1966 Macdonald Brier

June 2026 March 2026 1966 Macdonald Brier Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax Forum March 7–11 11,905 Alberta Calgary CC, Calgary Ron Northcott George Fink Bernie Sparkes Fred Storey (Gurowka) 1965 1967 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.Curling's Elite Opens Play for Brier Trophy March 7, 1966 7 Victoria Times-Colonist https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96986226/times-colonist/ March 5, 2022 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.EE22_BrierSouvenirProgramFinal.pdf https://www.curling.ca/files/2022/03/EE22_BrierSouvenirProgramFinal.pdf Curling Canada 25 April 2022 59 25 April 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220425203008/https://www.curling.ca/files/2022/03/EE22_BrierSouvenirProgramFinal.pdf live 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.June 2026 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.Northcott Brier King March 12, 1966 43 Edmonton Journal https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96987487/edmonton-journal/ March 5, 2022 Teams The teams were as follows:Quebec Opens With Saskatchewan March 7, 1966 37 Montreal Gazette https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96982702/the-gazette/ March 5, 2022 white AlbertaBritish 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 left 400 300 Canada 650 10px Provincial Winners Canada 51.058 -114.072 Black pog.svg 80 top Northcott #ffe Canada 49.246 -122.961 Black pog.svg 80 top Mason #ffe Canada 49.924 -97.132 Black pog.svg 80 top Lerner #ffe Canada 45.277 -66.078 Black pog.svg 80 left Sullivan Sr. #ffe Canada 47.569 -52.727 Black pog.svg 80 left MacCharles #ffe Canada 47.448 -79.637 Black pog.svg 80 top Grozelle #ffe Canada 44.634 -63.579 Black pog.svg 80 right Snarr Canada 43.606 -79.594 Black pog.svg 80 top Gurowka #ffe Canada 46.261 -63.113 Black pog.svg 80 top Burke Canada 48.337 -70.988 Black pog.svg 80 top Tracy Canada 50.013 -105.068 Black pog.svg 80 top Pickering Round Robin standings KeyTeams to Tiebreaker ProvinceSkipWLPFPA Alberta Ron Northcott 8 2 103 70 Joe Gurowka 8 2 94 72 Vic Snarr 7 3 80 80 Saskatchewan 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 Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland 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)Canadian Curling Play Opens Today in Halifax https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105080188/the-montreal-star/ 6 July 2022 The Montreal Star Canadian Press newspapers.com March 7, 1966 22 Draw 1 Monday, March 7 3:00 PM A (Sullivan) 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 6 Alberta (Northcott) 0 0 3 0 3 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 11 B (Mason) 2 0 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 0 2 0 14 (Gurowka) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 6 C Saskatchewan (Pickering) 2 0 3 0 3 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 14 (Tracy) 0 4 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 12 D Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 7 (Burke) 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 8 E (Snarr) 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 7 (Grozelle) 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 0 6 Draw 2 Monday, March 7 8:00 PM A (Sullivan) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 1 7 Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 B (Lerner) 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 3 0 9 (Mason) 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 C (Burke) 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 6 (Gurowka) 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 0 2 8 D Alberta (Northcott) 0 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 11 (Snarr) 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 9 E (Tracy) 0 0 0 3 0 4 4 0 0 3 2 0 16 (Grozelle) 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 7 Draw 3 Tuesday, March 8 9:00 AM A (Sullivan) 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 5 (Gurowka) 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 4 10 B Saskatchewan (Pickering) 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 4 13 (Grozelle) 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 5 C Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 (Snarr) 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 9 D (Lerner) 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 1 0 1 0 7 (Burke) 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 E Alberta (Northcott) 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 4 (Tracy) 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 2 1 8 Draw 4 Tuesday, March 8 2:30 PM A (Sullivan) 2 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 8 (Lerner) 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 3 0 1 3 0 11 B Saskatchewan (Pickering) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 Alberta (Northcott) 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 4 0 3 0 12 C (Snarr) 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 (Gurowka) 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 13 D Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 2 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 10 (Tracy) 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 8 E (Mason) 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 3 0 1 1 0 11 (Burke) 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 1 9 Draw 5 Wednesday, March 9 2:30 PM A Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5 Saskatchewan (Pickering) 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 9 B (Mason) 2 1 0 0 2 0 4 0 2 0 1 0 12 (Sullivan) 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1 8 C (Grozelle) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 Alberta (Northcott) 0 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2 0 2 3 15 D (Snarr) 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 (Lerner) 1 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 3 0 1 11 E (Gurowka) 0 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 