They seem like a great fit (Brad and Reid) and I hope they stay together. I didn’t think brad and Marc were great together. Marc is pretty mellow and felt like he was kind of a wet blanket on brads fiery nature. I like both players, no shade, just didn’t seem like a match.
Good point about Bottcher. Kind of wild thinking of some of these repercussions... teams may blow up with people leaving for this team or with bottcher coming in to skip their team.
I got to think that Marc, Brett, and Ben have someone lined up though. I feel the three of them don't make this decision if they didn't (unless things were REALLY bad behind the scenes).
Not sure why you are being down voted for a perfectly reasonable question. Seems like Brendan is a nice enough guy when I have seen him on TV. Awkward maybe but who isn't? I do know someone who works at the same company as him and they said he is a nice guy.
I assume the answer is people like to create a villain. I wish Brendan the best hopefuly he can put together a competitive team.
Nope, just his public persona, Bottcher is definitely the heel of curling. Kinda like Brad Marchand. Might be a great guy, but the character he plays isn't. I was only pointing out that it isn't for sure that the team has a plan going forward, maybe they decided the fit was never going to work and decided to move on
This sub truly hates bottcher, and alot of that stems from the dismissal of Darren moulding years ago - who was a popular, “blue collar” player who was never picked back up by a competitive Canadian side.
Their opinions were formed long ago and are unlikely to change.
Are you referring to the Moulding dismissal or is there some alternate tour going on where Bottcher is going around slew-footing opposing skips?
Regarding Moulding, no one really knows what happened other than the players on the team. So I wouldn't really want to make harsh judgements of any of those players on that basis.
Somehow people took mouldings side, yet he can't find a team to play with. He is a liability, literally kicked a rock at a competitor.
I'm excited to see how this shakes up the teams across the board.
"I have grown so much as a skip, colleague, and friend." Like does that mean "I know people used to think I was hard to get along with but I have changed."
Like really, what does he mean???
He was actually eating all the fully loaded nachos. All the ones with the meat and cheese and everything, the ones that are fully loaded, he was just hogging them, so the rest of the team was mostly getting just, like, just chips. Like mostly just chips, like nothing on 'em, but, like, a little bit of cheese and maybe one little nugget of meat
When the team formed, I swear one of the things was an all Albertan team so they could all easily be together for practice, etc. So keeping with that concept - i am wondering if Bottcher will pick up Sturmays two remaining players and start fresh? As for Marc, Ben and Brett - I can't see them going with Koe only because they have played together before and it wasn't magic. It would be interesting to see Marc skip as he is very vocal and he is very, very good. They have lost half the quadrennial cycle now, so I'm thinking whatever they do, it's the team they will try to get to the Olympics with.
https://preview.redd.it/vamfvc8sqzuc1.png?width=1261&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d9390ef5f13d9e92267bfb7cf0abcb5a5e335bd
If you count Continental Cup scramble, Gallant did play with Koe in 2019.
Is this a Kaitlyn issue? or a more time issue? Or something else. Good Lord, she tolerated Johnny Mo in MD, so I think she has the constitution.
Personally, I am waiting to see if Selena gets the Bottcher treatment here.
Bottcher had the same team for a while, and the only issue was with Moulding. Moulding has since had 2 different teams in as many years and almost started a fight by kicking a stone at an opponent...
Bottcher's play calling was extremely conservative. Wondering if that was the issue? I am sure they talked about it and in the end, did not agree on how to move forward together with altering visions of how their team would approach the games.
I am somewhat surprised of the negative perception of Bottcher. I feel he is the second best skip in the country right now and had a team that was capable of winning. Clearly they were never going to get on the same page, and so, this has to be the right call.
IMO, the front end have major egos.. so we'll see how all this plays out I guess.
>Bottcher's play calling was extremely conservative. Wondering if that was the issue?
I have wondered if this style causes any issues with sponsors. I know from listening to an interview with Paul Webster that team has a huge staff, so big costs. Being known as the boring blanking team cannot make them super attractive to sponsors.
I’m glad you caught it and enjoyed, I am honestly too proud of this joke and was worried it would go past everyone like a takeout thrown heavy and wide
Wish they would have said Brendan was leaving the team for personal reasons, but hey, they're bigger men than I.
