Tim Hortons Brier 2017: Saturday Curling Results, Updated Draw and Schedule
The 90th annual Tim Hortons Brier kicked off on Saturday from Mile One Center in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with Alberta looking for its second consecutive championship.
Brad Gushue, who is the top-ranked curling player, is looking to lead the hometown Newfoundland and Labrador team to a gold medal after taking home the silver in 2016.
Here are the results from the opening day at this year's Tim Hortons Brier:
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| British Columbia | 7-9 | Northern Ontario |
| Saskatchewan | 5-6 | Manitoba |
| Newfoundland & Labrador | 8-6 | Alberta |
| Yukon | 6-9 | Nova Scotia |
| Canada | 7-5 | Quebec |
| Ontario | 5-6 | Nova Scotia |
| New Brunswick | 6-5 | Northwest Territories |
Here are the standings after the first day:
| 1 | Newfoundland & Labrador | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | New Brunswick | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Manitoba | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | Northern Ontario | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Nova Scotia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Alberta | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | British Columbia | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Saskatchewan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Quebec | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Northwest Territories | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Ontario | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Northern Ontario 9, British Columbia 7
Northern Ontario's tournament got off to a good start with a 9-7 comeback victory over British Columbia.
British Columbia jumped ahead 3-0 after two ends, a lead that would be short-lived when Northern Ontario responded with three points of its own in the third end.
With the score tied at six after six ends, Northern Ontario pulled away with one point in the seventh and two in the eighth.
The tandem of E.J. and Ryan Harnden was magnificent for the Northern Ontario team. E.J. finished with a match-high 75 points on his 20 shots, one point ahead of his brother.
Manitoba 6, Saskatchewan 5
Manitoba had to fight off Saskatchewan's comeback efforts in its 6-5 victory. The Saskatchewan club took a 2-1 lead after three ends but was unable to hold it for long.
Manitoba jumped back ahead for good with two points in the sixth end and tacked on another point in the seventh for a 6-3 lead.
Saskatchewan tried to make a late comeback with single points in each of the last two ends, but it wasn't enough to avoid an early loss.
There was a terrific back-and-forth showdown between Saskatchewan's Catlin Schneider and Manitoba's Denni Neufeld, who each finished with 77 points and a 96 percent success rate.
Newfoundland and Labrador 8, Alberta 6
Using three big ends, Newfoundland and Labrador proved to be too much for Alberta in an 8-6 victory in Sheet C.
Last year's silver medalists got two points each in the second and fourth ends, making a victory appear imminent with a 5-3 lead after six.
When Alberta evened things up at five with two points in the seventh end, Newfoundland and Labrador got three huge points in the eighth to secure the victory.
Gushue fulfilled his end of the bargain with a 100 percent success rate, to go along with 76 points for the Newfoundland and Labrador squad.
Nova Scotia 9, Yukon 6
The final score isn't indicative of how dominant Nova Scotia was in its 9-6 victory over Yukon.
The Nova Scotia team was up 9-3 after seven ends, holding Yukon without a point in five of the first seven ends.
Nova Scotia stole 12 ends. No one on Yukon's team had a success rate higher than 76 percent. By comparison, every other team in the first draw had at least one player over 80 percent.
Canada 7, Quebec 5
A thrilling finish gave Canada a 7-5 victory over Quebec in the opening game of the Brier for both teams.
Both groups went back and forth with two-point ends, starting in the seventh when Canada took a 5-3 lead. Quebec evened things up in the eighth end before Canada responded with the final two points in the ninth end to secure the win.
Marc Kennedy was Canada's star in the round with 73 points and a 91 percent success rate, though he was followed closely by Kevin Koe's 72 points and 90 percent success rate.
Nova Scotia 6, Ontario 5
In the best match of the opening day, Nova Scotia prevailed 6-5 over Ontario in 11 ends.
Nova Scotia appeared to be on its way to a 5-3 victory after putting up three points in the ninth end. It wasn't a lead the team was able to hold onto, as Ontario squared things at five with two points in the 10th end.
Instead of letting that emotional gut punch knock it down, Nova Scotia rode Jamie Murphy to one point in the 11th end to earn a victory and a 1-0 record after Saturday's action.
New Brunswick 6, Northwest Territories 5
Not far behind Nova Scotia-Ontario on the drama scale, New Brunswick was able to salvage a blown lead of its own in the ninth end to earn a 6-5 win over the Northwest Territories.
New Brunswick had the only steal of the match and only put up single points in the first, second, fourth and seventh ends before finally getting a crooked number with points in the ninth to hang on for a victory.
That two-point round for New Brunswick came after the Northwest Territories tied things up in the eighth with two points of its own. Northwest Territories was able to get one point in the 10th end to close the gap to 6-5, but it wasn't enough to keep things going.
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