Jim Cotter will open against Alberta champ Kevin Koe in the second draw Saturday at the Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary.
Big surprise.
The Vernon curler, who lost to Koe in last year’s Brier final in Cotter’s hometown of Kamloops – though Koe was heading a different rink, more on that in a moment – doesn’t even bat an eye anymore when it comes to playing the Calgary skip.
“It seems every big event we’re at, whether it’s the Brier or a (Grand) Slam tour, we always end up playing Koe first,” laughed Cotter, who is preparing to play in his fifth Canadian men’s curling championship at what will be a star-studded field at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
Koe formed a new team in the off-season, while his former third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen, recruited Cotter’s teammate from the 2014 final, John Morris, to skip them as the first Team Canada entry in Tim Hortons Brier history.
Koe’s new rink is very experienced with third Brent Laing (throwing second rocks), formerly of Ontario’s Glenn Howard’s rink, and a front end of second Marc Kennedy (throwing third rocks) and lead Ben Hebert who were with Edmonton’s Kevin Martin for years. All are former Brier and world champions.
After Koe, Cotter will take on 2013 champ and 2014 Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, then play a qualifying rink before meeting 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue of Newfoundland/Labrador Monday.
Cotter will play Johnny Mo and Team Canada on Wednesday.
“To be honest, I didn’t know when we were going to be playing them,” said Cotter about the rematch with his former teammate and three-quarters of the team that beat him in Kamloops.
“We have to play them anyway, you have to play everybody, and it’s a great field which is the way it should be for the national championship. Every year, it seems, we’re saying it’s the toughest Brier field ever.”
Replacing Morris in the Vernon-Kelowna quartet is 2000 world junior champion Ryan Kuhn of Vernon, making his Brier debut. The front end of second Tyrel Griffith (third Brier appearance) and Rick Sawatsky (fifth) has plenty of experience, as does the team’s coach.
Kelowna’s Pat Ryan is a former Brier and world champion.
“Pat’s been great to us,” said Cotter. “He’s such an accommodating guy out there, a real positive guy. We seem to have a similar plan going into games. He’s fit in well.”
Cotter has added Grant Olsen of Kamloops, who threw skip stones for the Scott DeCap rink of Kamloops at the B.C. championships in Vernon, as the team’s fifth for Calgary.
“We’ve all known Grant for years, he’s a great guy, great personality and just a great fit for the team,” said Cotter.
Former Brier champ (2006) Jean-Michel Ménard, Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories and Steven Laycock of Saskatchewan are returning rinks from the Kamloops Brier.
Meanwhile, there will be rookie skips representing Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Yukon and New Brunswick, though Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers is only a rookie at skip. He played second for Jeff Stoughton in 2011, winning the Brier and the world championship.
Like Carruthers, newly crowned Prince Edward Island champion Adam Casey also has previous Brier experience, albeit none as a skip. Casey threw second stones for Gushue’s Newfoundland/Labrador team at the past three Tim Hortons Briers.
The Tim Hortons Brier will be preceded for the first time by a pre-qualifying round to determine the final entry into the 12-team main draw.
Team Canada is joined in the main draw by the 10 teams with the best combined records in the previous three Briers, meaning Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon will play off for the 12th and final berth. Nunavut declined an opportunity to participate.
Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and the Yukon will play a single round-robin at the Scotiabank Saddledome, with the teams with the two best records advancing to the play-in game, which will be contested Saturday, concurrent with the opening draw of the Tim Hortons Brier round-robin.
Top four teams after the preliminary round advance to the page playoffs March 6 and 7. The final is Sunday, March 8 with the champion to represent Canada at the worlds, March 28-April 5, in Halifax.
Cotter’s Brier draw (all times PST):
Saturday, Feb. 28, 5:30 p.m., vs Alberta (Kevin Koe);
Sunday, March 1, 12:30 p.m. vs Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs); 5:30 p.m. vs Qualifier;
Monday, March 2, 12:30 p.m., vs Newfoundland/Labrador (Brad Gushue);
Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 a.m., vs Ontario (Mark Kean); 12:30 p.m. vs Quebec (Jean-Michel Ménard);
Wednesday, March 4, 7:30 a.m. vs Team Canada (John Morris); 5:30 p.m. vs Manitoba (Reid Carruthers);
Thursday, March 5, 7:30 a.m. vs Northwest Territories (Jamie Koe); 12:30 p.m. vs New Brunswick (Jeremy Mallais);
Friday, March 6, 7:30 a.m. vs Saskatchewan (Steve Laycock).
Love rink second in Pot of Gold
Wayne Saboe of Kamloops clipped Thomas Love of Vernon 8-7 in an extra end to win the A final in the 59th annual Pot of Gold Bonspiel Sunday in Armstrong.
Saboe used the 26-team event to warm up for the provincial Masters 60+ championships, while Love’s rink is preparing for the B.C. Juveniles in Langley. Jonathon Schwartz, Brenden Chapple and Eric Colwell supported Love.
The A Trophy is sponsored by A. Bennett Systems Design and Development.
Saboe blanked two ends in a row before counting five in the sixth end. Love scored a single in the seventh and stole two in the eighth to force an extra end.
On the B side, sponsored by CW Forestry, Wayne Merwin of Blind Bay grounded Jerry Freeman of Armstrong 5-3.
Tom Kratchmer called the shots for the Freeman foursome.
Joe Serhan of Armstrong, the oldest competitor at 84, outlasted Tom George of Williams Lake 9-6 to claim the Noble Tractor C event. Darrell Sears handled skip duties for Serhan, who had three regular stick curlers on his team.
