Relive Team Martin's 2009 Brier run and memorable world final Sunday on TSN

With the COVID-19 global pandemic putting a halt to sports - including curling - for the foreseeable future, TSN will deliver classic curling matches every Sunday night to help fill the granite void. Check out the preview for this Sunday's games featuring the great Kevin Martin and his Alberta rink.

Many believe the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier was one of the greatest in history, thanks to the superb shot-making and incredibly deep field.

Well, the 2009 Canadian championship from the Saddledome in Calgary might have something to say about that statement.

The field for that Brier was simply remarkable. Out of the 12 teams competing, seven skips had either won a Brier or Olympic title. Elite names included Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton, New Brunswick's Russ Howard, Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue, Nova Scotia's Mark Dacey and Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard.

Sunday's Broadcast Schedule

2009 Brier Page Playoff 1 vs. 2 Game - Glenn Howard (Ontario) vs. Kevin Martin (Alberta) at 3pm ET on TSN1, TSN.ca, TSN App, TSN Direct

2009 Brier Final - Jeff Stoughton (Manitoba) vs. Kevin Martin (Alberta) at 6pm ET on TSN1, TSN.ca, TSN App, TSN Direct

2009 World Final - David Murdoch (Scotland) vs. Kevin Martin (Canada) at 9pm ET on TSN1, TSN.ca, TSN App, TSN Direct

The top two skips in the game at that point in time were Alberta's Kevin Martin and Ontario's Glenn Howard, as both were the odds-on favourites to finish atop the standings by the end of the round robin.

Martin beat Howard in the previous year's Brier final. On the other hand, Howard was looking to advance to his fourth straight championship game after posing a 1-2 record in the previous three. In addition to all the drama of a national championship, this bonspiel was a perfect preview for the 2009 Olympic trials - scheduled to happen later in the year - as the likes of Martin and Howard would compete to represent Canada at the Winter Games on home soil in Vancouver.

The pair were easily the best skippers in the round robin with Martin coasting to an 11-0 record, including a victory over Howard's rink in the last draw, with his rival not far behind with a 9-2 showing. Howard may of had the best shot in curling history as well, making a once-in-a-lifetime double takeout to score three and defeat Saskatchewan in Draw 8.

Martin led all skips with an 89 per cent shooting percentage for the tournament while Howard had the second-best at 88 per cent.

The strong play led to Martin and Howard going head-to-head in the 1 vs. 2 game, the first contest you can relive this Sunday on TSN (3pm ET on TSN1). The matchup came less than 24 hours after the Old Bear defeated Howard 7-5 in the round robin finale. The playoff game was a back-and-forth affair with all eight players shooting 81 per cent or better and both skips throwing 85 per cent. The game was filled with terrific shots as Alberta led 6-5 heading to the 10th end without hammer after picking up two points in the ninth.

Howard ran into some tough luck in the last end. Facing four opposing stones with his first throw, Howard barely missed a fabulous runback that would have buried his shot stone, giving Ontario a good chance at scoring two and the victory. The angle seemed perfect, but somehow Howard found the hole between the two closest red rocks to the button as his rock slid out of the rings. Howard was forced to a single as the game went to an extra. In the 11th, Martin needed to come up clutch and draw against two Ontario shot stones. With the help of sweepers Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy, the rock went just far enough to pick up the point, the 7-6 victory and a spot in Sunday's final.

As Martin took the quick route to the championship tilt, Team Stoughton of Manitoba took the long way.

Manitoba and Quebec sported identical 7-4 records following round-robin play, forcing a tiebreaker showdown between Stoughton and Menard. The prairie sharpshooter took the game 6-3 before dispatching Gushue in the 3 vs. 4 game, 8-7. He then beat Howard in the semifinal, 8-6, to set up a date with Martin in the final for Brier glory, the second game on Sunday's tripleheader on TSN (6 p.m. ET on TSN1).

The clash was a rematch of the 1996 Brier final from Kamloops, B.C., a dramatic extra end game Stoughton won over Martin, 8-7, for his first Canadian title.

Maybe Team Stoughton were drained from all the extra curling or maybe it was the buzz saw that was Team Martin at that time, but the 2009 Brier final was over before they got to the fifth end break. Alberta scored three in the second end and three more in the fourth to take a 6-1 lead, en route to a 10-4 victory after just eight ends as Team Martin captured their second straight Brier Tankard and the fourth of the skip's Hall of Fame career. Stoughton may have lost, but the fan favourite delighted the crowd with his final throw, executing the trick shot that he made famous. It's easy to see why Team Martin dominated the 2009 final. Hebert shot 86 per cent, Kennedy and John Morris both were at 93 while Martin shot a blistering 97 per cent.

It was a remarkable achievement by this foursome when you consider they had to win powerhouse Alberta just to get back to the national championship because there was no automatic entry as Team Canada at that time.

With the victory, Team Martin were off to Moncton, N.B., to defend another prestigious title. This time they were looking to win a second straight world championship after beating Scotland's David Murdoch a year prior in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Martin's week was going as you'd expect with 10 straight wins heading into the last round robin game against Murdoch. The Scottish skip, who won a world title in 2006 and the past two European curling championships, got the better of his Canadian counterpart in this one with a 6-5 extra ends victory. The next day, Murdoch beat Martin again, this time 7-5 in the 1 vs. 2 game. Two wins in two days against Martin is quite the feat, especially on enemy ice at the worlds.

Canada edged Switzerland's Ralph Stöckli in the semi-final, 6-5, to set up another clash against Murdoch in the gold-medal game, a rematch of the 2008 final and the finale of Sunday's classic curling matches (9pm ET on TSN1).

This game will always be remembered for what happened in the 10th end. After Scotland took two in the ninth, Canada had the hammer coming home with the game squared at 6-6.

With Martin facing his first, Canada had shot stone buried on the button. Scotland had second shot biting the button followed by Canada with third, Scotland fourth and Canada fifth, all close to the four-foot. The house was messy, to say the least.

What followed was one of the longest deliberations in curling history.   

Many shots and strategy were discussed with Martin seemingly weary that more damage than good could be done if he attempted a difficult shot.  

"Right now, if I don't shoot Jules, what does he do?" Martin asked coach Jules Owchar during a timeout.

Martin thought his best shot was to just throw the rock away, hoping it would give Murdoch limited and difficult options with his last.

"Don't you think things are looking good for us right now?" Martin remarked at one point.

The rest of the team weren't fully on board with the decision, but in the end the skipper make the calls and decided to throw it away. It was a remarkably rare move that would be praised as genius if executed or criticized heavily if failed. The life of a skip, more or less.

"I've been around this game a long time," said TSN commentator Ray Turnbull on the broadcast. "And you don't see that very often."

Murdoch needed to be shot stone after his last to keep the game going. He made a nice little double bump to do just that, setting the stage for K-Mart, needing a tough raise double to win the game. The shot was missed as Murdoch and Scotland stole one to shock the Canadians in their home barn to capture the world title, 7-6. It was their third straight win over Team Martin over a three-day stretch.

"And we are going to question that decision by Kevin Martin to throw that stone away," said TSN's Vic Rauter as Scotland celebrated.

The result must of been heartbreaking for the Martin rink, but it didn't hurt them in the long run. Ten months later they were standing atop a podium in Vancouver as Olympic champions. Last year, they were voted as Canada's best men's rink of all time as part of TSN's Greatest Canadian Curling project.

Relive all the excitement this Sunday on TSN!