The Brier, known since 2023 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March.

Kevin Martin, nicknamed "The Old Bear" and "K-Mart", is a Canadian retired curler originally from Lougheed, Alberta and residing in Edmonton. He is an Olympic, World and four-time Canadian champion and a member of the World Curling Hall of Fame. He is considered by many commentators and former and current curlers to be the greatest curler of all time. He is also known for his rivalries with Randy Ferbey/David Nedohin, the best Alberta provincial rivalry ever as the two teams were generally regarded the best in the world from 2002 to 2006; his rivalry with Jeff Stoughton, perhaps the most famous all prairies rivalry ever which spanned over 2 decades from 1991 to 2014; with Glenn Howard from 2007 to 2014, perhaps the best two team rivalry in Canadian curling history, and his rivalry with Sweden's Peja Lindholm from 1997 to 2006, perhaps the best ever men's Canada-Europe rivalry.