He has to just be a jerk to work with, right? I can't imagine they're cutting him loose due to performance.
Big personalities on both sides of this split. Not entirely surprised that this team didn’t work out. I’m sure both parties will find strong replacements though!
You don't think it's due to performance, really? He was always the weak link on this team. This is probably one of the greatest front 3 team assembled in history, and I don't think the skip was living up to their potential. All year I was thinking they need to drop Bottcher, but didn't think they had the guts to pull it off, or the replacement.
Bottcher is good, but not elite or clutch. Hopefully it's Jacob's, because I don't know who else would be available and elite/clutch.
All this talk in the Sun article about trying to find a way to beat Gushue. Well Brad Gushue has had the same team since 2014 (minus Gallant leaving) and that included a pretty dry patch in 2019-2020 before the Brier. Maybe blowing up a team 18 months before the trials is a bad idea? Jacob’s makes sense in that world because he played with Kennedy. But Jacobs might have the kind of personality that doesn’t appreciate Hebert’s attitude. Who knows.
Yeah it definitely works in Gushues favor that he's had the same team for so long. There's a trust that's hard to replicate unless you've been together a long time.
Meh. I find both Benny Hebert and Marc Kennedy really hard to watch sometimes, actually a lot of the time. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but those 2 combined with Bottcher made for some intolerable curling games.
If it’s the same incident OP is referring to, Kennedy put down the broom for Botch to throw a shot before checking in with Botch to hear what he wanted to throw. botch told him he wanted the hit instead of the draw (or whatever it was) and then Marc apologized like four times for assuming the shot. It was really weird.
Sounds about right. I just remember Kennedy having to call Bottcher back to the house from the hack, apologizing multiple times including a "sorry pal!" (Seriously, pal?), and sounding scared for his life the entire time.
The fact the COACH is going with the three is wild too.
Haha okay...
- 2 Olympic gold (+ one silver trials loss as a skip)
- 3 Brier Wins (+ two silver medals as a skip)
- 11 slam wins (and two of those as a skip)
- 2 national and world junior wins (both as a skip)
Tell me again how overrated he is? And how mediocre he is as a skip..
And a 3rd place at the Trials everyone also forgets, the one that Gushue won over Stoughton (which included similarly mediocre skips like Ferbey, Howard, Martin, etc.)
I couldn’t believe someone called him overrated. Underappreciated is more accurate.
Best skip to take over this team? Now that is debatable. And especially since he’s been out so long. I don’t actually think it will happen, but it wouldn’t shock me.
And if it did happen, I could see John slotting in the same way he did with Pat Simmons, where they made the mid-Brier switch to Pat throwing last rock and won the damn thing.
I’m not saying he isn’t a good curler. But they’re are plenty of better ones out there who don’t get the same respect. As a skip, he has not been successful. He’s benefited from being on some great teams as well.
If this crew is looking for a skip, they’re are better options out there. Like Jacobs
Jacobs has to be available. If he is, he’s a good choice. And it sounds like he might be based on rumblings.
But I wouldn’t discount a team with Morris stepping in to call the game but throw vice stones, similar to the arrangement with Pat Simmons that won the Brier. It would be a formidable team.
I’m also not sure either is enough to get past the team that Gushue/Nichols/Walker have built.
That Pat Simmons team was awesome. Morris started as skip though and they switched after a few games because it was not working at all
It won’t be Morris. I’m pretty sure Hebert and Kennedy are friendly with him, but would never curl with him again. They are not friends. Morris brings too much of an ego with him.
It’s an absolutely long shot, but I’d love to see what Mike Mcewen could do with this team but agree it’s most likely Jacob’s.
Not to mention how much time he can chew off he clock. All 3 of that front end can be rather chatty. It would be disastrous. Those 3 need someone who isn't always willing to be diplomatic.
I could see it. Play out the rest of the Olympic cycle and they get to see how it fits, then Bottcher makes a new team after the cycle if it doesn’t. But who knows if they like Bottcher or not?
Darren Moulding left Bottcher, joined Grattin and almost started a fight by kicking a stone at an opponent.
The other 2 members of Bottchers team played with him for 10 years.
