HALIFAX – Draw to the pin to win.
With the adrenalin pumping and perhaps your one and only chance to win the Brier on the line, drawing to the button is easier said than done.
But Kevin Koe did it here Sunday night to give Alberta a 6-5 win over Glenn Howard to win the province a third consecutive Tim Hortons Brier.
Koe made the shot of his career to send the broom of third Blake MacDonald's broom flying two sheets over and Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen pumping their fists into the air and jumping into each other's arms as they won the first extra end game in a Brier final since Jeff Stoughton stole one to beat Kevin Martin 8-7 in 1996 in Kamloops.
Randy Ferbey. Kevin Martin. Kevin Koe. Pick your poison. For the seventh time in the last 10 years an Alberta team has won the Brier.
And for the sixth time in nine trips to the Brier final Ontario's Howard, who lost the final of the Roar of the Rings Olympic trials in Edmonton in December to Martin, has lost the last game of the tournament.
“I've done it six times. It's not getting any easier,” said Howard.
Koe skipped the first team since the Page playoff system introduced in 1995 to put three straight wins together to win the Canadian classic. And this one was a classic, one of the greatest Brier finals ever.
The final before 7,233 fans fixed the attendance total at 107,242 for the event, not even close to the East-of-Winnipeg Brier record crowd of 158,414 set here in 2003 when Alberta's Randy Ferbey beat Nova Scotia's Marc Dacey to win with a perfect 13-0 record. But the expectations are for the biggest Brier television audience of all time.
With an all-time 0-6 record against Howard in various games around the circuit, Koe wasn't likely to jump out to a 4-0 lead like he did against Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario in the semi-final or the 4-1 lead he did against Brad Gushue of Newfoundland in the 3-4 game of the Page playoff system.
But who expected him to flash with his last rock of the first end? Missed it by almost a foot.
Attempting to hit a Howard rock and sit two and force the Ontario skip to take one with hammer on the first end, the skip competing in his first Brier left the 12-time Brier veteran in his ninth final with a free draw for a 2-0 lead.
After a blanked second end, Koe went to the hack after much discussion to decide to go try a high-risk shot for three with his last rock. Looking at it from the other end he called it off and took the high percentage shot for one.
The decision paid off in the sixth end when Howard, looking at two, tried a long raise takeout attempt which left Koe a draw for three and a 4-3 lead.
After crashing on a guard with his first rock on the eighth end, Howard made a triple take-out to take one to tie the game. Koe was in a situation in the ninth where he had a choice to either take one for a 5-4 lead without hammer or give on to Howard and be down one, but with last rock advantage coming home. He took the one and the lead.
But the Albertans got themselves in the glue big time in the 10th, Koe looking at four with his first shot and failing to make it and looking at three with his second. That one, a chip and roll, he made to leave Howard with draw for one to go to and extra end to make history.
Ontario ended up shooting 89 per cent for the game compared to 87 per cent by Alberta and Howard outcurled Koe 89 per cent to 86 per cent. But MacDonald had a 91 per cent to 83 per cent edge against Richard Hart in the battle of the thirds.
Koe was awarded the Hec Gervais MVP trophy. The two finalists each receive $40,000 with Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario taking home $30,000 and Brad Gushue's Newfoundland outfit ending up with $20,000.
The winner goes on to represent Canada at the World Curling Championships in Cortina, Italy April 3-11, in addition to automatic entry in both the Canada Cup and Continental Cup events.
terry.jones@sunmedia.ca
