Tim Hortons Brier 2015: Daily Results, Standings, Schedule and Draw Info

The Tim Hortons Brier returns to Calgary in 2015, and it comes with a handful of changes. 

Most notable among these is the addition of Team Canada, which will be represented by last year's winning squad from Alberta. Of course, there are even changes when it comes to the defending champs, as 2010 Olympic gold medalist John Morris will take over Kevin Koe's team, while Koe remains skip for Team Alberta.  

“Wearing a Team Canada crest on my back and being the first team to do it at a Brier is definitely going to be a career highlight and to do it here for this one is terrific,” said Morris, via the Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones. 

Morris will have plenty of competition. Although this is the first Brier without Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard or Jeff Stoughton in a decade, 2006 gold medalist Brad Gushue leads Newfoundland and Labrador, while 2014 Olympics champion Brad Jacobs has Northern Ontario as a strong favorite. 

With a spot in the 2015 World Championships in Halifax on the line, the next week should provide some thrilling curling among Canada's best. 

Click ahead for the results as they play out.

The 2015 Brier begins on Feb. 28 and concludes on March 8. The complete schedule and draw info can be found here, courtesy of curling.ca.

2015 Tim Hortons Brier Standings (Through Draw 17)

Standings courtesy of curling.ca

Day 8 Results

Team Canada def Saskatchewan, 8-7

Team Canada def Newfoundland and Labrador, 8-6

Recap

Team Canada continued its resurgent run, beating Saskatchewan in the 11th end to advance to the semifinal.

The battle nearly ended in the 10th end, with Saskatchewan scoring twice to tie things up.

"They had a great opportunity there to win," said Team Canada skip Pat Simmons, per Curling Canada. "It gets so straight at the end of the game and I think that caught him a little bit on that one. Looked like he had it made out of his hand."

When Saskatchewan skip Steve Laycock missed the mark with his final stone in the 11th end, that was all she wrote. His shot made just the slightest bit of contact with another of Saskatchewan's stones to send it off its intended trajectory.

Team Canada rode its luck again a bit in its semifinal clash with Newfoundland and Labrador, scoring three points in the 10th end to win 8-6. Newfoundland and Labrador scored twice in the ninth end to take a 6-5 lead, but Simmons' men once again dug down deep and weaved some magic at the death.

It's quite a turnaround for a Team Canada side that looked dead and buried a few matches into the round robin. Swapping John Morris out as the skip for Simmons has proved a masterstroke.

Team Canada will face Northern Ontario in the gold medal clash on Sunday, while Newfoundland and Labrador take on Saskatchewan to determine the bronze medal winner.

Day 7 Results

Round Robin

Saskatchewan def. British Columbia, 4-2

Ontario def. Northwest Territories, 8-4

Prince Edward Island def. Manitoba, 5-2

Alberta def. New Brunswick, 8-3

Playoffs

Northern Ontario def Newfoundland and Labrador, 7-5

Recap

Saskatchewan picked up a low-scoring victory over British Columbia to secure its spot in the playoffs. Steve Laycock and Co. were able to come up with the key shots they needed down the stretch to earn the third overall seed after the round-robin round. They will play Canada on Saturday.

The Ontario side put together one of its strongest performance of the event to score an 8-4 victory over Northwest Territories, which finish 0-11. A quartet of two-point ends pushed the Mark Kean-led group to a 5-6 record.

Prince Edward Island played better than its record indicated throughout the tournament. It ended on a high note with a strong 5-2 victory over Manitoba. Perhaps some better shot-making with the hammer in the early games would have landed them in the playoffs.

Finally, Alberta made easy work of New Brunswick to wrap up round-robin play. It scored three points in the third end and never looked back en route to an 8-3 triumph. Their 6-5 record feel just short of playoff qualification, though.

In the first playoff game of the Brier, Northern Ontario got its revenge on Newfoundland and Labrador following Thursday's defeat. Brad Jacobs and his group earned a hard-fought 7-5 victory. The match was tied heading into the ninth end, and the two points scored by Northern Ontario proved to be the difference.

Northern Ontario moves on to the gold-medal clash, which is scheduled for Sunday. Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador advanced to the semifinal, where they'll meet either Saskatchewan or Team Canada.

Day 6 Results

Prince Edward Island def New Brunswick, 8-4

Newfoundland and Labrador def Northern Ontario, 6-5

British Columbia def Northwest Territories, 6-2

Team Canada def Quebec, 7-5

Ontario def Manitoba, 8-7

British Columbia def New Brunswick, 7-4

Saskatchewan def Alberta, 6-5

Prince Edward Island def Northwest Territories, 9-5

Newfoundland and Labrador def Quebec, 7-4

Alberta def Manitoba, 8-7

Northern Ontario def Team Canada, 6-3

Ontario def Saskatchewan, 8-7

Recap

Thursday's biggest clash saw Northern Ontario lose for the first time at the Brier, with Newfoundland and Labrador picking up a massive 6-5 victory. The win also ensures that Newfoundland and Labrador remain in second place ahead of a resurgent Team Canada.