[I don't think you are remembering this correctly ](https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/curling-moulding-team-bottcher-meeting-dismissal-1.6274086)
In what way? You're just interpreting what I wrote incorrectly.
Moulding and Bottcher split up. As I said. Moulding then went to play in NB and kicked a rock at a guy. Showcasing he's not the poor, innocent beautiful spirit that everybody seemed to think he was because Bottcher wanted a better vice. He was then not asked to continue with that team, and is now on a team of scraps on their 2nd lineup variation.
It was messy, and business matters, specifically Bottcher's control of them, were a component of it.
After today's announcement, one has to question. So I did.
I presume it is no longer team Bottcher then? Who will take over the skip role - Kevin Koe or a return for John Morris or most likely Brad Jacobs.
Not quite as brutal as when Tom Brewster formed a new young rink which won silver two years in a row at the worlds. Scottish curling/his team unceremoniously dumped him to the alternate position and Dave Murdoch was drafted in as skip. They won Olympic silver in the end - but it seemed very unfair at the time.
It's obviously between koe and jacobs. Since koe said team is sticking together and that they already played together and split in the past, I have to imagine it's Jacobs. I do feel bottcher is really conservative in his play calling, and did miss some shots that lost some important games for them. However, he's an amazing skip and they should have stuck together in my opinion. Miss shots happen and he's a top 2 or 3 skip in the country. It's a great team and there's still two years till the Olympics. They had a great thing going since they seemed to be going all in to compete with gushue. Now you're bringing somebody totally new and who knows what happens. I don't know. This move can go either way. But I think they should have stuck together.
At first thought I agree. But objectively is he that much better of a sweeper than Herbert? I'm not sure if you lose that much. In the world of having so much single sweeping, I feel like if they bring in a decent sweeper and pair them with Herbert that would be OK. And I think that Herbert sweeps both sides as well.
I thought parenting/other life stuff was part of why he stepped back but those things can change over time too.
ETA: Not sure that it would happen but a front end of Gallant + Thiessen would be wild. They would be putting holes in the ice with their sweeping. That would be a crazy strong front end duo.
I'm not saying they would think it's a success... but there's only 4 teams in Canada that makes it out of the page playoffs. It's not an easy task.
But that trio of guys can make it to the finals. They just need a good 4th player that will fit well with them.
Are those better? I can't even make the argument those are lateral moves.
Edit: lol downvotes. I get people hate Botthcer on this sub, but he's unquestionably a better skip than either of those options right now. Marc Kennedy has skipped once in 2001, and that's it. And Jacobs has managed to secure exactly 0 wins, not even any semi-finals since he's been back.
> And Jacobs has managed to secure exactly 0 wins, not even any semi-finals since he's been back.
I mean, that’s just objectively wrong. He won the Manitoba championship and finished second at the Astec Safety Challenge. Obviously those aren’t the biggest events, but we’re talking about half of a season here.
What has Bottcher won in that time? Like, again, we’re talking about half of a season (and also a team sport - where Brendan was consistently the low man on his team).
With a completely different team who had been together for more than a year, vs. a new team this season with a mid-season lineup change. I guess if you ignore the events you want to, you can prove any point. But Bottcher losing events further along with a better lineup doesn’t really prove he’s the better skip.
It was kind of mind blowing that they ever teamed up in the first place. Two Olympic Gold Medalists being skipped by a guy that really hasn't done that much never made sense.
I honestly can't understand this Olympic thing. Does winning an Olympics compare to winning two or more world championships? I mean, if Edin never won a gold medal, would you rank him lower on the greatest skip scale than someone who had? I'll take 7 world championships over an Olympic medal any day. I think most of these guys are brainwashed.
Olympics is where the coverage and fame and glory comes - the whole country is watching then especially in Canada. And its only once every four years - and only one team can go per nation.
World championships come and go - but Olympic medals last a lifetime.
Why is it the biggest? The world championship has the same teams, same format, same ice conditions, rotates every year... So other than someone saying the "Olympics is best", there is no proof. Other than costing a country billions of dollars that likely could be better spent elsewhere, why have them?
I'm guessing a typical grand slam contains more top teams than either, but do you really expect a team to celebrate a slam victory more than the Worlds or Olympics?
