There is excitement running through the city's curling community today with an announcement expected this morning that will bring the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier to the Tournament Capital of Canada.

The Brier, otherwise known as the Canadian men's curling championship, was last held here in 1996.

An announcement is to be made today at 10:30 a.m., at a news conference in the Parkside Lounge at Interior Savings Centre.

Expected to be in attendance are Liberal MLAs Terry Lake, the minister of environment, and Kevin Krueger, along with officials from the Canadian Curling Association and Michael Graydon, the president and CEO of the BCLC.

On Monday afternoon, Graydon went to Twitter to announce: "Looking forward to trip to #Kamloops Tuesday and a great announcement regarding another win for Kamloops the Tournament Capital of Canada."

The Brier was last held in Kamloops in 1996 when the championship was decided in venerable Memorial Arena.

Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton stole a single point in the 11th end to beat Alberta's Kevin Martin 8-7 in the championship final. Martin had led 6-4 after seven ends.

Martin had gone 10-1 in the round-robin, while Stoughton was 9-2. B.C. was represented by Barry McPhee of the Kamloops Curling Club, who finished 4-7.

The 2013 Brier is scheduled for Edmonton's Rexall Place, March 2-10. This will be the sixth time the Brier will have been held in Edmonton. The Brier was last held in Edmonton in 2005 when it drew 281,985 fans, an attendance record that still stands.

Rexall Place, the home of the NHL's Edmonton Oilers and the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings, seats 16,839 for hockey.

"The move to a smaller centre isn't surprising," one source familiar with the national curling scene told The Daily News last night. "The CCA has done this every few years because they've been running out of places to hold the event. You can only go to Calgary, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Winnipeg so many times.

"And when you consider this year's event will be in Edmonton, where they may set attendance records, they can afford to go to a smaller centre next year."

The 2011 Brier was held in London's 9,100-seat John Labatt Centre. The final attendance was 113,626.

The Interior Savings Centre has a capacity of 5,464, plus 500 standing room, for hockey.

The ISC was home to the Canada Cup of Curling for its first six years of existence, starting in 2003.