1989 Labatt Brier

The 1989 Labatt Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, was held from March 5 to 12 at the Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.^[2]

1989 Labatt Brier
Host city	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Arena	Saskatchewan Place
Dates	March 5–12[1]
Attendance	151,538
Winner	Alberta
Curling club	Ottewell CC, Edmonton
Skip	Pat Ryan
Third	Randy Ferbey
Second	Don Walchuk
Lead	Don McKenzie
Alternate	Murray Ursulak
Finalist	British Columbia (Rick Folk)
« 1988 1990 »

Pat Ryan of Alberta defeated Rick Folk of British Columbia to win his second Brier.

"The Ryan Express"

Pat Ryan's team was well known for its hitting style. Once they got the lead, the team would just peel off every opposition stone to win the game. This defensive strategy was heavily criticized for being boring. Whenever Ryan switched to this style of play, fans began shouting "bor-ing". However, the strategy worked for Ryan, who won the Brier. The score of the final game (3–2), remains the lowest total score for a final game in Brier history. This caused the implementation of the free guard zone a few years later to cause more offence in the game.^[3]

Howard loses his voice

Also of note at the 1989 Brier was Ontario skip Russ Howard's loss of his voice. Howard was nicknamed "the Wounded Moose" for the way he screamed in the first few draws of the event. However, he would lose his voice by Tuesday, and could barely speak. So, the team opted to use Walkie-talkies to communicate with their skip. This went unnoticed until their walkie-talkie signals jammed the official's walkie-talkie signals. The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) was quite upset about the matter, but Howard pointed out there was nothing in the rules against their usage, and insisted on continuing to use the walkie-talkies. So, the CCA decided midway through the event to ban the use of walkie-talkies, marking the first time that the rules had been changed in the middle of a tournament.^[4]

Teams

The teams were listed as follows:^[5]

Alberta	British Columbia	Manitoba
Ottewell CC, Edmonton Skip: Pat Ryan Third: Randy Ferbey Second: Don Walchuk Lead: Don McKenzie Alternate: Murray Ursulak	Kelowna CC, Kelowna Skip: Rick Folk Third: Bert Gretzinger Second: Rob Koffski Lead: Doug Smith Alternate: Fred Trussell	Lac du Bonnet CC, Lac du Bonnet Skip: Orest Meleschuk Third: John Usackis Second: John Hyrich Lead: Sean Meleschuk Alternate: Bob Lesko
New Brunswick	Newfoundland	Northern Ontario
Thistle St. Andrews CC, Saint John Skip: Gary Mitchell Third: Brian Dobson Second: Mark Armstrong Lead: Terry Roach Alternate: Arnie Dobson	St. John's CC, St. John's Skip: Lorne Henderson Third: Alex Smith Second: Peter Hollett Lead: Marc Brophy Alternate: Ken Thomas	Fort William CC, Thunder Bay Skip: Al Hackner Third: Bill Adams Second: Jim Adams Lead: John Salo Alternate: Keith Dolph
Nova Scotia	Ontario	Prince Edward Island
Truro CC, Truro Skip: Ragnar Kamp Third: Bruce Lohnes Second: Rod McCarron Lead: Peter Neily Alternate: Ted Lohnes	Penetanguishene CC, Penetanguishene Skip: Russ Howard Third: Glenn Howard Second: Tim Belcourt Lead: Kent Carstairs Alternate: Larry Merkley	Charlottetown CC, Charlottetown Skip: Doug Weeks Third: Blair Weeks Second: Roy Rodd Lead: David Weeks Alternate: Allan Ledgerwood
Quebec	Saskatchewan	Yukon/Northwest Territories
Buckingham CC, Buckingham Skip: Pierre Charette Third: Andre Lafleur Second: Don Westphal Lead: Richard Bisson Alternate: Ted Butler	Estevan CC, Estevan Skip: Jim Packet Third: Bob Doerr Second: Lloyd Schmidt Lead: Dallas Duce Alternate: Peter Shykitka	Yellowknife CC, Yellowknife Skip: Al Delmage Third: Roy Giles Second: Bill Strain Lead: Ron Kapicki Alternate: Brad Robertson

