1972 Macdonald Brier

The 1972 Macdonald Brier, Canada's national men's curling championship was held March 6 to 10, 1972 at St. John's Arena^[1][2] in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Team Manitoba, who was skipped by Orest Meleschuk easily won the event, after posting a 9-1 round robin record, only losing to Quebec's Bill Kent rink, which finished second.^[3] Meleschuk and his rink of Dave Romano, John Hanesiak and Pat Hailley went on to win a gold medal at the 1972 Air Canada Silver Broom World Curling Championship, amidst controversy.

It was the first time St. John's had hosted the Brier. While the total attendance was underwhelming, about 2,500 spectators were on hand to witness the final two evening draws. The event also saw a dearth of quality games, with one scribe stating "[w]ell-played games were the exception rather than the rule," though ice conditions were not the blame. There were also incidents of rules infractions, with some curlers abusing the hogline rule (sliding past the hogline after releasing the rock), with Meleschuk even admitting "[s]ure, I broke it, ... but everybody else was so why stop?", and with some curlers burning stones, with an incident in the Saskatchewan vs. Manitoba game possibly causing the former to lose the game.^[4]

Indeed, it was the Manitoba–Saskatchewan game played in Draw 9 on Thursday night that many believed to be the turning point in the event, as both rinks had identical records heading in. The game was a "hard-fought, controversial battle", with the Manitobans winning 7–6. Following the game, Manitoba won their remaining two, while Saskatchewan dropped their final two.^[5]