Koe sets sights on big TSN Skins Game prize
It’s not quite time for the 2019 edition of the Boston Pizza Cup, but decorated veteran skip Kevin Koe and his rink — third B.J. Neufeld, second Colton Flasch and lead Ben Hebert representing Calgary’s Glencoe Club — already have a huge test for themselves on the horizon in Banff in the form of the TSN All-Star Curling Skins Game.
The bonspiel, at which Team Koe are defending champions, takes place at the Fenland Banff Recreation Centre from Friday through Sunday and offers up a remarkable sum of $100,000 to be claimed in prize money.
“It’s been good. We won the last one two years ago, which was the last time they had it, so I’ve played in it quite a bit,” said Koe of his experience at the event.
“It’s great, it’s a lot of fun. One sheet of ice, lots of fans close to the action so a lot of excitement. Obviously, skins game for a lot of money, it’s very exciting. It’s a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to it and it’s a great tune-up for us.”
Koe — who, in addition to his previous success at the All-Star skins game, also possesses a wide array of championship pedigree, including two worlds wins (2010, 2016), three Brier victories (2010, 2014, 2016), five Boston Pizza Cup triumphs (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016), and miscellaneous achievements at the Masters, Canadian Open, and Tour Challenge — will likely be considered the favourite to walk out of Banff with their wallets much thicker than they were going in, but that doesn’t stop the Alberta curling legend from feeling some pre-tournament jitters.
“You still get some nerves in some big games. What makes it fun for me is to play in those big games against big teams, for sure,” explained Koe.
“It’s one of the main reasons I still play, but you get used to it. I’m one of the older guys out there now and I’ve played in a lot of big games in my career but you get used to it, but there’s always some nerves there.”
Koe, from Edmonton and now 44 years old, noted that his rink’s mentality and preparation levels don’t change much going into something like this, despite the enticing prospect of a large chunk of change as opposed to the glory of the provincials.
“Just the way the calendar’s fallen, it’s great. We’re preparing for both events the same way, right? We’ve had a great week of practice, we come back Sunday and we leave Tuesday so there’s not a lot of downtime before provincials so put in hard work.
“We’ve played a lot of skins games over the years, so we’re familiar with the strategy and how to play, so preparation has been good. Like I said, it’s a great tune-up to get one, hopefully two serious games under our belts before we head up to provincials.”
Team Koe will have some impressive competition lined up in Banff waiting to try to dethrone them, as Team Brad Gushue (of St. John’s, N.L.)., Team Reid Carruthers (of Winnipeg) and Team Brendan Bottcher (of Edmonton) are all also making the trip to the mountains for their own chance to stake their claim for top spot. Despite that, Koe prefers the grandiose events with high stakes as opposed to events that have a more relaxed feeling for the players.
“I think so. If you have those nerves going, that means you’re in a big game and you want to play in those big games,” said Koe.
“The smaller bonspiels are fun, but you can’t diminish the fact that some events are bigger than others. You want to be known as someone who plays well in the big games.”
Following the conclusion of the TSN All-Star Curling Skins Game (which kicks off at 6 p.m. with Team Gushue against Team Bottcher) on Sunday, Koe will then make his way over to the provincials and aim to keep adding more hardware to his already impressive trophy collection. On the women’s side of the bonspiel, Team Jennifer Jones (Winnipeg), Team Kerri Einarson (Selkirk, Man.), Team Casey Scheidegger (Lethbridge) and Team Tracy Fleury (Sudbury, Ont.) will have their names in the hat for the pot.