1977 Macdonald Brier

1977 Macdonald Brier
Host cityMontreal, Quebec
ArenaOlympic Velodrome
DatesMarch 6-12
Attendance50,001[1]
Winner Quebec
Curling clubSt. Laurent CC, Mount Royal
SkipJim Ursel
ThirdArt Lobel
SecondDon Aitken
LeadBrian Ross
« 1976
1978 »

The 1977 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship was held from March 6 to 12, 1977[2] at the Olympic Velodrome in Montreal, Quebec. Total attendance for the week was 50,001.[1] This was the first time since 1928 in which the number of ends for a regulation game was changed as games were shortened from 12 to 10 ends.[3]

Team Quebec, who was skipped by Jim Ursel captured the Brier tankard on home soil as they finished round robin with a 9–2 record. This was Quebec's first Brier title. With Newfoundland winning their first Brier the previous year, this was the second and most recent time in which consecutive Briers were won by a province who had previously won a Brier. The other time was the first two editions in 1927 and 1928.

The Ursel rink would go onto represent Canada in the 1977 Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship in Karlstad, Sweden where they would finish runner-up, losing in the final to host Sweden.

Newfoundland's 11–0 victory over Prince Edward Island in Draw 11 was only the second time in which a shutout was recorded in the Brier with the previous occurrence being in 1951. Nova Scotia's 4–2 victory over Northern Ontario in Draw 13 tied a Brier record for fewest combined points in one game by both teams with six, which also happened in 1974.[4]

  1. ^ a b "2023 Tim Hortons Brier Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. p. 79. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  2. ^ Vancouver Sun, 14 Feb 1977, pg 25, "Vinthers rink not older, they're better"
  3. ^ "History of the Tim Hortons Brier". Curling Canada. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  4. ^ "Macdonald Brier Records". Curling Canada Stats Archive. Curling Canada. Retrieved 6 March 2023.