The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada, formerly called the Canadian Curling Association. The winner goes on to represent Canada at the women's world curling championships. Since 1985, the winner also gets to return to the following year's tournament as "Team Canada". It is formally known as the "Canadian Women's Curling Championship".
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.
Russell W. "Russ" Howard, CM, ONL is a Canadian curler and Olympic champion, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, but originally from Midland, Ontario. He lived in Moncton, New Brunswick from 2000 to 2019. Known for his gravelly voice, Howard has been to the Brier 14 times, winning the title twice. He is also a two-time world champion, winning in 1987 and 1993. He has also won three TSN Skins Games in 1991, 1992, and 1993, and participated in two Canadian Mixed Curling Championships in 2000 and 2001. He won gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics and two Canadian Senior Curling Championships in 2008 and 2009 finishing with a silver medal both of those years. Russ Howard was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He is currently a curling analyst and commentator for TSN’s Season of Champions curling coverage.
Kevin Martin, nicknamed "The Old Bear" and "K-Mart", is a Canadian retired curler from Edmonton, Alberta, an Olympic, world and 4-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.
Bradley Raymond Gushue, ONL is a Canadian curler from Mount Pearl, 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 is also the 2017, 2018, and 2020 Tim Hortons Brier champion with teammates Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, and Geoff Walker. Their win in 2017 was Newfoundland and Labrador's first Brier title in 41 years. Gushue and his rink also won 2017 Ford World Men's Curling Championship. 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.
Mark Nichols, ONL is a Canadian curler from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. He currently plays third for the Brad Gushue rink. Nichols is a former Olympic champion curler, having played third for Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics where the team won a gold medal. He also won a World championship with Gushue in 2017.
Richard "the Hart Surgeon" Hart is a Canadian curler from Pickering, Ontario. He is a Brier and world champion, as well as an Olympic silver medallist.
Stephen "Steve" Gould is a Canadian retired curler from Headingley, Manitoba. As a lead for Jeff Stoughton, he won 2 World Championships and 3 Briers. He is currently the coach of the Tanner Horgan rink.
The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conclusion of the high-school basketball season, in an East vs. West format. As part of the annual event, boys and girls compete in a slam dunk contest and a three-point shooting competition, and compete alongside All-American Game alumni in a timed team shootout. The last of these competitions replaced separate overall timed skills competitions for boys and girls. It is rare for girls to compete in the slam dunk contest. They have, however, won it twice—first in 2004 by Candace Parker, and most recently in 2019 by Fran Belibi. The boys' game has been contested annually since 1978, and the girls game has been played each year since it was added in 2002.
In the sport of curling, the skip is the captain of a team. The skip determines strategy, and holds the broom in the house to indicate where a teammate at the other end of the curling sheet should aim the stone. The skip usually throws the last two stones in the fourth position, but may play in any other position.
Marc Kennedy is a Canadian curler, and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic gold medallist from St. Albert, Alberta.
The Ford Hot Shots was the annual skills competition preceding both the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's women's and men's national curling championships respectively. The competition has not been held since 2018.
The 2011 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held March 5 until March 13, 2011 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. This event marked the 30th time that the province of Ontario has hosted the Brier since it began in 1927 in Toronto, Ontario and the first time a Bronze Medal Game was added to the playoffs.
The 2010–11 curling season began in September 2010 and ended in April 2011.
The 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 3 to March 11 at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This Brier marked the sixth time that Saskatoon hosted the Brier; the last time that the Brier was hosted in Saskatoon was in 2004. The winner of the Brier, Glenn Howard, will represent Canada at the 2012 Capital One World Men's Curling Championship in Basel, Switzerland.
The 2013 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held from March 2 to 10 at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. This edition of the Brier marked the thirteenth time that Alberta has hosted the Brier, and the sixth time that Edmonton has hosted the Brier.
The 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5–13, 2016 at TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Ontario.
The 2019 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 2 to 10 at Westoba Place in Brandon, Manitoba. In the final, Kevin Koe of Alberta defeated Team Wildcard skipped by Brendan Bottcher 4–3 by scoring two in the tenth end to win. It was the lowest scoring Brier final since 1992, which was held before the adoption of any free guard zone rule.
The 2021 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 5 to 14 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta.
Kevin Martin 
Glenn Howard (3)
Brad Gushue 
