2001 Nokia Brier

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.

Teams

The 2001 Brier featured the 1981 and 1995 champion Kerry Burtnyk rink of Manitoba, 1982 and 1985 champion Al Hackner rink of Northern Ontario, 1998 champion Wayne Middaugh rink of Ontario, 1988 and 1989 champion third Randy Ferbey with his new Alberta rink, 1998 and 1999 runner-up Guy Hemmings rink of Quebec, 1990 runner-up Jim Sullivan rink of New Brunswick, 1999 Mixed champion Paul Flemming, 5-time PEI champion Peter MacDonald, 4-time territories champion Steve Moss, 2-time Saskatchewan champion Doug Harcourt along with newcomers 1989 Canadian Junior champion Dean Joanisse of BC, and Keith Ryan of Newfoundland.

Round-robin standings

''Final round-robin standings''

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in Eastern Standard Time.

Draw 1

''Saturday, March 3, 1:30 pm''

Draw 2

''Saturday, March 3, 7:00 pm''

Draw 3

''Sunday, March 4, 9:00 am''

Draw 4

''Sunday, March 4, 1:30 pm''

Draw 5

''Sunday, March 4, 7:30 pm''

Draw 6

''Monday, March 5, 9:00 am''

Draw 7

''Monday, March 5, 1:30 pm''

Draw 8

''Monday, March 5, 7:30 pm''

Draw 9

''Tuesday, March 6, 9:00 am''

Draw 10

''Tuesday, March 6, 1:30 pm''

Draw 11

''Tuesday, March 6, 7:30 pm''

Draw 12

''Wednesday, March 7, 9:00 am''

Draw 13

''Wednesday, March 7, 1:30 pm''

Draw 14

''Wednesday, March 7, 7:30 pm''

Draw 15

''Thursday, March 8, 9:00 am''

Draw 16

''Thursday, March 8, 1:30 pm''

Draw 17

''Thursday, March 8, 7:30 pm''

Playoffs

1 vs. 2

''Friday, March 9, 7:30 pm''

3 vs. 4

''Friday, March 9, 1:30 pm''

Semifinal

''Saturday, March 10, 1:30 pm''

Final

''Sunday, March 11, 1:30 pm''

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

Round robin only

Playdowns

: Team Nedohin, skipped by Randy Ferbey won the Alberta Safeway Select, defeating Kevin Martin 6–4 in the final at the Stettler Recreation Centre in Stettler on February 11.
: Dean Joanisse of Victoria won the Safeway Select B.C. men's curling championship, defeating defending Brier champion Greg McAulay of New Westminster, 5–4 in the final at the McArthur Island Sports Centre in Kamloops on February 11.
: Kerry Burtnyk won the Manitoba Safeway Select 10–7 over Dale Duguid in the final at the Selkirk Recreation Complex in Selkirk on February 11. Duguid's last draw in the 10th came up short after picking on a piece of straw, giving the victory to Burtnyk.
: Jim Sullivan of Saint John defeated Russ Howard of Moncton 6–5 in an extra end in the New Brunswick final played in Moncton.
: Keith Ryan of Labrador City beat Ken Peddigrew of St. John's in the Newfoundland championship final, 5–4 in Stephenville.
: In an all-Thunder Bay final, the Al Hackner rink beat Team Bill Adams 6–5 in an extra end at the Northern Ontario Labatt Tankard played at the North Bay Granite Club in North Bay on February 11. Hackner made a draw to the button for the win.
: Paul Flemming defeated Ken Myers 9–7 in final of the Nova Scotia championship played in Sydney.
: Wayne Middaugh beat Stayner's John Morris, 4–3 in the final of the 2001 Ontario Nokia Cup played February 11 in Woodstock.
: Peter MacDonald of Charlottetown won the Prince Edward Island Tankard on February 5.
: Guy Hemmings downed François Roberge of Quebec City 7–2 in the Quebec final, played on February 10 in Chicoutimi.
Quill Lake's Doug Harcourt went 22–0 through playdown play, culminating in a 5–2 victory over Rocansville's Daryl Williamson in the final of the Pool Tankard played in Kindersley February 11.
: Steve Moss of the Northwest Territories won the Yukon/NWT Men's Curling Championship played at the Mt. McIntyre Recreation Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon over the January 27–28 weekend. He posted a 5–1 record, two wins more than second place Jon Solberg of the Yukon.