Territorial Triumph!

Team Northwest Territories makes playoffs after stolen win at Montana’s Brier

Skip Jamie Koe had two emotions after his final round-robin game Thursday at the Montana’s Brier, presented by AGI, in Regina.

First, the joy of winning a spot in the three-team playoffs in Pool A, and the pure shock on how he did it.

Koe led his Team Northwest Territories (5-3, Yellowknife) into the playoffs after a last-rock miss by Team Prince Edward Island (5-3, Crapaud) skip Tyler Smith handed him a 9-8 extra-end win at the Brandt Centre.

Smith, with last rock, was trying to draw to Koe’s shot at the back of the button but came out wide and heavy and wrecked on his own stone.

Just like that Team Koe was in and the young team from the Island, which played so well all week, was out.

“Pretty incredible moment,” said Koe, who also skipped an NWT team to the Brier playoffs in 2012. “It was wild, the fans came down to see us, everybody’s crying, got me going, Dad’s crying. Look at the pools when we got here and you think, ‘Can we actually make the playoffs?’ Now we actually did it it’s kind of a surreal moment.”

Koe knew he was up against it down the stretch against the Islanders, but blanked the ninth, and then scored a deuce to tie it in the 10th and then scrambled in end 11.

“Make him throw, make him throw,” said Koe of the 11th-end strategy. “We made him throw a tough shot and he just missed it”.

The win secured Team Northwest Territories the third and final playoff spot in Pool B and a chance to win his first Canadian men’s curling championship.

Team Northwest Territories and Team Prince Edward Island finished the round-robin with identical 5-3 records, but the Polars got the nod by virtue of their win Thursday.

Skip Brad Gushue’s Team Canada (6-2, St. John’s) helped clear up matters with a 10-4 victory over Team Alberta-Sluchinski (4-4, Airdrie), skipped by Aaron Sluchinski. The win secured second place for Team Canada and gives Gushue and Co. another chance to chase a third straight Canadian men’s title on the weekend.

The defending champs recovered from two early losses but found their game in time.

“Had a couple little stumbles along the way,” said third Mark Nichols. “You never like doing but you kind of expect it every now and then at the Brier. Much prefer to do it early in the week rather than later and we seem to be catching on to the ice and rocks and playing better.”

Team Saskatchewan (7-1, Saskatoon) finished in first place in the pool Wednesday evening, but kept the motor running with a 7-6 victory over skip Julien Tremblay’s Team Quebec (2-6, Etchemin/Kenogami/Chicoutimi/Victoria).

Koe, 46, is playing in his 17th Canadian men’s championship, and other than a fourth-place finish in 2012 in Saskatoon, he’s mostly had to look on while his celebrated brother Kevin picked up the hardware. Kevin Koe is a four-time Canadian and two-time world champ.

So, with the clock ticking, he knows he will have to strike soon.

In 2012, he went 7-4 in the round-robin and made the playoffs but would lose the bronze-medal game to Manitoba’s Team Rob Fowler.

“We talked about it all this week, we’re the underdogs,” said Koe. “If we lose, we lose, there’s no pressure on us. So we can just and lay it out there and if you win you just try to keep it going.”

Meanwhile, Team Alberta-Koe (2-6, Calgary), skipped by Kevin Koe, finished a disappointing week with a 6-4 win over Team Nunavut (1-7, Iqaluit), skipped by Shane Latimer.

The pool winners will cross over to play the No. 2 finishers in the other pool, with the winners going directly to the Page 1-2 Game. The losers will meet the third-place pool finishers. The winners of those games will advance to the Page playoff 3-4 game.

The 2024 Montana’s Brier continues Thursday with a final draw at 7 p.m. (all times Central).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 Montana’s Brier are available at www.curling.ca/scoreboard/

TSN and RDS will provide complete coverage of the 2024 Montana’s Brier. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule. Live coverage is also available for international streaming on TSN’s YouTube channel.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/?lang=fr