The 1974 Macdonald Brier, the Canadian men's national curling championship was held from March 4 to 9, 1974 at the London Gardens in London, Ontario. The total attendance for the week was 48,170.
Team Alberta, who was skipped by Hec Gervais captured the Brier tankard by finishing round robin play 8âÂÂ2. This was Alberta's twelfth title overall and the second skipped by Gervais, who previously won in .
The Gervais rink would go onto represent Canada in the 1974 Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship held in Bern, Switzerland where they lost in the semifinal to Sweden.
Alberta's 4âÂÂ2 victory over Quebec in Draw 11 set then Brier records for lowest combined score by both teams in one game (6) and most blank ends in one game (7). These records would be Macdonald era (until ) records that were matched twice in that era and eventually broken later.
After the Thursday evening draw (Draw 8), there were five teams that were in contention for the championship. Alberta led the way with a 7âÂÂ1 record with Quebec and Saskatchewan tied for second at 5âÂÂ2, New Brunswick right behind at 5âÂÂ3, and Northern Ontario at 4âÂÂ3.
The Friday afternoon draw saw the standings tighten. First place Alberta lost big to Ontario 12âÂÂ5, Quebec defeated Newfoundland 9âÂÂ4, Saskatchewan rolled past Nova Scotia 11âÂÂ3. Northern Ontario would be eliminated from contention with an 11âÂÂ6 loss to British Columbia while New Brunswick draw a bye. With Alberta, Quebec, and Saskatchewan all with two losses, this Brier would come down to the last two draws or even a tiebreaker.
The penultimate draw on Friday evening (Draw 10) saw Alberta draw a bye meaning the other three teams could catch some ground heading into Saturday afternoon. However, the only contender who won was Saskatchewan as they beat Newfoundland 8âÂÂ5. Quebec would lose to Ontario 8âÂÂ5 while New Brunswick would be eliminated after losing 10âÂÂ8 to BC. With Saskatchewan's win, both Alberta and Saskatchewan were tied for first with 7âÂÂ2 records while Quebec sat at 6âÂÂ3. The final draw would pit Alberta against Quebec while Saskatchewan would play Ontario. Anything from an outright championship, two-way tiebreaker, or a three-way tiebreaker was possible after the final draw.
The featured matchups in the final draw were anti-climatic in different ways. The Ontario and Saskatchewan matchup saw the game tied at 1 after three ends. This is as close as Saskatchewan would get as Ontario scored three in the fourth and stole one the next two ends to take a commanding 6âÂÂ1 lead through the halfway point. Saskatchewan would attempt a comeback, but Ontario would counter each Saskatchewan score as Ontario would eventually win 11âÂÂ8 meaning that Saskatchewan would need some help from Quebec to force a three-way tiebreaker.
Alberta and Quebec would be a low-scoring affair as five of the first seven ends were blanked with the score tied at 1. Alberta would break the ice a bit with two in the eighth and taking a 3âÂÂ1 lead in the process. Quebec cut the lead down to 3âÂÂ2 in the ninth end. The next two ends were blanked and Alberta would clinch the Brier tankard with a single in the last end for a 4âÂÂ2 win giving Gervais his first Brier title since .
The official Dominion Curling Association stones were said to be so bad at the event, that nine of the 11 competing skips petitioned to have the rocks replaced (only the skips of New Brunswick and Newfoundland didn't sign, as this had been their first Brier). Sure enough, the rocks would be sold-off that summer, and would never be used at the Brier again.
The 1974 Brier was also the final year where throwers were not allowed to slide past the hog line on their throws. However, after enforcing the rules earlier in the tournament, officials stopped part way through due to backlash from some of the curlers. Then later on, officials changed the rules mid-week to state that curlers could slide over the line as long as they had released the rock first.
The teams are listed as follows:
All draw times are listed in Eastern Standard Time ().
Monday, March 4, 2:00 pm
Monday, March 4, 7:30 pm
Tuesday, March 5, 9:00 am
Tuesday, March 5, 2:00 pm
Wednesday, March 6, 2:00 pm
Wednesday, March 6, 7:30 pm
Thursday, March 7, 2:00 pm
Thursday, March 7, 7:30 pm
Friday, March 8, 2:00 pm
Friday, March 8, 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 9, 1:00 pm
The media selected the following curlers as All-Stars.
The Ross Harstone Award was presented to the player chosen by their fellow peers as the curler who best represented Harstone's high ideals of good sportsmanship, observance of the rules, exemplary conduct and curling ability.