Koe, Tardi, Bottcher Brushers Join Forces

Just days after Brendan Bottcher announced his new team for the next quadrennial, veteran skip Kevin Koe has formally announced his forthcoming squad.

Youthful B.C. skip Tyler Tardi, who won back-to-back world junior titles in 2018 and ’19, will throw third stones for the four-time Brier champion. Their new front end is familiar, as Brad Thiessen and Karrick Martin slide over from the former Bottcher team.

“I’m pretty excited to step on the ice with a group of players who I’ve watched really come into their own over the last several years,” said Koe in a social media posting.

In his first personal tweet since late December of 2021, Tardi offered “Is it September yet??? Can’t wait to start this journey!”

Koe lost the recent 2022 Brier final to Brad Gushue, after losing December’s Olympic Trials semifinal to the Brad Jacobs foursome.

Koe and current teammates John Morris, B.J. Neufeld and Ben Hebert will compete in the Champions Cup in Olds, Alta. in early May, the final major of the curling season. Other current teams led by Bottcher, Gushue and others will also be there.

Tardi is competing this weekend at the new “Best of the West” event in Saskatoon.

Gushue second Brett Gallant was recently announced as a member of the new Team Bottcher, which also includes Hebert and Marc Kennedy.

Gushue hasn’t announced his replacement for Gallant, only confirming that Mark Nichols and Geoff Walker remain on board for 2023.

Morris has announced his retirement from men’s four-player competition, and will focus on the mixed doubles discipline. Neufeld was previously announced as a member of a new team skipped by Matt Dunstone, with Colton Lott and Ryan Harnden at front end.