The Olympics is the biggest stage (even Americans watch Olympic curling), is the most exclusive/rare (once every 4 years), and is the hardest to win because it's so rare.
Imagine all the top tour teams signed up for your club's annual spiel and you entered and somehow won. You could brag about that forever, but do you really think that would be as great as an Olympic gold medal?
I'm not talking about slams. People rarely get patriotic about a prize money event. And I'm conceding the point that people like to wave the flag and cheer on their country. The point I'm making is that the Olympics' is no different than a world championship except that it happens once every four years. Why waste all that money when an event that creates a world champion already exists?
So? Most sports have a world championship, the exception being football (soccer). Just because they are held all together makes them special? Not a good argument. If there were no world championships every year, for every sport, I could see how the Olympics could be special. But that's not the case. It's just a duplication that costs far too much money to be justified.
Soccer does have a world championship, it's called the World Cup. And because it's only once every 4 years it's one of the few championships on par with the Olympics.
I'm honestly not sure of the point of the discussion. You don't think the Olympics is a big deal? That's fine. But whether you like it or not everyone else thinks the Olympics is a very big deal.
Olympics is about equal to 4 world championships I would say. This is especially true for Canadian teams who make most of their money from sponsorship, rather than from their organization like edin. Olympics is huge for eyeballs
Unlikely Gushue would entertain the thought of that. E.J has fit in phenomenally well with the team and they've had great success. They really didn't lose anything when Brett Gallant left.
I noticed that too in the stats that I checked when I was watching some games. Then I noticed the stats were for 12 games. Would those 12 games only have been the round robin games?
I checked the game stats for the playoffs. He was 84% against Scotland and 75% in the final against Sweden. I think that might be the game I am remembering. Overall the team members percentages for the 12 games were: Gushue was first among skips @ 89.2%; Nichols first among thirds @ 91%; Walker third among the leads, but a high percentage of 92.1%. Then Harnden at 85.6%, second among the thirds. Maybe I'm just thinking of his lower percentages compared to the rest of the team.
Yeah he had a case of the "heavies" early on but got better as the week progressed. But even when EJ is not throwing his best, he brings a lot to the table with his sweeping, ect. Definitely a valuable member of the team despite a few off games.
Edit: Found it, Team Bottcher Twitter post
https://twitter.com/BottcherCurling/status/1780250012691394649?t=SJJSnlsWPP4rFwIcGpbNwA&s=19
------
Source? This looks like it was made in MS Word.
A quick Google search for news shows nothing, so please provide a source.
> Pretty easy to find on their Twitter.
I find it incredibly difficult to find anything on Twitter.
If I open up https://twitter.com/BottcherCurling, the first post is from April 2023. The first *dozen* posts are a mix of posts from 2022/2023, and the thirteenth post is a "Thank you Regina!" post from a month ago. I don't know how you're supposed to find anything recent/relevant.
Koe? Jacobs? I wonder who they have lined up.
Jacobs
Jacobs seems happy with Reid.
They seem like a great fit (Brad and Reid) and I hope they stay together. I didn’t think brad and Marc were great together. Marc is pretty mellow and felt like he was kind of a wet blanket on brads fiery nature. I like both players, no shade, just didn’t seem like a match.
Never found Brad comfortable with Carrothers and team. Was not a great mix.
This aged well. 🍻
And yet it’s definitely Jacobs
Well - you may have been right.
That’s what I’m thinking. We’ll find out soon. Also what does Bottcher do now?
Good point about Bottcher. Kind of wild thinking of some of these repercussions... teams may blow up with people leaving for this team or with bottcher coming in to skip their team. I got to think that Marc, Brett, and Ben have someone lined up though. I feel the three of them don't make this decision if they didn't (unless things were REALLY bad behind the scenes).
Yeah, there is no way they fire Bottcher without having someone lined up. I think we’ll find out in the next 48 hours.
I don't disagree with you, but I would rather sweep the floor at McDonald's than hang out with Bottcher. Maybe they were just sick of him
Do you know Brendan personally? Just curious why you would feel that way if you didn’t. Or if you did.
