away late against PEI for a 7–3 win eliminating Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan from contention. Ontario won a back-and-forth game with Manitoba as Ontario broke a 7-all tie with two in the final end for a 9–7 victory and forcing a tiebreaker playoff with Alberta for the Brier championship.
In the playoff, Alberta skip Ron Northcott missed three last-rock takeouts in a row to go down 0–3 after the first three ends. Northcott drew for a single in the fourth, before Ontario scored a single in the fifth. Alberta then scored two in six, then stole a single in the seventh when Ontario skip Joe Gurowka was heavy on a draw attempt. The teams exchanged singles over the next four ends, with the game tied after 11. Northcott had attempted to blank the eleventh to carry over hammer to the 12th and deciding end, but missed, giving the hammer back to Ontario. In the last end, Northcott wicked off an Ontario stone behind cover to lie one with his last shot. Gurowka elected to counter with a draw to the button, but was wide and heavy, giving the championship to Alberta.
Teams The teams were as follows: British Columbia ManitobaNew BrunswickCalgary CC, Calgary Skip: Ron Northcott Third: George Fink Second: Bernie Sparkes Lead: Fred StoreyBurnaby WC, Burnaby Skip: Lynn Mason Third: Leslie McCabe Second: Omer Eberg Lead: Al ThunMaple Leaf CC, Winnipeg Skip: Hersh Lerner Third: Bob Lemecha Second: Allan Dudar Lead: Bob DudarSt. Andrews CC, Saint John Skip: Charlie Sullivan Sr. Third: Dave Sullivan Second: Bob Arseneau Lead: Malcolm McLaughlinNewfoundlandNorthern OntarioNova Scotia Ontario St. John's CC, St. John's Skip: George MacCharles Third: John Taite Second: Ken Ellis Lead: Alex AndrewsCobalt-Haileybury CC, Haileybury Skip: Bill Grozelle Third: Bob Grozelle Second: Ted Butt Lead: George McIllwaineHalifax CC, Halifax Skip: Vic Snarr Third: Ken Bell Second: Don Green Lead: Bob CunninghamDixie CC, Cooksville Skip: Joe Gurowka Third: Tom Howat Second: Ken Ingo Lead: Donald MackeyPrince Edward Island QuebecSaskatchewan Belvedere G&WC, Charlottetown Skip: Art Burke Third: Arnold Llewellyn Second: Ralph Manning Lead: Temple HooperRCAF Bagotville CC, Bagotville Skip: Bill Tracy Third: Earl Carson Second: Chuck Perry Lead: Terry BloomAvonlea CC, Avonlea Skip: Bob Pickering Third: Jack Keys Second: Garnet Campbell Lead: Glen Campbell
Map of teams
Round Robin standings KeyTeams to Tiebreaker ProvinceSkipWLPFPA Ron Northcott 8 2 103 70 Joe Gurowka 8 2 94 72 Vic Snarr 7 3 80 80 Bob Pickering 7 3 109 78 Hersh Lerner 6 4 91 88 Lynn Mason 5 5 89 92 Art Burke 4 6 76 92 Bill Tracy 4 6 92 91 Charlie Sullivan Sr. 3 7 79 92 George MacCharles 2 8 84 93 Bill Grozelle 1 9 74 123
Round Robin results All draw times are listed in Atlantic Time (UTC-4:00)
Draw 1 Monday, March 7 3:00 PM
Draw 2 Monday, March 7 8:00 PM
Draw 3 Tuesday, March 8 9:00 AM
Draw 4 Tuesday, March 8 2:30 PM
Draw 5 Wednesday, March 9 2:30 PM
Draw 6 Wednesday, March 9 8:00 PM
Draw 7 Thursday, March 10 9:00 AM
Draw 8 Thursday, March 10 2:30 PM
Draw 9 Thursday, March 10 8:00 PM
Draw 10 Friday, March 11 9:00 AM
Draw 11 Friday, March 11 2:30 PM
Tiebreaker Friday, March 11 7:30 PM
Awards All-Star Team The media selected the following curlers as all-stars:
Position Name Team Skip Ron Northcott Alberta Third Tom Howat Second Bernie Sparkes Alberta Lead Fred Storey Alberta
Ross G.L. Harstone Trophy George MacCharles was the first recipient of Ross Harstone Trophy, which is presented to the player chosen by their peers as the curler in the Brier who best represents Harstone's high ideals of good sportsmanship, observance of the rules, exemplary conduct and curling ability. The winner was announced prior to the 1967 Macdonald Brier.
Name Team Position George MacCharles Skip
References Curling Canada: 1966 Macdonald Brier
External links 1966 MacDonald Brier on YouTube