The 2013 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 2 to 10 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. This edition of the Brier marked the thirteenth time that Alberta has hosted the Brier, and the sixth time that Edmonton has hosted the Brier.[1]
The eighty-fourth edition of the Canadian Men's Curling Championship saw one of the strongest fields in the past few years assembled. Defending champion Glenn Howard of Ontario made his eighth consecutive and record fifteenth overall appearance at the Brier. Veterans Kevin Martin of Alberta, an Olympic gold medallist and former world champion, and Jeff Stoughton of Manitoba, a former world champion, made their twelfth and tenth appearances at the Brier, respectively.
Former bronze medallist and Olympic gold medallist Brad Gushue made his tenth appearance at the Brier representing Newfoundland and Labrador, while former Brier champion Jean-Michel Ménard returned to compete for a fifth time. Northern Ontario's Brad Jacobs, a former bronze medallist and perennial competitor, and Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories and Yukon, who made a breakout playoffs finish last year, returned to the Brier once more. Brock Virtue of Saskatchewan and Andrew Bilesky of British Columbia made their first appearances at the Brier, while veterans James Grattan of New Brunswick, Eddie MacKenzie of Prince Edward Island, and Paul Flemming of Nova Scotia made repeat appearances at the Brier.[2]
Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northern Ontario, Ontario, and Quebec shot out to the top of the pack early on,[3] while Alberta struggled to find its rhythm in the beginning draws, dropping four games out of the first five.[4] As the tournament progressed, the top teams began to battle for rankings, and after the halfway point, only Ontario remained undefeated. Alberta began to string up a winning streak, and scored crucial victories as they moved up in the standings. At the end of the round-robin, Ontario had clinched the first seed in the standings,[5] with only one loss to Alberta in the round robin. Newfoundland and Labrador and Northern Ontario secured spots in page 3 vs. 4 games with two wins on the last day,[6] while Manitoba's win in the last draw propelled them to the page 1 vs. 2 games against Ontario, simultaneously dropping Alberta out of playoff contention.[7]
In the page playoffs, Ontario's Glenn Howard and Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton faced off in a battle of veterans, which began as a close game and ended with a win for Manitoba after a missed shot by Howard gave Stoughton a shot for three and the win, making the final score 7–6.[8] Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario and Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador played to claim a spot in the semifinals. Jacobs held a slight advantage throughout the game, but Gushue made a comeback in the tenth to force an extra end, in which Jacobs drew for the 6–5 win.[9]
Jacobs then played Howard in the semifinal for a spot in the final, and early on, both teams played a back-and-forth game. However, a steal of two for Northern Ontario in the fifth, along with more missed shots from Howard and strong play from Jacobs, led to an upset win by Jacobs with a score of 9–7.[10] Howard and Gushue then played for the bronze in another tight game which ended in Howard making a draw for the win in an extra end, resulting in a score of 7–6.[11] Jacobs and Stoughton then played for the championship, in what turned out to be a mostly one-sided affair after excellent shots by Jacobs led to steals and multi-point ends against a struggling Manitoba team. Jacobs and their team scored four straight points in the second half of the game, sealing it up in nine ends with a score of 11–4.[12]