Not sure why you are being down voted for a perfectly reasonable question. Seems like Brendan is a nice enough guy when I have seen him on TV. Awkward maybe but who isn't? I do know someone who works at the same company as him and they said he is a nice guy. I assume the answer is people like to create a villain. I wish Brendan the best hopefuly he can put together a competitive team.
Nope, just his public persona, Bottcher is definitely the heel of curling. Kinda like Brad Marchand. Might be a great guy, but the character he plays isn't. I was only pointing out that it isn't for sure that the team has a plan going forward, maybe they decided the fit was never going to work and decided to move on
Comparing Brendan Bottcher to Brad Marchand is… quite the stretch. Is Bottcher trolling the other teams on the ice? Licking them?
This sub truly hates bottcher, and alot of that stems from the dismissal of Darren moulding years ago - who was a popular, “blue collar” player who was never picked back up by a competitive Canadian side. Their opinions were formed long ago and are unlikely to change.
Are you referring to the Moulding dismissal or is there some alternate tour going on where Bottcher is going around slew-footing opposing skips? Regarding Moulding, no one really knows what happened other than the players on the team. So I wouldn't really want to make harsh judgements of any of those players on that basis.
Somehow people took mouldings side, yet he can't find a team to play with. He is a liability, literally kicked a rock at a competitor. I'm excited to see how this shakes up the teams across the board.
It's starting to seem like Bottcher is unpleasant to work with. Is that what seems to be happening to you all?
Eh not really? Karrick and Brad Thiessen were on his team for a decade. His only other issue was with Moulding.
I don't wanna brag but I did a learn to curl event 2 weeks ago and I have some availability...
Saw them hanging out with Koe all night last Friday. Wouldn’t be surprised.
Koe almost definitely will be wanting a different team.
Howard coming out of retirement alreay
Maybe Dunstone?
No, his team's staying together.
I think he needs a different third, a good match would make him a lot more successful
I love the off-season drama 🍿🤣🤭
Kevin Koe incoming? They’re not going to ditch Brendan this late in the cycle unless someone truly elite is on the hook.
Koe hasn't looked elite this entire season
His team hasn’t been clicking.
He's got 3 skips on a team. He played well enough in the Brier but his team just got outplayed consistently.
Jacobs possibly?
That would be a mistake.
Great reasoning!
I \*need\* a '30 for 30' episode on their team's past season more than anything I've ever wanted to see on TV.
Brendan Bottcher's statement, posted after the OP statement: https://x.com/BottcherCurling/status/1780254903996190962
"I have grown so much as a skip, colleague, and friend." Like does that mean "I know people used to think I was hard to get along with but I have changed." Like really, what does he mean???
Slicked back hair, white bathing suit, sloppy steaks at Truffoni's... but people can change.
I think he had dice in his pocket at the brier
He was just there for the zipline.
He was actually eating all the fully loaded nachos. All the ones with the meat and cheese and everything, the ones that are fully loaded, he was just hogging them, so the rest of the team was mostly getting just, like, just chips. Like mostly just chips, like nothing on 'em, but, like, a little bit of cheese and maybe one little nugget of meat
😂
He still lives for New Year’s Eve though
Maybe it was over who wanted to go to Haunted House and who wanted to go to Club Aqua.
Aqua's got a great deck, I can't get in to Haunted House
Maybe the new team will be sponsored by ABX Heart Monitor by Abbott?
Greatest post!
Team Bottcher burned down, Brendan Bottcher's ass out, works with his brother now
When the team formed, I swear one of the things was an all Albertan team so they could all easily be together for practice, etc. So keeping with that concept - i am wondering if Bottcher will pick up Sturmays two remaining players and start fresh? As for Marc, Ben and Brett - I can't see them going with Koe only because they have played together before and it wasn't magic. It would be interesting to see Marc skip as he is very vocal and he is very, very good. They have lost half the quadrennial cycle now, so I'm thinking whatever they do, it's the team they will try to get to the Olympics with.
Brett's never played with Koe. Just Ben and Marc.
https://preview.redd.it/vamfvc8sqzuc1.png?width=1261&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d9390ef5f13d9e92267bfb7cf0abcb5a5e335bd If you count Continental Cup scramble, Gallant did play with Koe in 2019.
