National Post (National Edition)
COTTER HAPPY TO HELP STARS OF TOMORROW
FOR EIGHTH TIME, B.C. SKIP VYING FOR BRIER’S BIG PRIZE
Five years after coming ever so close to reaching two lifelong goals within a matter of months, Jim Cotter is still chasing the dream.
The 44-year-old British Columbia skip is competing in the Tim Horton’s Brier for the eighth time and, while he’s not one of the favourites, he certainly has the experience and talent to challenge for a spot in the playoffs.
Back in late 2013, he made it all the way to the final of the Olympic Curling Trials, before losing to Brad Jacobs, and a few months later at the 2014 Brier, he made the final again, before losing to Kevin Koe. He has suffered the agonizing pain of those so-close-you-can-taste-it defeats, but still salivates at the idea of finally devouring the big prize.
“Those were tough, that’s for sure,” Cotter said Monday at the Canadian men’s curling championship at Brandon’s Westoba Place.
“It definitely makes you more hungry and if it didn’t it would be time to hang it up at that point.
“Like I said, it was a lifelong dream to win either one of those. It definitely hurts for a little while but after you take some time to reflect on it, on what we did in such a short period of time together — we’d only played for three months and we made a heck of a run that year — you realize that we played two of the biggest games in curling in the same year. And it didn’t hurt as much.”
This is Cotter ’s fourth Brier since that 2014 silver medal and things haven’t gone as well for the most part. While either skipping or throwing fourth stones for John Morris, Cotter has records of 5-6 in 2015, 3-8 in 2016 and 7-4 in 2017. None of those records were good enough make the playoffs and served as a reminder to Cotter just how difficult it is to make it back to the final day of the Brier.
“It is extremely hard,” he said. “It definitely gives you motivation to try do more and try to do better the next time.”
Cotter jumped out to a 2-0 start at this year’s Brier, beating Nova Scotia 8-7 and Nunavut 10-4, but lost 104 to Team Canada (Brad Gushue) on Monday morning.
The B.C. team from Vernon, which includes third Steve Laycock, second Tyrel Griffith and lead Rick Sawatsky, was back on the ice Monday night against New Brunswick (Terry Odishaw).
Cotter certainly hasn’ t given up on his dream but he recognizes he doesn’t have many years left to achieve it.
As such, in recent years he has been mentoring the best young team in B.C. — perhaps in Canada — skipped by Tyler Tardi, the threetime defending Canadian junior champion and twotime world champ.
Many people believe it’s only a matter of time before Tardi starts winning B.C. men’s titles on a regular basis and Cotter is only too happy to help bring that to fruition.
“They’re great kids,” Cotter said. “I can’t say I helped them a whole lot but I’m definitely there for them any time they need support. They’re a fabulous team. What they’ve accomplished the last three years is just absolutely remarkable.
“Thank goodness they have one more junior year.”
With the Tardi team still likely a few years away from making its biggest possible impact on the B.C. men’s curling scene, there’s still time for Cotter to pursue his Brier dream.
He recruited former skip Laycock out of Saskatchewan to play third this year and the team has looked strong.
“Steve has been a great addition,” said Cotter, who has curled for years with Griffith and Sawatsky. “He’s a really funny guy, a great teammate and just an awesome player too. He and I have been working really well together in the house. We’re just in our first year, not even playing a whole lot, and we’re already on the same thought wavelengths. We’re thrilled to have him.”
Laycock, who skipped a Saskatchewan team to the Olympic trials last year, has fit in well with the foursome, providing Cotter with some sage wisdom from the third position.
“Just an extra set of eyes, a guy who has skipped in the past who can help Jim out,” Laycock said. “He has alternated between skipping and throwing last but having someone else skip over the years, so he’s used to taking that feedback and I think I can give him a lot of help with the strategy angles and the speed of the ice.”
Seeing how Cotter works with younger curlers, like the Tardi team and his daughter Jaelyn’s junior team, Laycock believes his skip has a long future as a coach.
“He has that mindset of trying to pass on knowledge,” Laycock said.
“I think that’s definitely where his mind’s at now. Not that he’s not trying to win for himself still, but definitely I think he’s looking at that as the next step.”