Map of teams

Ryan

Folk

Meleschuk

Mitchell

Henderson

Hackner

Kamp

Howard

Weeks

Charette

Packet

Delmage

Provincial Winners

Round-robin standings

Final Round Robin standings^[5]

Key
	Teams to Playoffs

Locale	Skip	W	L	PF	PA	EW	EL	BE	SE	S%
Alberta	Pat Ryan	8	3	60	51	39	36	12	7	82%
British Columbia	Rick Folk	8	3	62	56	43	40	15	11	81%
Ontario	Russ Howard	8	3	67	51	47	40	6	16	80%
Newfoundland	Lorne Henderson	7	4	64	64	41	44	7	7	75%
Manitoba	Orest Meleschuk	7	4	65	58	45	43	12	7	79%
Nova Scotia	Ragnar Kamp	7	4	65	45	46	31	8	16	77%
Saskatchewan	Jim Packet	6	5	67	53	40	38	15	12	81%
Quebec	Pierre Charette	5	6	75	68	46	45	11	8	77%
Yukon/Northwest Territories	Al Delmage	3	8	55	71	40	43	10	9	72%
Northern Ontario	Al Hackner	3	8	55	75	40	48	6	7	76%
New Brunswick	Gary Mitchell	2	9	52	73	37	47	7	8	77%
Prince Edward Island	Doug Weeks	2	9	54	76	37	46	6	5	75%

Round-robin results

Draw 1

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Alberta (Ryan)	1	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	7
Quebec (Charette)	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	5

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	X	2
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	X	6

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	3
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	6

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	X	2
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	X	4

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Ontario (Howard)	1	1	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	6
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	5

Draw 2

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Ontario (Howard)	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	6
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	5

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Saskatchewan (Packet)	1	0	0	3	0	4	0	1	0	X	9
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	2	X	6

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Quebec (Charette)	2	0	1	0	0	3	1	0	1	X	8
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	X	5

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Alberta (Ryan)	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	0	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	2	6

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	X	5
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	X	4

Draw 3

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	1	3	9
Alberta (Ryan)	1	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	4

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	3	0	7
Quebec (Charette)	2	1	1	0	3	0	1	0	0	1	9

Draw 4

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	1	6
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	X	5
British Columbia (Folk)	2	2	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	X	9

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	1	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	1	X	7
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	3

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Ontario (Howard)	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	3	X	7
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	X	3

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Saskatchewan (Packet)	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	5
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	7

Draw 5

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	7
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	2	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	6

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	1	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	1	X	8
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	X	4

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	1	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	7
Ontario (Howard)	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	6

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Quebec (Charette)	0	0	2	0	2	1	0	3	X	X	8
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	X	3

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	X	4
Alberta (Ryan)	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	X	7

Draw 6

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	X	3
Ontario (Howard)	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	3	1	X	8

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	5
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	7

Draw 7

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	1	0	3	1	4	X	X	X	X	9
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	1	0	2	0	0	0	X	X	X	X	3

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	2
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	3	X	7

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	2	1	0	8
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	2	0	1	3	0	2	0	0	1	9

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	1
Alberta (Ryan)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	X	3

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	1	6
Quebec (Charette)	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	5

Draw 8

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	X	2
British Columbia (Folk)	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	0	1	X	5

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Quebec (Charette)	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	6
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	5

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4
Alberta (Ryan)	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Ontario (Howard)	0	0	1	1	0	3	1	0	0	X	6
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	X	2

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	1	7
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	6

Draw 9

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	1	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	2	0	2	9
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	1	1	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	7

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	0	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	X	X	4
British Columbia (Folk)	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	0	X	X	6

Draw 10

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Quebec (Charette)	1	2	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	7
Ontario (Howard)	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	8

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	4
Alberta (Ryan)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	1	0	0	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	6
British Columbia (Folk)	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	7

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	3	0	2	4	X	X	X	X	X	X	9
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	1	0	0	X	X	X	X	X	X	1

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	X	1
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	2	2	1	0	0	0	2	X	X	7

Draw 11

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	2	0	2	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	7
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	0	1	0	6

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	4
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	5

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Alberta (Ryan)	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	3	X	6
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	3

