Tankard winner joins provincial finalists
The fallout of Kevin Koe’s early-season dismissal of a team member has torpedoed the defending Alberta men’s curling champions.
Aaron Sluchinski, who upset Koe in the final of February’s Alberta men’s championship, has left his team to join Koe.
Team Koe, led by their four-time Brier champion skip, announced late last month they were moving on from second stone Jacques Gauthier.
The news sees former Sluchinski team members, Jeremy Harty, Kyle Doering and Dylan Webster without a skip and in need of a player.
The squad lists five tournaments left on their World Curling Tour schedule, beginning with a tour stop in Penticton, B.C. starting Oct. 24.
Koe, Sluchinski, Tyler Tardi and Karrick Martin are set to compete in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. starting Oct. 17 before heading to Penticton.
Word is Sluchinski will be in the house for Koe’s skip stones. Tardi has thrown third stones for the past two seasons.
As 2024’s Team Alberta, Sluchinski went 4-4 at the Brier in Regina. Shortly afterward, Scottish-born Kerr Drummond took a break from high-performance curling and departed from the squad, and was replaced by Doering.