Brier Bound: Territories Update

The top four men’s teams from Canada’s North gathered at the Whitehorse Curling Club over the extended weekend of February 9 – 12 to determine who would earn the right to wear Territorial colours at the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier. When all was said and done after the double round-robin playdown, Yellowknife’s Jamie Koe emerged with his fourth straight combined Territorial championship banner. He and his team of Tom Naugler, Brad Chorostkowski and Robert Borden finished play with an unblemished 6-0 record in the Yukon’s capital city. Jon Solberg and his Whitehorse Curling Club mates Doug Gee, Steve Fecteau and Clint Ireland finished with the event’s second best mark with a record of 3-3. Steve Moss, who, along with Koe, was representing the Northwest Territories Curling Association in the shootout, finished with a 2-4 record. He made the trip to Whitehorse with Brad Patzer, Cory Vanthuyne and Trevor Moss in support. George Hilderman, the second team out of the Yukon Curling Association, skipped Gord Zealand, Pat Molloy and Bob Walker to a record of 1-5. Jamie Koe is the younger brother to 2010 Brier and world champ Kevin Koe, who will also be on the ice when play gets underway in Saskatoon. Jamie’s twin sister is Kerry Galusha, who is no stranger to skipping at the national championship level. She made her third straight trip to the Scotties as skip of the Northwest Territories/Yukon contingent in Red Deer. Koe and his Yellowknife mates will be vying to win the first Brier title for the Northwest/Yukon Territories when play gets underway at the Saskatoon Credit Union Centre from March 3 -11. The thirty-four-year-old skip’s best finish at the event was his inaugural visit when he just missed out on a playoff berth with a record of 6-5 at the 2006 Tim Hortons Brier in Regina.