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	2
Ontario (Howard)	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	X	4

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Quebec (Charette)	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	X	4
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	2	X	7

Draw 12

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	0	0	1	0	0	X	X	X	X	1
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	2	2	2	0	0	3	X	X	X	X	9

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	X	4
Quebec (Charette)	2	0	5	0	0	1	0	0	3	X	11

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	4	9
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	2	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	6

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	5
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	1	0	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	6

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
Alberta (Ryan)	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	1	6
Ontario (Howard)	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	5

Draw 13

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	6
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	0	0	2	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	2	8

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Ontario (Howard)	3	1	0	2	0	0	1	0	3	X	10
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	3

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	X	6
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	X	4

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	X	3
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	3	X	6

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	4
British Columbia (Folk)	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6

Draw 14

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	2	0	8
Alberta (Ryan)	0	2	0	2	0	3	0	1	0	1	9

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	5
Saskatchewan (Packet)	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Ontario (Howard)	0	0	1	0	0	0	X	X	X	X	1
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	1	3	0	1	1	2	X	X	X	X	8

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Manitoba (Meleschuk)	1	0	2	0	0	2	0	3	0	0	8
Quebec (Charette)	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	0	1	1	7

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	1	0	2	0	1	0	1	0	1	X	6
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	0	2	0	3	0	2	0	1	0	X	8

Draw 15

Sheet A	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	0	2	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	7
Newfoundland and Labrador (Henderson)	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	1	8

Sheet B	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Alberta (Ryan)	2	0	0	1	1	2	2	X	X	X	8
Northern Ontario (Hackner)	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	X	X	X	2

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Saskatchewan (Packet)	2	0	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	X	8
Quebec (Charette)	0	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	X	5

Sheet D	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
New Brunswick (Mitchell)	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	X	X	3
Yukon/Northwest Territories (Delmage)	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	3	X	X	8

Sheet E	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Prince Edward Island (Weeks)	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	4
Nova Scotia (Kamp)	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	3	8

Playoffs

	Semifinal					Final
						1	Alberta	3
	2	British Columbia	7			2	British Columbia	2
	3	Ontario	4

Semifinal

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
British Columbia (Folk)	0	0	0	2	1	2	0	2	0	X	7
Ontario (Howard)	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	X	4

Player Percentages
British Columbia		Ontario
Doug Smith	83%	Kent Carstairs	93%
Rob Koffski	65%	Tim Belcourt	78%
Bert Gretzinger	84%	Glenn Howard	81%
Rick Folk	80%	Russ Howard	64%
Total	78%	Total	79%

Final

Sheet C	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Final
Alberta (Ryan)	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	3
British Columbia (Folk)	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2

Player Percentages
Alberta		British Columbia
Don McKenzie	80%	Doug Smith	80%
Don Walchuk	85%	Rob Koffski	83%
Randy Ferbey	79%	Bert Gretzinger	76%
Pat Ryan	93%	Rick Folk	86%
Total	84%	Total	81%

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

Round Robin only

Leads  % Dallas Duce 87 Don McKenzie 84 Terry Roach 84 Kent Carstairs 81 Marc Brophy 81

Seconds  % Don Walchuk 84 Peter Hollett 81 John Hyrich 81 Rob Koffski 81 Tim Belcourt 80

Thirds  % Randy Ferbey 81 Bert Gretzinger 80 Brian Dobson 80 Glenn Howard 79 Andre Lafleur 79

Skips  % Rick Folk 81 Pat Ryan 81 Russ Howard 81 Jim Packet 80 Orest Meleschuk 77

Team percentages

Round Robin only

Province	Skip	%
Alberta	Pat Ryan	82
Saskatchewan	Jim Packet	81
British Columbia	Rick Folk	81
Ontario	Russ Howard	80
Manitoba	Orest Meleschuk	79
New Brunswick	Gary Mitchell	77
Quebec	Pierre Charette	77
Nova Scotia	Ragnar Kamp	77
Northern Ontario	Al Hackner	76
Newfoundland	Lorne Henderson	75
Prince Edward Island	Doug Weeks	75
Yukon	Al Delmage	72