3 11 (Tracy) 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 6 Draw 6 Wednesday, March 9 8:00 PM A (Burke) 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 6 (Sullivan) 2 2 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 13 B (Snarr) 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 1 1 0 9 (Mason) 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 C (Grozelle) 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 2 2 1 1 11 Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 2 2 0 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 9 D (Tracy) 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 6 (Lerner) 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 2 9 E (Gurowka) 1 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 2 11 Saskatchewan (Pickering) 0 2 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 8 Draw 7 Thursday, March 10 9:00 AM A Alberta (Northcott) 0 4 2 0 0 6 0 1 0 0 1 0 14 Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 2 0 0 7 B (Gurowka) 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 9 (Grozelle) 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 8 C (Lerner) 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 9 Saskatchewan (Pickering) 0 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 3 11 D (Tracy) 0 2 1 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 11 (Mason) 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 3 8 E (Burke) 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 (Snarr) 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 8 Draw 8 Thursday, March 10 2:30 PM A (Sullivan) 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 5 (Snarr) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 6 B Saskatchewan (Pickering) 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 2 1 0 10 (Mason) 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 6 C (Lerner) 0 1 0 3 0 2 1 0 2 0 4 1 14 (Grozelle) 1 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 8 D Alberta (Northcott) 0 1 0 4 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 1 11 (Gurowka) 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 7 E (Tracy) 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 9 (Burke) 2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 10 Draw 9 Thursday, March 10 8:00 PM A Saskatchewan (Pickering) 3 0 3 2 2 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 17 (Burke) 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 5 B (Sullivan) 1 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 9 (Tracy) 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 10 C Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 8 (Gurowka) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 3 10 D (Lerner) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 2 9 Alberta (Northcott) 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 0 8 E (Mason) 2 2 0 3 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 12 (Grozelle) 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 11 Draw 10 Friday, March 11 9:00 AM A Saskatchewan (Pickering) 0 3 4 3 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 14 (Sullivan) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 5 B Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 2 5 2 2 17 (Lerner) 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 C (Mason) 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 1 8 Alberta (Northcott) 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 3 0 10 D (Snarr) 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 9 (Tracy) 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 6 E (Grozelle) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 5 (Burke) 3 2 1 3 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 15 Draw 11 Friday, March 11 2:30 PM A (Grozelle) 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 8 (Sullivan) 0 3 0 1 2 1 0 2 1 0 3 0 13 B (Mason) 0 1 0 4 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 3 12 Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland (MacCharles) 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 0 9 C (Burke) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 Alberta (Northcott) 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 7 D (Snarr) 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 1 8 Saskatchewan (Pickering) 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 7 E (Gurowka) 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 2 9 (Lerner) 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 7 Tiebreaker Friday, March 11 7:30 PM (Gurowka) 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 6 Alberta (Northcott) 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 1 7 Awards All-Star Team The media selected the following curlers as all-stars:Are We Satisfied? March 12, 1966 43 Edmonton Journal https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96987772/edmonton-journal/ March 5, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220305233252/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/96987772/edmonton-journal/ 2022-03-05 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.EE22_BrierSouvenirProgramFinal.pdf https://www.curling.ca/files/2022/03/EE22_BrierSouvenirProgramFinal.pdf Curling Canada 22 June 2022 52 25 April 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220425203008/https://www.curling.ca/files/2022/03/EE22_BrierSouvenirProgramFinal.pdf live The winner was announced prior to the 1967 Macdonald Brier.Artiss Laurie Rink Ratings https://books.google.com/books?id=u-NUAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA27&dq 10 August 2025 The Leader-Post March 6, 1967 Name Team Position George MacCharles Newfoundland and Labrador 1952 Newfoundland Skip References Curling Canada: 1966 Macdonald Brier External links 1966 MacDonald Brier on YouTube 1967 Category:Curling competitions in Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:1966 in Nova Scotia Category:March 1966 sports events in Canada Category:1966 in Canadian curling Category:20th century in Halifax, Nova Scotia