Tim Hortons Brier 2017: Wednesday Curling Results, Updated Draw and Schedule

The 2017 Tim Hortons Brier continues to cruise along with teams jockeying for position in the standings.

Wednesday represented Day 5 of the action, with three important draws for those looking for a spot in the playoffs. Only four draws remain after the day as at least seven squads battle for just four spots in the next round.

Of course, those who have struggled early aren't going to just give up in the 12-team round robin. Some continue to fill the role of spoiler against the top competition, which kept things interesting through Draws 11 and 12.

Draw	Team	Score/Start Time (ET)	Team
11	Quebec	8-5	Alberta
11	Northwest Territories	1-9	British Columbia
11	Nova Scotia	7-8	Saskatchewan
11	Northern Ontario	6-5	New Brunswick
12	Northern Ontario	5-6	Manitoba
12	Alberta	3-6	Ontario
12	British Columbia	4-5	Newfoundland & Labrador
12	Canada	8-7	Saskatchewan
13	Northwest Territories	6-8	Canada
13	Nova Scotia	3-9	Manitoba
13	Ontario	8-6	New Brunswick
13	Newfoundland & Labrador	7-3	Quebec

Pos.	Team	Games	Wins	Losses
1	Manitoba (McEwen)	8	7	1
2	Newfoundland & Labrador (Gushue)	8	6	2
3	Canada (Koe)	8	6	2
4	Northern Ontario (Jacobs)	9	6	3
5	Quebec (Ménard)	8	5	3
6	British Columbia (Morris)	9	5	4
7	Saskatchewan (Casey)	9	5	4
8	Ontario (Howard)	8	3	5
9	Alberta (Bottcher)	9	3	6
10	Nova Scotia (Murphy)	8	2	6
11	New Brunswick (Kennedy)	8	1	7
12	Northwest Territories (Koe)	8	1	7

Draw 11 Recap

A day full of close matches also featured one of the biggest blowouts of the entire tournament.

The Northwest Territories continued its struggles during a 9-1 loss at the hands of British Columbia. British Columbia used the last rock to go up 2-0 in the first end, but then stole points in the third, fourth, fifth and eighth ends to simply embarrass their opponent.

The other top teams met expectations in the morning session, with Quebec, Saskatchewan and Northern Ontario all defeating inferior opponents. Then again, none of these were easy.

Nova Scotia forced a tie in the final end against Saskatchewan with a two-point ninth, but Adam Casey bounced back with the key point in the 10th for the 8-7 win. 

Northern Ontario and New Brunswick had a similar story as the two teams traded points in a low-scoring battle, but Brad Jacobs came through when it mattered to lead Northern Ontario to the 6-5 win.

Quebec and Alberta featured a bit more separation at 8-5, but that was only due to a three-point finish for Jean-Michel Menard and Quebec in the ninth end. That was enough to force handshakes before the 10th end.

Draw 12 Recap

This was arguably the biggest draw of the tournament to this point with three different matchups between teams with winning records.

The match between Northern Ontario and Manitoba was an efficient one, with neither team allowing a single steal. The difference came when Manitoba scored two in the eighth and, after falling behind again in the ninth, used a two-point end to secure the win.

Andrew Paterson of TSN Radio described the game-winning moment:

Mike McEwen continued an impressive tournament with a huge throw when it mattered most.

British Columbia also was involved in a thrilling battle against Newfoundland and Labrador. BC scored two points in the 10th end to tie the match at 4-4, sending it to an 11th end.

However, the home team came through as Brad Gushue and his 95 percent shooting helped Newfoundland and Labrador to yet another narrow victory.

Team Canada came through with a solid performance of its own to hold off Saskatchewan. Kevin Koe's squad held an 8-4 lead after eight ends, which sometimes is enough to end the match, but Saskatchewan fought back with two in the ninth. Unfortunately, the one point steal in the 10th wasn't enough to avoid an 8-7 loss.

Ontario also beat Alberta in a 6-3 battle that will likely not make much of a factor in the standings.

Draw 13 Recap

Newfoundland and Labrador continued their strong play with a win in a matchup of contenders against Quebec.

Brad Gushue shot 92 percent in the match, helping the home team earn a 7-3 victory after nine ends. Newfoundland earned its second big win of the day and third in a row to move to 6-2 on the tournament, putting the squad in great shape to advance.

Gushue discussed the run after the match, per Devin Heroux of CBC:

Manitoba also continued its dominance with a 9-3 victory over Nova Scotia. Mike McEwen's group was tied at 3-3 going into the sixth end. However, two points in the seventh created some breathing room, followed by a steal in the eighth and a three-point steal in the ninth.

Nova Scotia had no choice but concede before the 10th end.

In a family battle, Kevin Koe was able to get the best of his brother, Jamie, as Team Canada earned an 8-6 win over the Northwest Territories.

It seemed like it would be an easy victory for the defending champs at 7-3 through five ends, but a strong finish made things interesting. The Territories cut the lead to 7-6 before Canada closed it out with a game-sealing point in the 10th.

Finally, Ontario earned its third win of the week with an 8-5 victory over a New Brunswick group that has struggled throughout the week.

March 9 Schedule

Draw	Sheet	Matchup	Time (ET)
14	A	New Brunswick vs. Nova Scotia	8:30 a.m.
14	B	Saskatchewan vs. Northern Ontario	8:30 a.m.
14	C	Northwest Territories vs. Quebec	8:30 a.m.
14	D	Alberta vs. British Columbia	8:30 a.m.
15	A	Ontario vs. Newfoundland & Labrador	1:30 p.m.
15	B	Quebec vs. New Brunswick	1:30 p.m.
15	C	Manitoba vs. Canada	1:30 p.m.
15	D	Northwest Territories vs. Nova Scotia	1:30 p.m.
16	A	British Columbia vs. Saskatchewan	6:30 p.m.
16	B	Newfoundland & Labrador vs. Canada	6:30 p.m.
16	C	Alberta vs. Northern Ontario	6:30 p.m.
16	D	Manitoba vs. Ontario	6:30 p.m.