According to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame president and chief executive officer Cheryl Bernard on Wednesday, Canadian men’s curling legend Ron Northcott of Innisfail, Alberta passed away on Monday at the age of 87. Northcott won three Macdonald Brier titles representing the province of Alberta and three World Men’s Curling Championship titles.
The three Macdonald Brier titles and World Men’s Curling Championship titles came in 1966, 1968 and 1969. In 1966 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Northcott skipped Alberta to a Brier round robin record of eight wins and two losses. Due to the fact Ontario’s Joe Gurowka of Mississauga had an identical record of eight wins and two losses, a tiebreaker final was played, which Alberta won 7-6. In the 1966 World Men’s Curling Championship (known at the time as the Scotch Cup) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was undefeated in the round robin at six wins and zero losses. They then beat Sweden 15-6 in the semifinals and then Scotland 12-5 in the final.
In 1968 in Kelowna, British Columbia, Northcott skipped Alberta to a second Brier title. Alberta’s round robin record was nine wins and one loss. At the 1968 World Men’s Curling Championship (known at the time as the Air Canada Silver Broom) in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada finished in second place in the round robin with a record of six wins and one loss. They then beat the United States 12-2 in the semifinal and then Scotland 8-6 in the final.
In 1969 in Oshawa, Ontario, Northcott skipped Alberta to a third Brier title. Alberta had a perfect record of 10 wins and zero losses, and then competed at the Air Canada Silver Broom in Perth, Scotland. Canada had a round robin record of six wins and one loss, and then beat the United States 9-6 in the final. Northcott was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1970 and named a member of the Order of Canada in 1976.