Skip Brad Gushue called the raise-double-takeout that gave his team the win the "best shot I ever made" on Twitter and added that he was in need of a beverage afterwards to help him calm down from the high.

Northern Ontario scored three points in seventh end to tie the match at 4-4. Newfoundland and Labrador went ahead 5-4 in the eighth end before Northern Ontario once again tied things up in the ninth end. That all led to Gushue's heroics and a shot he'll remember for some time.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Northwest Territories lost both of its matches on Thursday to remain winless for the Brier.

Skip Jamie Koe isn't sure whether he'll stay with the team beyond the Brier, given that the Northwest Territories will have to navigate a tough preliminary round just to get this far.

He discusses his and his teammate's collective futures, per Todd Saelhof of the Calgary Sun:

We're in the relegation right now. So we'll see what happens. We always play it a year at a time because curling's our third priority behind family and work, so we'll have to talk with the boys, because there's only five or six of us up there that are really competitive, and we'll see who wants to put in the time. So we'll see who wants to curl or if we're going to curl.

While you can understand Koe's sentiment, this would be a rather ignominious end to his Brier career.

Day 5 Results

Canada def. British Columbia 8-7

Quebec def. Northwest Territories 8-5

Newfoundland and Labrador def. Prince Edward Island 9-6

Northern Ontario def. New Brunswick 7-4

Quebec def. Manitoba 7-4

Canada def. Ontario 8-4

Northern Ontario def. Saskatchewan 5-3

Newfoundland and Labrador def. Alberta 8-7

Alberta def. Northwest Territories 7-4

Saskatchewan def. Prince Edward Island 7-6

New Brunswick def. Ontario 9-4

Manitoba def. British Columbia 8-3

Recap

Northern Ontario continues to be the class of the 2015 Tim Horton's Brier, winning both of its matches on Day 5 to improve its overall record to a stellar 9-0. There isn't a lot of margin for error with Newfoundland and Labrador winning both of its matches today, but Northern Ontario has to feel where it's at so far. 

In terms of sheer drama, Newfoundland and Labrador also provided that in its 8-7 win over Alberta. With the score tied at seven after nine ends, Brad Gushue fired a terrific shot that seured the point for his team. He later told reporters, via Curling.ca, that it was the “best shot I’ve ever made."

When you put in the importance and the difficulty of it, to pull it off is pretty special. Definitely going to be something I will remember but more importantly it’s big for this event. For us to win that, we’re going to get a tiebreaker, worst case. I think if we win one of our last two games we should get into the 1-2 game. I might be a little quick saying that but at least the ball’s in our hands going into tomorrow.

All eyes will be focused on Thursday's early draw, which features a showdown between Northern Ontario against Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Team Canada and Quebec both made a nice move up the standings by winning their two matches. They are still looking up at the big boys on the block, but tomorrow is going to provide an opportunity to move a step closer to Northern Ontario or Newfoundland depending on what happens in that matchup. 

Day 4 Results

Manitoba def Northwest Territories, 11-3

Alberta def Prince Edward Island, 8-4

Saskatchewan def New Brunswick, 7-4

British Columbia def Ontario, 8-3

Northern Ontario def Prince Edward Island, 11-1

Newfoundland and Labrador def New Brunswick, 10-2

Quebec def. British Columbia, 8-6

Team Canada def Northwest Territories, 6-3

Newfoundland and Labrador def Ontario, 8-6

Northern Ontario def Manitoba, 7-2

Team Canada def Alberta, 6-3

Quebec def Saskatchewan, 7-5

Recap

Team Canada, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador went 2-0 on Tuesday to vault up in the round-robin standings.

Quebec finished the action off by defeating Saskatchewan 7-5, securing a quality win by staving off a late rally. The victors scored two points in the 10th and final end to seal the deal.

Past Olympic gold medalist John Morris swallowed his pride and handed skip duties to Pat Simmons, who responded for Team Canada and proved to be the catalyst for a welcome turnaround.

"We just needed a spark," said Morris, per Donna Spencer of The Canadian Press, via GlobalNews.ca. "We're sure starting to gain some confidence and Pat played amazing today,” Morris said.

Northern Ontario kept their perfect record intact, notching a dominant 11-1 triumph over Prince Edward Island in Draw 9 before capping their night with a 7-2 win over Manitoba.

If Simmons, Morris and Co. can maintain that momentum in two winnable matchups with British Columbia and Ontario on Thursday, Team Canada stands to rise even further.

However, Northern Ontario has the look of a prohibitive favorite, led by skip Brad Jacobs. They will seek to continue their steamrolling of the competition on Day 5 in facing one-win New Brunswick in Draw 11, followed by a tougher test in Saskatchewan thereafter.

