| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Curling | ||
Representing  British Columbia | ||
| Macdonald Brier | ||
 | 1977 Montreal | |
LeRoy (Roy) Vinthers (born c. 1931) [1] is a Canadian curler from Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a former British Columbia provincial champion skip, and was the runner-up at the 1977 Macdonald Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship. Vinthers grew up in Inglis, Manitoba. [2]
Vinthers played third for the Harry McConachie rink at the 1954 provincial championship. [3] The team finished third. [4]
Vinthers began skipping in 1959. He and teammates Leo Hebert, Howie Christopherson and George Ingram won the $9,000 Totem Bonspiel in 1959. [5] The team played in the 1960 BC Championships, where they were eliminated in the first round of the "B event". [6]
In 1961, Christopherson took over as skip with Vinthers at third with front end George Ingram and Charlie Gardner. The team won the Pacific Coast playdowns putting them into the BC final. [7] The provincial championship was a best of three series between the Pacific Coast champion Christopherson rink and Interior champion Reg Stone. Team Christopherson won the first match 11-4, [8] but lost the next two, 12-6 and 10-9. [9] In 1964, with Vinthers skipping, his rink lost in the Pacific Coast final to Lyall Dagg, [10] who went on to win the World Curling Championships that year. In 1965, Vinthers took over as skip of the Dagg rink, with Dagg unable to curl due to "pressure of business". [1] However, Vinthers was unable to lead the rink out of the 1965 Pacific playdowns, losing to Jack Arnet in the Pacific Coast finals. [11] In 1966, Vinthers began curling out of Kamloops, [12] where he lived for five years, then lived one year in Edmonton and three in Winnipeg. He moved back to the Vancouver area in 1973. [13]
In 1976, Vinthers teamed up with former teammates Leo Hebert and Barry Naimark who had played for Lyall Dagg as well as second Greg Pruden. Naimark joined the team for playdowns after the team's regular lead, Al Richards couldn't compete due to getting a new job. [14] The team won the 1977 BC Men's championships defeating the Al LaChance rink of Kamloops 5-3 and 6-4 in the best of three final. [15] LaChance had been Vinthers' barber while living in Kamloops. [16] This qualified the rink to represent British Columbia at the 1977 Macdonald Brier in Montreal. The team had a great start at the event, winning their first eight games, but lost their remaining three games, including a match against Quebec's Jim Ursel rink. That game proved to be pivotal as Quebec ended up winning the Brier with a 9-2 record, one more than B.C. who finished tied in second place.
The next season, Vinthers won the $18,500 1977 Labatt's Bonspiel. [17] While Vinthers faltered in zone play that year, he did see action at the 1978 Macdonald Brier in Vancouver, as a spare for Northern Ontario, replacing John Ballantyne who couldn't play one day due to muscle spasms. [18]
Vinther's last major spiel win was in 1980 when he won the $29,000 Peace Country Curling Classic. [19]
At the time of the 1977 Brier, Vinthers was employed as a terminal manager for Canadian Auto Carriers. [20]
The Tim Hortons Brier, or simply the Brier, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The current event name refers to its main sponsor, the Tim Hortons coffee and donut shop chain. "Brier" originally referred to a brand of tobacco sold by the event's first sponsor, the Macdonald Tobacco Company.
The 2001 Nokia Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held March 3–11 at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario. It was the very first Brier to be sponsored by Nokia. The theme of the event was the 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the finals, Team Alberta, consisting of skip Randy Ferbey, fourth David Nedohin, second Scott Pfeifer and lead Marcel Rocque would capture their first of four Brier wins as a team. They edged out Team Manitoba skipped by Kerry Burtnyk in the final, 8–4. While the Brier was not unsuccessful, it did end up losing money. The total attendance was 154,136.
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The 1927 Macdonald Brier Tankard, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held March 1–3 at the Granite Club in Toronto. This edition of the Brier would be the first, with it also being the first time it was hosted in Ontario, and the first time it was hosted in Toronto's Granite Club.
R. B. (Barry) Naimark was a Canadian curler. He played as lead on the Lyall Dagg rink that won the 1964 Brier and World Championship. He also played in the 1959 Macdonald Brier as the skip of the British Columbia team, finishing fourth. He died of cancer in 2004.
The 1928 Macdonald Brier Tankard, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held February 28–March 2 at the Granite Club in Toronto.
James William Ursel, also known as Jimmy Ursel, was a Canadian curler. He was the skip of the 1977 Brier Champion team, representing Quebec.
The 1970 Macdonald Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship was held March 2–6 at the Winnipeg Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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 1929 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from February 26 to March 1, 1929 at the Granite Club in Toronto, Ontario.
Paul Ernest Devlin was a Canadian curler. He has skipped two teams at the Brier, Canada's national men's championship, representing both Alberta and British Columbia.
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The 1964 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 4 to 8, 1964 at the Charlottetown Forum in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. A total of 13,573 fans attended the event, which was the smallest attended Brier since 1952. As of 2023 this is the only time that PEI has hosted a Brier.