2018 Tim Hortons Brier
The 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship, was held from March 3 to 11, 2018 at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan. The winning team represented Canada at the 2018 World Men's Curling Championship from March 31 to April 8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, United States. This marked the fifth time the Brier was held in Regina, the first time since 2006. The 2018 tournament was the first to use a new 16-team format, featuring representation by all fourteen member associations of Curling Canada, alongside the  defending champions (as Team Canada), and a new wildcard team. As part of this new format, the Bronze medal game was removed from the schedule. Teams. Curling Canada introduced a new 16-team format for both the Brier and Tournament of Hearts for 2018, under which all 14 member associations of Curling Canada are now represented in the main field, rather than being limited by a pre-qualifying tournament. The teams were divided into two pools for round robin play, after which the top four teams from each advanced to a Championship Pool. Alongside the inclusion of the previous year 's champions as Team Canada, the final spot in the tournament was filled by a wildcard play-in game held on the Friday before the tournament. The rinks of John Epping (Ontario), Mike Fournier (Quebec), and Greg Smith (Newfoundland and Labrador) made their Brier debuts. Team Canada's Brad Gushue set a new record for the most Canadian national men's championship game wins as a skip when he skipped the 114th victory of his Brier career over the Northwest Territories on March 5. Wildcard game. A play-in game was held on March 2, 2018 that determined the wildcard  team that rounded out the tournament field. It was played between the top two teams on the Canadian Team Ranking System standings who lost in their provincial championship: the Fort Rouge Curling Club's Mike McEwen rink and the Granite Curling Club's Jason Gunnlaugson rink, both from Winnipeg. "Friday, March 2, 19:00" Round robin results. All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (). Draw 1. "Saturday, March 3, 14:00" Draw 2. "Saturday, March 3, 19:00" Draw 3. "Sunday, March 4, 09:00" Draw 4. "Sunday, March 4, 14:00" Draw 5. "Sunday, March 4, 19:00" Draw 6. "Monday, March 5 , 09:00" Draw 7. "Monday, March 5, 14:00" Draw 8. "Monday, March 5, 19:00" Draw 9. "Tuesday, March 6, 09:00" Draw 10. "Tuesday, March 6, 14:00" Draw 11. "Tuesday, March 6, 19:00" Draw 12. "Wednesday, March 7, 09:00" Draw 13. "Wednesday, March 7, 14:00" Draw 14. "Wednesday, March 7, 19:00" Placement round. Each team that finished fifth through eight in their pool played the team that finished in the same position in the opposite pool for the purpose of determining final tournament ranking. For example, the winner of the game between fifth place teams was ranked ninth place overall, the loser  of that game was ranked tenth place, and so on. Seeding games. All game times are listed in Central Standard Time (). A5 vs. B5. "Friday, March 9, 09:00" A6 vs. B6. "Friday, March 9, 09:00" A7 vs. B7. "Friday, March 9, 09:00" A8 vs. B8. "Friday, March 9, 09:00" Championship pool standings. All wins and losses earned in the round robin (including results against teams that failed to advance) were carried forward into the Championship Pool. Championship pool results. All draw times are listed in Central Standard Time (). Draw 15. "Thursday, March 8, 14:00" Draw 16. "Thursday, March 8, 19:00  Draw 17. Friday, March 9, 14:00" Draw 18. "Friday, March 9, 19:00" Playoffs. 1 vs. 2. "Saturday, March 10, 19:00" 3 vs. 4. "Saturday, March 10, 14:00" Semifinal. "Sunday, March 11, 09:00" Final. "Sunday, March 11, 16:00" Statistics. Top 5 player percentages. "Final Round Robin Percentages; minimum 6 games" Perfect games. "Round Robin and Championship Pool only" Awards. The awards and all-star teams are listed as follows: "First Team" "Second Team"