Viterra Championship | |
---|---|
Established | 1925 |
2025 host city | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba |
2025 arena | Stride Place |
2024 champion | Team Carruthers |
Current edition | |
The Viterra Championship is the Manitoba men's provincial curling championship. The tournament is run by Curl Manitoba, the provincial curling association. The winner represents Manitoba at the Montana's Brier, the Canadian men's championship. [1]
The tournament was previously known as the Safeway Championship (2008–2015), Safeway Select (1995–2007); the Labatt Tankard (1980–1994); the British Consols (1937–1979) and the Macdonald Brier Trophy event winner at the MCA Bonspiel (1925-1936).
32 teams qualify. The distribution of berths changes from year to year but is generally composed of the following:
Listed below are the provincial champion skips for each year. Manitoba did not participate in the 1927 Brier. [2] Brier champions in bold.
Beginning in 2015, the defending Brier champion automatically earned a berth for the following years' national championship as "Team Canada". A team from Manitoba has yet to play as "Team Canada" at the Brier. A Wildcard entry was added in 2018, which was expanded to three entries in 2021. Two of these entries became prequalifying entries in 2024.
Brier | Team name | Team | Club |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | Wildcard | Mike McEwen, B. J. Neufeld, Matt Wozniak, Denni Neufeld | Fort Rouge |
2018 | — [a] | Jason Gunnlaugson, Alex Forrest, Ian McMillan, Connor Njegovan | Granite |
2020 | Wild Card | Mike McEwen, Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski, Colin Hodgson | West St. Paul |
2021 | Wild Card #1 | Mike McEwen, Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski, Colin Hodgson | West St. Paul |
2022 | Wild Card #3 | Jason Gunnlaugson, Adam Casey, Matt Wozniak, Connor Njegovan | Morris |
2023 | Wild Card #2 | Reid Carruthers, Derek Samagalski, Connor Njegovan, Rob Gordon | Morris |
2024 | Manitoba–Dunstone | Matt Dunstone, B. J. Neufeld, Colton Lott, Ryan Harnden | Fort Rouge |
The Brier, known since 2023 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March.
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 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.
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.
Ryan Bennett Fry is a retired Canadian curler currently living in Pickering, Ontario. He most recently played third on the Mike McEwen team and coached the Rachel Homan team. He currently coaches the Joël Retornaz rink. He previously played third for Team Brad Jacobs, and the team represented Canada and won the gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The team also won the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier. Fry won a silver medal at the 2013 World Men's Curling Championship.
The Ontario Tankard is the Southern Ontario provincial championship for men's curling. The winner represents Team Ontario at the Montana's Brier. The tournament is overseen by CurlON.
The SaskTel Tankard is the annual provincial championship for men's curling in Saskatchewan, with the winner representing the province at the Montana's Brier, the national men's championship. The bonspiel, which is organized by CURLSASK, the provincial curling association, is also known as the SaskTel Provincial Men's Curling Championship. SaskTel became the title sponsor in 2004; the Tankard was previously known as the Macdonald Tankard (1927–1979), the Labatt Tankard (1980–1994), the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Tankard (1995–2003), and the SaskTel Mobility Tankard (2004–2006).
The RME Women of the Rings, formerly the Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts is the Manitoba provincial women's curling tournament. The tournament is run by Curl Manitoba, the provincial curling association. The winning team represents Manitoba at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
The 2010 Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held between March 6 until March 14, 2010 in Halifax, Nova Scotia at the Halifax Metro Centre. It marked the sixth time the Brier had been to Halifax, and the second time in eight years, having previously hosted the 2003 Nokia Brier.
Michael McEwen, nicknamed "Magic Mike McEwen" is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba, who grew up in Brandon, Manitoba. McEwen won six Grand Slams in his career before his team qualified for their first Brier, Canada's national championship in 2016. He is noted as one of the top curlers using the Manitoba tuck delivery today.
Bruce Delaney is a Canadian curler from Ottawa.
The 2011 Safeway Championship, Manitoba men's provincial curling championship was held February 9 to 13 at the Sun Gro Centre in Beausejour. The winning Jeff Stoughton rink represented Manitoba at the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ontario where they captured the Brier tankard. As of 2024, this is the last time that a Manitoba provincial champion won a Brier.
Brendan "B. J." Neufeld is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He currently plays third on Team Reid Carruthers. He started curling around the age of ten and, like older brother Denni Neufeld, cites the achievements of his father as leading his interest into the game of curling. His father is Chris Neufeld who was a three-time Manitoba curling champion and one time Labatt Brier champion in 1992 as part of the Vic Peters team.
Matt Wozniak is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Wozniak is the former second for the Mike McEwen team which curled out of the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club in Winnipeg.
The 2012 Safeway Championship, Manitoba's men's provincial curling championship, was held from February 8 to 12 at the Credit Union Place in Dauphin, Manitoba. The winning team of Rob Fowler, represented Manitoba at the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The 2012 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Manitoba's women's provincial curling championship, was held from January 25 to 29 at the Portage Credit Union Centre in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. The winning team of Jennifer Jones, Kaitlyn Lawes, Jill Officer and Dawn Askin represented Manitoba at the 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Red Deer, Alberta, where they finished round robin with a 9–2 record, which was enough to finish 1st place and clinch a spot in the playoffs. Jones would lose both the 1–2 game and the semi-final before winning the bronze medal game over Quebec.
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.
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 1928 Macdonald Brier Tankard, the Canadian men's national curling championship, was held February 28 to March 2 at the Granite Club in Toronto.
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.
LeRoy (Roy) Vinthers 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.