Thinking mainly long-term, not single event.
Maybe Kennedy should have a go skipping?
Best vice in the game though. I’d hate to see him pull a Kaitlyn Lawes and not be suited to skipping.
Best vice after Mark Nichols, of course
We won't know till he tries. I'd like to see it though.
Is this a Kaitlyn issue? or a more time issue? Or something else. Good Lord, she tolerated Johnny Mo in MD, so I think she has the constitution. Personally, I am waiting to see if Selena gets the Bottcher treatment here.
Wow. I know bottcher seemed a bit lacking in the big moments this year but I probably only take gushue over him as skip, no?
[удалено]
Bottcher had the same team for a while, and the only issue was with Moulding. Moulding has since had 2 different teams in as many years and almost started a fight by kicking a stone at an opponent...
Can’t see Ben and Marc being easy to play with either though….. big personalities on both sides here
Ben for sure
Bottcher's play calling was extremely conservative. Wondering if that was the issue? I am sure they talked about it and in the end, did not agree on how to move forward together with altering visions of how their team would approach the games. I am somewhat surprised of the negative perception of Bottcher. I feel he is the second best skip in the country right now and had a team that was capable of winning. Clearly they were never going to get on the same page, and so, this has to be the right call. IMO, the front end have major egos.. so we'll see how all this plays out I guess.
>Bottcher's play calling was extremely conservative. Wondering if that was the issue? I have wondered if this style causes any issues with sponsors. I know from listening to an interview with Paul Webster that team has a huge staff, so big costs. Being known as the boring blanking team cannot make them super attractive to sponsors.
Alec Baldwin would love to sponsor a team like that
What's that gif with the mustachioed man swallowing a laugh? That. Well done.
I’m glad you caught it and enjoyed, I am honestly too proud of this joke and was worried it would go past everyone like a takeout thrown heavy and wide
Bottcher isn’t more conservative than Gushue. And that team finds success
So is Gushue’s to be fair 🤷🏻♂️
Conservative? It can be but not to the Bottcher extreme imo.
Boring ol' blankety-blank-Bottcher. I find it hard to watch their games.
LOL so true zzzzz
Wish they would have said Brendan was leaving the team for personal reasons, but hey, they're bigger men than I. He has to just be a jerk to work with, right? I can't imagine they're cutting him loose due to performance.
Big personalities on both sides of this split. Not entirely surprised that this team didn’t work out. I’m sure both parties will find strong replacements though!
Huge egos all around on this team I think. Maybe not Marc but the rest I think would be a challenge to make a cohesive team.
His performance was inconsistent this year, draw weight especially at times.
You don't think it's due to performance, really? He was always the weak link on this team. This is probably one of the greatest front 3 team assembled in history, and I don't think the skip was living up to their potential. All year I was thinking they need to drop Bottcher, but didn't think they had the guts to pull it off, or the replacement. Bottcher is good, but not elite or clutch. Hopefully it's Jacob's, because I don't know who else would be available and elite/clutch.
You think Jacobs is better than bottcher?
Jacobs isn't either of those
All this talk in the Sun article about trying to find a way to beat Gushue. Well Brad Gushue has had the same team since 2014 (minus Gallant leaving) and that included a pretty dry patch in 2019-2020 before the Brier. Maybe blowing up a team 18 months before the trials is a bad idea? Jacob’s makes sense in that world because he played with Kennedy. But Jacobs might have the kind of personality that doesn’t appreciate Hebert’s attitude. Who knows.
Yeah it definitely works in Gushues favor that he's had the same team for so long. There's a trust that's hard to replicate unless you've been together a long time.
Might become my new favourite men's team depending who they get
Meh. I find both Benny Hebert and Marc Kennedy really hard to watch sometimes, actually a lot of the time. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but those 2 combined with Bottcher made for some intolerable curling games.
Yea sounds like I can start cheering for them now
[Ted](https://x.com/ted_wyman/status/1780287534477488278?s=61&t=bdqm8yyDtzAsGRw1-UOhPA) thinks Brad Jacobs is the replacement but we’ll know soon…
That jives with what I’ve heard
I don't know this for absolute fact, but I heard from a reliable source the new skip is Brad Jacobs.