Day 3 Results

Team Canada def New Brunswick, 6-5

Northern Ontario def Northwest Territories, 9-4

British Columbia def Newfoundland and Labrador, 6-3

Quebec def Prince Edward Island, 6-5

Alberta def Quebec, 7-5

Saskatchewan def Team Canada, 8-4

Northern Ontario def Ontario, 7-3

Manitoba def Newfoundland and Labrador, 8-5

Recap

It's early, but Northern Ontario is looking unstoppable. 

The 2014 Olympic gold medalists, led by skip Brad Jacobs, continued to cruise through the competition Monday, defeating Northwest Territories (9-4) and Ontario (7-3) to run their round-robin record to 5-0. 

"I think we can be better," Jacobs told reporters, via Curling Canada's YouTube account. "We played really well, we got some breaks from Northwest Territories, and we took advantage of them."

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, moved into second place with an 8-4 win over John Morris and Team Canada. Steve Laycock's squad scored three in the first end and jumped out to a 7-0 lead, rolling to one of the most dominant performances of the Brier thus far. 

The loss continues the struggles for Team Canada, which is now in ninth place at 2-3. Tuesday's all-Alberta matchup against Kevin Koe's squad, which is also struggling at 2-2, will prove crucial moving forward.  

"Both of us have a few more losses than we’d hoped at this point," Morris said, via the Canadian Press. 

Newfoundland and Labrador had a difficult day, losing a pair of matches to fall to 3-2, but Brad Gushue's side should be able to bounce back Tuesday against New Brunswick and Ontario. 

Day 2 Results

Ontario def Quebec, 9-8

Northern Ontario def Alberta, 9-5

Newfoundland and Labrador def Team Canada, 9-7

Newfoundland and Labrador def Northwest Territories, 8-4

Prince Edward Island def Team Canada, 7-4

Quebec def New Brunswick, 8-5

Northern Ontario def British Columbia, 7-5

Prince Edward Island def British Columbia, 6-5

Manitoba def New Brunswick, 9-4

Saskatchewan def Northwest Territories, 10-6

Alberta def Ontario, 7-3

Recap

Newfoundland and Labrador were one of the biggest winners on Sunday, defeating Team Canada and then the Northwest Territories to run their round-robin record to 3-0 through the first two days.

"To quote the hockey players ‘one game at a time,'" said skip Brad Gushue, per Jeff MacKinnon of The Calgary Herald. "You can't look too far ahead. I'm not sure who we even play tomorrow afternoon. We just have to keep winning game and see where the chips fall."

Newfoundland and Labrador face British Columbia to start Monday's action.

Northern Ontario also went a perfect 2-for-2, running its record to 3-0 for the Brier. It first dispatched Alberta after scoring three points in the ninth end and followed up with a strong victory over British Columbia, scoring three combined points in the eighth and ninth ends before clinching a 7-5 win.

Meanwhile, things aren't going well for Team Canada and skip John Morris. First came the tough 9-7 loss which needed 11 ends and then the group was on the receiving end of a rather decisive 7-4 defeat.

"Tough day for us," said Morris, per Daniel Austin of the Calgary Sun. "We're not sharp, we're probably playing 80 percent curling and 80 percent curling will get you a .500 record at the Brier. We're just not firing as well as I know we can."

Day 1 Results

Northern Ontario def Quebec, 7-4

Newfoundland and Labrador def Saskatchewan, 7-5

Team Canada def Manitoba, 6-4

Prince Edward Island def Yukon, 7-6 (pre-qualifying final)

Saskatchewan def Manitoba, 7-4

British Columbia def Alberta, 8-7

Ontario def Prince Edward Island, 8-7

New Brunswick def Northwest Territories, 6-5

Recap

The Brier's opening draw was all about the favorites, as all three Olympic gold medalist skippers moved to 1-0 with early victories. 

Playing for the first-ever Team Canada, John Morris' squad trailed Manitoba through five ends but eventually turned it around to squeak out the 6-4 win over Manitoba. It was an statement performance against Reid Carruthers' team, which ranks No. 4 among Canada's top curling teams. 

"I don't know how much of a hometown crowd we could get," said Morris, via CBC Calgary's Devin Heroux. "Great way to start off the Brier."

2014 gold medalist Brad Jacobs and Northern Ontario had little trouble against Quebec, jumping out a 2-0 lead in the second end and coasting to the 7-4 win, while Brad Gushue's Newfoundland and Labrador scored three in 10th end to cap an exciting 7-5 comeback win over Saskatchewan.

Manitoba's rotten luck continued into the second draw. It fell 7-4 to Saskatchewan, who got in the win column for the first time at the Brier. Saskatchewan got off to a strong start, scoring two points in the first end and never relinquishing the lead.

That was the only match in the second draw that didn't need the requisite 10 ends. British Columbia got a point in the 11th end to beat Alberta, and Ontario got a victory over Prince Edward Island in the final end as well.

The the title of most dramatic match belonged to Northwest Territories and New Brunswick. Staring at a one-point deficit heading into the final end, New Brunswick somehow squeaked by with a 6-5 win.