Big brother beats little brother again
Koe-versus-Koe Brier showdown leads to another loss for Yk team
Martin Gavin
Special to Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, March 5, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife's Jamie Koe can only gaze at the mountains surrounding Kamloops, B.C. to envision the mountain he has to climb on the curling ice to make the playoffs at the 2014 Tim Hortons Brier.
Kevin Koe beat his younger brother, Jamie Koe, at the Tim Hortons Brier for the third time in a row and is in good position for a playoff spot at this year's event. - Michael Burns/Canadian Curling Association photo |
Koe entered this year's event hoping to upgrade his 2012 7-4 round-robin record and fourth place finish to a reservation in the gold medal game. Koe's enthusiasm was shared by curling experts across Canada who felt that this may be his year.
"It's a different field but still very strong," said Koe in a pre-event interview. "We need to execute and at the end of the week, we will be in there."
Entering Monday's play, Koe was sitting at one win and two losses. Koe's Yellowknife team needed to get on track and start their well-known winning ways. There would be no better place to start than a first-time Brier win over 2010 Brier and world champion, Kevin Koe. Winless in his three previous attempts against the three-time Alberta Champion and two-time Brier finalist, the younger Koe was confident entering the match against his big brother.
"We just need to stick to our game style and execute ... I think we are due," said Jamie. "We are brothers and friends but once the game starts, it's every man for himself."
Every man for himself was a good description of the game which saw the Northern side take an early lead and seemed to be in control of the game. In the fourth end, however, some key misses by the NWT front end left Jamie in trouble.
"There is nothing good for us here," said Jamie when he was looking for a saver to limit the damage.
It didn't end well as the older Koe stuck his younger brother with a four-ender and complete control of the game.
"The four-ender really made it difficult for them," said Kevin, following his 8-3 win over Jamie.
Kevin is well positioned for a busy playoff weekend now sitting in second place. Jamie's team, meanwhile, have a lot of work to do if they want to see the weekend, currently sitting at 1-3 and one spot out of last place.
"Time to get on a roll," he said.
The eleven-game round robin wraps up this Friday with the playoffs taking place Saturday leading to Sunday's final.
