Nunavut Brier Playdowns

The Nunavut Brier Playdowns are the annual tournament held to determine Nunavut's representative at the Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship.

Summary

Nunavut, Canada's newest territory, was granted its own team at the Brier in 2015, but declined the invitation in that year's Brier. The territory held its first Brier playdown in 2016 , when Iqaluit's Wade Kingdon rink beat Rankin Inlet's Arthur Siksik rink 3 games to 1 in a best of 5 series.[1] At the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, the team played in a pre-qualifying tournament, losing all three games.

In 2017, Jim Nix of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia was asked by a friend to join a club team in Iqaluit and proceeded to win a two-game series to represent Nunavut at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier.[2] At the Brier, the team lost all three games in the pre-qualifying tournament.

2018 had a similar situation, when St. Marys, Ontario resident David St. Louis was asked by friends in Iqaluit, where he used to work to join their team. The team beat the Jake Higgs[3] rink to represent Nunavut at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier.[4] Curling Canada abolished the pre-qualifying tournament at the 2018 Brier, which was replaced by two pools of eight teams. At the Brier, the team lost all seven pool games, and the 15th place game.[lower-alpha 1]

St. Louis defeated Higgs again in the 2019 playdowns.[3] Skipping Nunavut at the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier he led the territory to another 0–7 record.

World Curling Tour veteran Jake Higgs from Strathroy, Ontario won the Brier playdown for 2020 on his third try. He led is team to a 3–0 record in the three-team tournament which also featured St. Louis and Kingdon.[5] Higgs had played for Ontario at the 2009 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship which was held in Iqaluit, where he was acquainted with some local curlers, who suggested he come to town to try and win the playdown.[3] His experience did not help Team Nunavut at the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier however, as the team went 0-7 again.

In 2021, Nunavut was one of the few member associations in Canada to have a playdown due the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced other jurisdictions to cancel their respective championships.[lower-alpha 2] The Nunavut playdown was a best-of-five series between Peter Mackey and Wade Kingdon. After going down two games to none, the Mackey rink came back to win three straight, winning the title.[6] Because of the pandemic, the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier had two more "wild card" teams, which expanded the field to 18 teams, adding one more game to Nunavut's schedule. Adding an extra game did not help Team Nunavut, as the team once again lost all of their games, going 0–8.

In 2022, Mackey once again represented Nunavut at the Brier. At the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier, by which time the tournament was permanently expanded to eighteen teams, the team went winless in eight games.

The 2023 playdowns were held in December 2022. They were won by Jake Higgs, who defeated Peter Mackey 8–7 in the final.[7] The event was a three-team double round robin with a final, and also involved Team Peter Van Strien.[8] Higgs' team earned Nunavut's first Brier win at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier when they defeated Nathan Young of Newfoundland and Labrador in their first game. They went on to lose their next seven games, to finish with a 1–7 record.

Winners
Year Team Club Brier Record (placement) Shot %
2023Jake Higgs, Sheldon Wettig, Brady St. Louis, Terry Lichty, Christian Smitheram[9]Iqaluit1–7 (18th of 18)71%
2022Peter Mackey, Mark Pillsworth, Jeff Nadeau, Greg HowardIqaluit0–8 (18th of 18)63%
2021Peter Mackey, Jeff Nadeau, Greg Howard, Jeff ChownIqaluit0–8 (T17th of 18)62%
2020Jake Higgs, Dale Kohlenberg, Christian Smitheram, Ed MacDonald, Sheldon WettigIqaluit0–7 (T15th of 16)66%
2019Dave St. Louis, Peter Mackey, Jeff Nadeau, Lloyd KendallIqaluit0–7 (T15th of 16)65%
2018Dave St. Louis, Wade Kingdon, Peter Mackey, Jeff NadeauIqaluit0–8 (16th of 16)67%[10]
2017Jim Nix, Ed MacDonald, Greg Howard, Darryl McGrath, Howard FickIqaluit0–3 (15th of 15)56%
2016Wade Kingdon, Dennis Masson, Aaron Fraser, Bruce Morgan, Chris WestIqaluit0–3 (15th of 15)54%

Notes
  1. The "placement round" was only played in the 2018 Brier.
  2. Because of strictly-enforced travel restrictions combined with the territory's general isolation, the first COVID-19 cases were not recorded in Nunavut until much later than more densely-populated jurisdictions.

References
  1. "Nunavut Brier Playdowns". CurlingZone. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  2. "Nix clears first hurdle on road to 2017 Brier". The Telegram. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  3. "Strathroy man ready for Brier shot – with underdog Nunavut squad". The London Free Press. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  4. "David St. Louis qualifies for 2018 Brier as skip of Team Nunavut". St. Marys Independent. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  5. "Kohlenberg "living the big dream" with Team Nunavut at the Tim Hortons Brier". CFJC Today. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  6. "Team Peter Mackey wins Nunavut curling championship, punches ticket to Brier". CBC. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
  7. "Team Jake Higgs is heading to the Tim Horton's Brier!! Peter Mackey's last rock comes down to a measurement, and Higgs steals one in the 10th end to win 8-7 and punch their ticket to London!". Facebook: Iqaluit Curling Club. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  8. "Schedule". Facebook: Iqaluit Curling Club. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  9. "Congratulations to Team Higgs winner of the Nunavut Men's Territorial Championship to represent Nunavut at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier in London, ON!". Facebook: Nunavut Curling Association. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  10. "2018 Tim Hortons Brier - Curling Canada Stats Archive".
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