1956 Macdonald Brier

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1956 Macdonald Brier

The Canadian men's curling championship of 1956 was held March 5–9 in Moncton Stadium, Moncton, New Brunswick, with about 25,800 fans in attendance.

After the round-robin, Manitoba and Ontario finished tied for first at 8–2, which led to a tiebreaker playoff. Manitoba, skipped by Billy Walsh of Fort Rouge Curling Club in Winnipeg, defeated Ontario, skipped by Alf Phillips Sr., 8–7 in an extra end to win the Brier Tankard. The dramatic finish came down to the final stone, when Walsh’s shot slipped past Ontario’s guard and ticked the shot rock, scoring one and giving Manitoba the championship. Walsh’s winning shot is still remembered as one of the top curling shots in Brier history.

This win marked Manitoba’s 15th Brier title and was Walsh’s second as a skip (his first was in 1952). It was the first time a Brier tiebreaker went to an extra end, and only the second time any tiebreaker went to an extra end (the other being the 1931 second-place tiebreaker).