The Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, marketed from 2009 through 2017 as the Roar of the Rings, are a quadrennial tournament held by Curling Canada that determines the Canadian men's and women's representatives for curling at the Winter Olympics. The system of qualification for the Curling Trials varies for each event, and can be quite complicated. One main reason for an Olympic qualifying event apart from the national championships (The Brier and the Scotties) is that provincial residency rules do not apply to the Olympic team. Curling was added to the Olympic programme in 1998, and a Canadian Olympic Trials have been held the year prior since 1997.
There were also Olympic Trials held in 1987 for the curling demonstration event at the 1988 Winter Olympics. The 1987 Trials were known as the Labatt National Curling Trials and were held April 19–25, 1987 in Calgary, the same site of the 1988 Winter Olympics. Linda Moore would skip the women's winning team and Ed Lukowich skipped the men's winner.
There were no trials for the 1992 Winter Olympics curling demonstration event. The winner of the 1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts (Julie Sutton) and the 1991 Labatt Brier (Kevin Martin) got to represent Canada at the event.
The Brier, known as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, Montana's, a Canadian restaurant chain. "Brier" originally referred to a brand of tobacco sold by the event's first sponsor, the Macdonald Tobacco Company.
Kevin Martin, nicknamed "The Old Bear" and "K-Mart", is a Canadian retired curler from Edmonton, Alberta, an Olympic, World and four-time Canadian champion and a member of the World Curling Hall of Fame. He is considered by many commentators and former and current curlers to be the greatest curler of all time. He is also known for his rivalries with Randy Ferbey/David Nedohin, the best Alberta provincial rivalry ever as the two teams were generally regarded the best in the world from 2002 to 2006; his rivalry with Jeff Stoughton, perhaps the most famous all prairies rivalry ever which spanned over 2 decades from 1991 to 2014; with Glenn Howard from 2007 to 2014, perhaps the best two team rivalry in Canadian curling history, and his rivalry with Sweden's Peja Lindholm from 1997 to 2006, perhaps the best ever men's Canada-Europe rivalry.
Jeffrey R. "Jeff" Stoughton is a Canadian retired curler. He is a three-time Brier champion and two-time World champion as skip. Stoughton retired from competitive curling in 2015. He is one of the most successful Manitoba skips in curling history, and one of the most successful players in Canadian curling history. He is currently the National Men's Coach and Program Manager for Curling Canada, as well as being the head coach of the Canadian Mixed Doubles National Team.
Bradley Raymond Gushue, ONL is a Canadian curler from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Gushue, along with teammates Russ Howard, Mark Nichols, Jamie Korab and Mike Adam, represented Canada in curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics, where they won the gold medal by defeating Finland 10–4. He also represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics, where he won a bronze medal. In addition to the Olympics, Gushue won the 2017 World Men's Curling Championship with teammates Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, and Geoff Walker. He is a record five-time Brier champion skip, having won in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023 all with Nichols, Gallant and Walker, except for 2023 with E. J. Harnden replacing Gallant. Their win in 2017 was Newfoundland and Labrador's first Brier title in 41 years. At the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, Gushue set a new record for Brier game wins as a skip, breaking a three-way tie with previous record-holders Russ Howard and Kevin Martin.
Glenn William Howard is a Canadian curler who is one of the most decorated curlers of all time. He has won four world championships, four Briers and 17 Ontario provincial championships, including a record eight straight, from 2006 to 2013. Through 2017, he has played in 218 games at the Brier, more than any other curler in history. He has also won the 2001 TSN Skins Game.
Brent Pierce is a Canadian curler and coach from New Westminster, British Columbia.
Marc Kennedy is a Canadian curler, and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist from St. Albert, Alberta.
The 1997 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 22 to March 2, 1997 at the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver, British Columbia. The total attendance for the week was 35,390, which was the lowest since 1990.
Jason Gunnlaugson is a Canadian curler currently living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The 1993 Labatt Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 6 to 14 at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. The finals featured the all star Team Ontario, consisting of skip Russ Howard, his brother Glenn at third, second Wayne Middaugh and lead Peter Corner against a British Columbia team made up of two expatriate Brier winners in skip Rick Folk and third Pat Ryan.
The 1991 Scott Tournament of Hearts, the Canadian women's national curling championship, was held from February 23 to March 2, 1991 at Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The total attendance was a then-record 72,245, which more than doubled the previous mark set in 1987.
Bradley Robert Jacobs is a Canadian curler from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He currently plays third on Team Reid Carruthers. He is an Olympic champion skip, having led Canada to a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Jacobs is also the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier championship skip and the 2013 World Championship runner-up. He is an 12-time Northern Ontario provincial champion, and one time provincial junior champion.
The 1991 Labatt Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, was held from March 3 to 10 in Hamilton, Ontario. The 1991 Brier also constituted the trials that decided the Canadian men's representatives for the curling tournament at the 1992 Winter Olympics.
The 1987 Labatt National Curling Trials were held April 19-25, 1987 at the Max Bell Arena in Calgary, Alberta. They were held to determine the Canadian National men's and women's Teams for the demonstration curling event at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Neil Gordon "Harry" Harrison was a Canadian curler from Newmarket, Ontario. He was a six-time provincial champion, and two-time Canadian and World champion. He is considered to be one of the best leads of all time. He is recognized as having revolutionized the position with the use of the corner guard.
Catlin Schneider is a Canadian curler from Regina, Saskatchewan. He currently skips his own team out of Victoria, British Columbia.
The 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Canada's national women's curling championship, was held from January 27–February 4, 2018 at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton, British Columbia. The winning team represented Canada at the 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship held from March 17–25 at the Memorial Gardens in North Bay, Ontario.
Daniel P. Petryk is a Canadian curler.
Brent Marshall Giles is a Canadian curler from the Vancouver area. He is a two-time provincial men's champion and 1982 Brier runner up.
The Fort William Curling Club is a curling club located in the Downtown Fort William neighbourhood of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The club hosted the Canadian men's curling championship in 1960 and the Canadian women's curling championship in 1969. It is also the home club of World Men's curling champions Al Hackner, Rick Lang, Bob Nicol, Bruce Kennedy, Ian Tetley, and Pat Perroud.
