Quebec’s Ménard back at Tim Hortons Brier

Jean-Michel Ménard will be making a eighth appearance at the Tim Hortons Brier, the Canadian men’s curling championship, after defeating Philippe Lemay 7-4 in the final of the Quebec provincial playdowns, Jan. 19 in Val-d’Or. Ménard, the 2006 Canadian men’s champion, will be joined by Martin Crête, Eric Sylvain and Philippe Ménard in Kamloops, March 1-9, for the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier at the Interior Savings Centre. Competitions in the other three central Canada provinces will take place over the next two weeks, starting Jan. 27 in Ontario. Veteran Glenn Howard will travel to Smiths Falls with his sights set on a 16th shot at the national title. Howard has skipped Team Ontario at the Tim Hortons Brier for the past eight consecutive years, winning two Canadian and world championships. Play will be underway Jan. 29 – Feb. 2, in Winnipeg’s MTS Iceplex, to determine the team Manitoba sends on to Kamloops. The field will be headed up by Jeff Stoughton, a 10-time representative at the national championship and winner of three Tankards – including his first in 1996 when the event was also hosted by Kamloops. But Stoughton will face stiff competition from the likes of Mike McEwen and Rob Fowler. McEwen has lost the provincial final three of the past four years: twice to Stoughton and once to Fowler, who represented the province at the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier. The field will be wide open for the Northern Ontario playdowns, Feb. 5-9 in Timmins, with the Brad Jacobs team away competing for Canada in Sochi, Russia. Jacobs, the defending Tim Hortons Brier champion, has skipped the Northern Ontario entry in six of the last seven national championships. “You Gotta Be There” for the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier in Kamloops, where the top 12 teams in the country shoot for the Tankard. Get your tickets today just by clicking here.