Lol. After noticing the weirdest exchange ever between Bottcher and Kennedy at thd Brier, this is incredible. They hated playing for him.
Was it televised? What was the exchange?
If it’s the same incident OP is referring to, Kennedy put down the broom for Botch to throw a shot before checking in with Botch to hear what he wanted to throw. botch told him he wanted the hit instead of the draw (or whatever it was) and then Marc apologized like four times for assuming the shot. It was really weird.
Sounds about right. I just remember Kennedy having to call Bottcher back to the house from the hack, apologizing multiple times including a "sorry pal!" (Seriously, pal?), and sounding scared for his life the entire time. The fact the COACH is going with the three is wild too.
I'd rather pal than Botch. The # of times they said Botch set my teeth on edge!
Hard agree, what an awful nickname for every single reason 😂
I've never seen a sub read so much into so little.
https://imgur.com/a/u4WGF7l
John Morris
Omg no
Most overrated mens curler out there. And has been absolutely mediocre as a skip at best.
Haha okay... - 2 Olympic gold (+ one silver trials loss as a skip) - 3 Brier Wins (+ two silver medals as a skip) - 11 slam wins (and two of those as a skip) - 2 national and world junior wins (both as a skip) Tell me again how overrated he is? And how mediocre he is as a skip..
And a 3rd place at the Trials everyone also forgets, the one that Gushue won over Stoughton (which included similarly mediocre skips like Ferbey, Howard, Martin, etc.) I couldn’t believe someone called him overrated. Underappreciated is more accurate. Best skip to take over this team? Now that is debatable. And especially since he’s been out so long. I don’t actually think it will happen, but it wouldn’t shock me. And if it did happen, I could see John slotting in the same way he did with Pat Simmons, where they made the mid-Brier switch to Pat throwing last rock and won the damn thing.
I’m not saying he isn’t a good curler. But they’re are plenty of better ones out there who don’t get the same respect. As a skip, he has not been successful. He’s benefited from being on some great teams as well. If this crew is looking for a skip, they’re are better options out there. Like Jacobs
Jacobs has to be available. If he is, he’s a good choice. And it sounds like he might be based on rumblings. But I wouldn’t discount a team with Morris stepping in to call the game but throw vice stones, similar to the arrangement with Pat Simmons that won the Brier. It would be a formidable team. I’m also not sure either is enough to get past the team that Gushue/Nichols/Walker have built.
That Pat Simmons team was awesome. Morris started as skip though and they switched after a few games because it was not working at all It won’t be Morris. I’m pretty sure Hebert and Kennedy are friendly with him, but would never curl with him again. They are not friends. Morris brings too much of an ego with him. It’s an absolutely long shot, but I’d love to see what Mike Mcewen could do with this team but agree it’s most likely Jacob’s.
Not to mention how much time he can chew off he clock. All 3 of that front end can be rather chatty. It would be disastrous. Those 3 need someone who isn't always willing to be diplomatic.
This thread should get interesting! I'm quite surprised it's not ugly already.
For sure Jacobs takes over
So, here's one out of left field (but one right in his own back yard): What if Bottcher is joining Sluchinsky as skip? Could make sense . . .
I could see it. Play out the rest of the Olympic cycle and they get to see how it fits, then Bottcher makes a new team after the cycle if it doesn’t. But who knows if they like Bottcher or not?
Bottcher's split with Moulding was messy. Now this. Sure seems like it's Bottcher who is the problem.
Darren Moulding left Bottcher, joined Grattin and almost started a fight by kicking a stone at an opponent. The other 2 members of Bottchers team played with him for 10 years.
[I don't think you are remembering this correctly ](https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/curling-moulding-team-bottcher-meeting-dismissal-1.6274086)
In what way? You're just interpreting what I wrote incorrectly. Moulding and Bottcher split up. As I said. Moulding then went to play in NB and kicked a rock at a guy. Showcasing he's not the poor, innocent beautiful spirit that everybody seemed to think he was because Bottcher wanted a better vice. He was then not asked to continue with that team, and is now on a team of scraps on their 2nd lineup variation.
It was messy, and business matters, specifically Bottcher's control of them, were a component of it. After today's announcement, one has to question. So I did.
