Brothers Koe the curlers to beat
Sibling skips sit atop standings in Saskatoon
SASKATOON— One Koe brother is chasing the other atop the standings at the Canadian men’s curling championship.
Kevin Koe’s Alberta team was the lone undefeated rink left in the field Monday night at 5-0, while younger sibling Jamie, who skips Yukon/ Northwest Territories, was 4-1 alongside Ontario’s Glenn Howard.
“It’s so rare we’re both here, but it is pretty cool seeing both (of us) at the top,” Jamie Koe said.
The only other time the brothers were in the same field at the tournament was in 2010, when Kevin Koe won the title in Halifax.
While Kevin’s Calgary foursome was a pre-tournament favourite this year, the Territories have been a surprise at the Tim Hortons Brier.
“We’re playing well and it looks like my brother’s team might be playing even better,” Kevin Koe observed. “If they keep playing like that, they’ll be in a good spot.”
Lack of competition in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, plus the distance and the expense of travelling to World Curling Tour events in the south, puts northern teams at a disadvantage at the Brier.
But Jamie’s Yellowknife rink is doing their part to build up hype for Wednesday morning’s Koe vs. Koe matchup.
“We’ve got two big ones (Tuesday) before we get to worry about that one,” Jamie Koe said. “Hopefully we can get a couple of good ones tomorrow and have a good battle with them on Wednesday.”
The top four teams at the conclusion of the round robin Thursday advance to the Page playoff. Any ties for fourth are resolved by tiebreaker games. B.C.’S Jim Cotter, Manitoba’s Robert Fowler and Nova Scotia’s Jamie Murphy sit with identical 3-2 records. Saskatchewan’s Scott Manners, New Brunswick’s Terry Odishaw and Northern Ontario’s Brad Ja- cobs follow at 2-3. Quebec’s Robert Desjardins and Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador are both 1-4, while Mike Gaudet of Prince Edward Island is 0-5. Alberta, meanwhile, has made the Brier look easy. Kevin Koe, third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen have won every game by three points or more, including a 6-3 win over Saskatchewan on Monday night.
“We got up a few and never really gave them a sniff,” Kevin Koe said. “We kept it clean, were able to throw the big weight and were able to clean the house out most ends.”
Howard executed a long raise for the winner in a dramatic 6-5 win in an extra end Monday night against Northern Ontario. Three of Ontario’s four wins have gone to an extra end.
“We’ve had to grind out every win,” Howard said. “It’s a little more unusual for us, but we haven’t been bringing the ‘A’ game. We’re missing some shots and these guys are playing well against us. That’s what happens, you go to the extra end and fortunately we’re winning those extra-end games.”
Glenn tied his brother Russ in Brier appearances with14 this year and pulled even with his sibling for most career Brier games at 174 on Monday night. Glenn will set the new record Tuesday versus Saskatchewan.
“That’s pretty cool. It just means I’m old,” Howard said.
In other night draw action, the Territories downed Newfoundland, while B.C. edged Quebec 5-4, with the winning point coming down to a measurement.