 Playing in his fourth Brier, PEI's Tyler Smith (Photo: Curling Canada) is making major waves as his team inches closer to a playoff spot in Regina. By: Cameron Sallaj In his first three appearances at the Canadian men's curling championships, Prince Edward Island skip Tyler Smith won a total of four games. This week, he has more than doubled that number, currently sitting on a 5-2 record after a critical victory over Alberta's Kevin Koe Wednesday night. In the contest, the two rinks traded singles in first and second ends before PEI got the first multi-point end with two in the third. After forcing Koe in the fourth, the team from the Crapaud Community Curling Club extended their lead to 6-2 with a big score of three in end five. The PEI championship rink, comprised of skip Tyler Smith, third Adam Cocks, second Chris Gallant and lead Ed White swiped two more in the sixth end when Kevin Koe's final draw overcurled. From there, the team from The Glencoe Club never recovered with the two teams trading singles in seven and eight before early handshakes and a 9-3 win for Prince Edward Island. The important fifth victory for PEI helped improve their record to 5-2 in what has been a dominant performance so far this week, knocking off Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Alberta (Sluchinski), Quebec and now Koe. With one round robin game left to play, the team will try to lock up a spot in the championship round when they face the Northwest Territories' Jamie Koe Thursday afternoon at 2:00 PM Central. Alberta's Kevin Koe is now 1-6 in pool play and will close out a disappointing week against Nunavut. Already into the final six, Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen ensured the number one spot out of Pool B with a 9-3 victory over Nunavut's Shane Latimer (1-6; Iqaluit). Alberta's Aaron Sluchinski (4-3; Airdrie) kept his rink in contention by defeating the Northwest Territories' Koe (4-3; Yellowknife) 10-4 while Nova Scotia's Matt Manuel finished the competition at 4-4 with a narrow 6-5 win over Quebec's Julien Tremblay (2-5; various clubs). With McEwen already qualified, only two playoff spots are still up for grabs in Pool B with four teams still alive: Canada (5-2), Prince Edward Island, Alberta (Sluchinski) and the Northwest Territories. In the final round robin draw Thursday, Canada takes on Alberta while PEI battles NWT. These two games will determine who the last two spots go to while the other two teams will be eliminated. The 2024 Montana's Brier continues Thursday morning at 9:00 PM Central Time with the penultimate Pool A draw. In the feature, Northern Ontario's Trevor Bonot (5-1) plays Manitoba's Matt Dunstone (4-2) in a game that also has major playoff implications. |
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Brendan Bottcher (photo: Stan Fong) is moving on from now former teammates Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, announced Tuesday.
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