| 1961 Macdonald Brier | |
|---|---|
| Host city | Calgary, Alberta |
| Arena | Stampede Corral |
| Dates | March 6–10 |
| Attendance | 51,575 |
| Winner | Alberta |
| Curling club | Alberta Avenue CC, Edmonton |
| Skip | Hec Gervais |
| Third | Ron Anton |
| Second | Ray Werner |
| Lead | Wally Ursuliak |
« 1960 1962 » | |
The 1961 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 6 to 10, 1961 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta. A total of 51,575 fans attended the event, which was only 150 fans short of the record set in 1955 Brier in Regina.[1] Due to issues during the 1960 Brier with brooms shredding causing numerous delays to clean the ice during games, curlers no longer could choose their own broom and instead could only use brooms provided by the Brier committee. Previously, the Brier committee had always supplied brooms, but curlers were permitted to use their own if desired.[2]
Team Alberta, who was skipped by Hec Gervais captured the Brier Tankard with a record of 9–1 in round robin play. This was the eighth time in which Alberta had captured the Brier championship and the first of two Briers in which Gervais won as a skip. At the age of 27 years and 4 months, Gervais would at the time become the youngest skip to win a Brier surpassing Matt Baldwin's record by six months when he won the 1954 Brier.[3]
Gervais' rink (with Vic Raymer in place of Ron Anton) would go on to complete in the 1961 Scotch Cup in Scotland and eventually capture Canada's third straight World Championship.