Alarm bells silenced! Alberta’s Bottcher finding his groove
When Brendan Bottcher’s Alberta side lost its first game at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier, presented by Mosaic, Saturday night to Jamie Murphy of Nova Scotia in an extra end there was a collective, in the words of the immortal philosopher Yogi Beara, “Oh-oh, is this déjà vu all over again?”
Bottcher’s team of third Darren Moulding, second Brad Thiessen and lead Karrick Martin were rookies at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier in
St. John’s. They posted a 3-8 round-robin record, which certainly caused consternation in curling circles in the province just west of this one. A province that has won the Brier 27 times, tied with Manitoba, so a lot is expected of their broom boys.
Anyone representing Alberta has the ghosts, so to speak, of Kevin Martin, Randy Ferbey, Pat Ryan and Ed Lukowich, along with the still playing Kevin Koe lurking overhead.
“It’s big to wear the Alberta crest,” said Bottcher. “There’s just a lot of pride.”
needless to say, Saturday’s loss caused some alarm bells to ring softly. But then Bottcher reeled off five wins in a row, including a big win over Team Canada Wednesday morning, to silence those bells. Now, that’s more like it.
“I thought we were really close last year, too,” said Bottcher. “It just felt like we were a little nervous, a little bit on the wrong side of the inch, and it just sort of snowballed up into a bad week. I didn’t think we did a whole lot wrong.”
In St. John’s, they opened with three losses including a 11-6 drubbing to Murphy. Moulding was a late addition because of an injury to third Pat Simmons. They shocked even themselves by winning the province.
“Last year in St. John’s we’d been together, maybe, two months. It was an interesting situation. I think we’ve gained a lot of experience this year, and I think we feel a lot more confident this year than last so hopefully that will help us,” said Bottcher.
Bottcher rebounded quite nicely. They made it through the 2017 Home Hardware Road to the Roar pre-qualifying tournament as the B-final winner, the last to qualify for the 2017 Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings trials in Ottawa. There they went 4-4 against the best teams in the land. They proved they belong with the big boys.
“That was a great result for us, it really was. That’s huge. Between the Brier and the trials I think that’s all the exposure and experience we needed, and hopefully that all pays off this week,” said Bottcher. “We play a lot of those guys. We beat them, they beat us, so I’m looking forward to having a few good games, and hopefully we can come out on top.”
Martin said last year’s Brier was a whirlwind for the team, especially with Moulding coming on board just a month earlier.
“We’ve definitely grown as a team. We learned a ton at that Brier, and I think it’s definitely helped me in this one,” said Martin. “Definitely, we have something to prove and keep on playing well.”
There’s still work ahead, though. The championship round will be akin to the trials since seven of the teams in it were in Ottawa as well.
“I don’t think we played as well as we needed to the first two, three, four games,” said Bottcher. “The games aren’t going to get easier, for sure, but if we put forward a game like we just had (against Team Canada) I think we’ll be right in the mix.”