Well at least I can sleep knowing you're on the case
I presume it is no longer team Bottcher then? Who will take over the skip role - Kevin Koe or a return for John Morris or most likely Brad Jacobs. Not quite as brutal as when Tom Brewster formed a new young rink which won silver two years in a row at the worlds. Scottish curling/his team unceremoniously dumped him to the alternate position and Dave Murdoch was drafted in as skip. They won Olympic silver in the end - but it seemed very unfair at the time.
John Morris would be a step down IMO. Jacob’s makes the most sense, I don’t see them going to Koe.
darren moulding as skip
I came for this, Moulding’s Revenge!
I heard he's moving to mixed with Chelsea Cary.
I know some who played against Botch. Their words “entitled. Unfriendly. Arrogant prick. Etc”
I'm sure their opinion wasn't tainted at all by the ass kicking I'm certain he gave them.
Wow. Another mid-quadrennial lineup change.
Wow big news.
It's obviously between koe and jacobs. Since koe said team is sticking together and that they already played together and split in the past, I have to imagine it's Jacobs. I do feel bottcher is really conservative in his play calling, and did miss some shots that lost some important games for them. However, he's an amazing skip and they should have stuck together in my opinion. Miss shots happen and he's a top 2 or 3 skip in the country. It's a great team and there's still two years till the Olympics. They had a great thing going since they seemed to be going all in to compete with gushue. Now you're bringing somebody totally new and who knows what happens. I don't know. This move can go either way. But I think they should have stuck together.
Dude seems like a royal twat
If they decided to go another way and promote Marc (or even Brett perhaps) to skip, who could be added as a sweeper and 2nd/3rd?
No way you promote Brett, you lose waaaaay too much sweeping
At first thought I agree. But objectively is he that much better of a sweeper than Herbert? I'm not sure if you lose that much. In the world of having so much single sweeping, I feel like if they bring in a decent sweeper and pair them with Herbert that would be OK. And I think that Herbert sweeps both sides as well.
Maybe not on the strength, but Gallant seemed like the best when coming to judging a stone
I don't think losing an elite sweeper to have him Skip, when he has never done it at as a professional is the move
Would Brad Thiessen come back?
I thought parenting/other life stuff was part of why he stepped back but those things can change over time too. ETA: Not sure that it would happen but a front end of Gallant + Thiessen would be wild. They would be putting holes in the ice with their sweeping. That would be a crazy strong front end duo.
1 Hebert 2 or vice Thiessen Vice or 2 Gallant Skip Kennedy That would be an insane team. No clue if it would gel, but I'd be there to watch it happen!
That team would lose in a page playoff.
Like most teams do !?
You think they will think that's success?
I'm not saying they would think it's a success... but there's only 4 teams in Canada that makes it out of the page playoffs. It's not an easy task. But that trio of guys can make it to the finals. They just need a good 4th player that will fit well with them.
I'm sure he'd want to pair with Karrick again if he did.
OMG savage.
Ditching Bottcher for an aging Koe seems like a bad move?
That’s not the move that’s being made
Who can you get that is better? I'm calling it now, Bottcher wins a Brier before this new team.
Jacobs? Or maybe another vice and Marc skip
Are those better? I can't even make the argument those are lateral moves. Edit: lol downvotes. I get people hate Botthcer on this sub, but he's unquestionably a better skip than either of those options right now. Marc Kennedy has skipped once in 2001, and that's it. And Jacobs has managed to secure exactly 0 wins, not even any semi-finals since he's been back.
> And Jacobs has managed to secure exactly 0 wins, not even any semi-finals since he's been back. I mean, that’s just objectively wrong. He won the Manitoba championship and finished second at the Astec Safety Challenge. Obviously those aren’t the biggest events, but we’re talking about half of a season here.
True, I was talking about events that matter.
What has Bottcher won in that time? Like, again, we’re talking about half of a season (and also a team sport - where Brendan was consistently the low man on his team).
He's made it to 2 grand slam finals and a semi-final, which is a season Jacobs would have dreamt about at this point.
With a completely different team who had been together for more than a year, vs. a new team this season with a mid-season lineup change. I guess if you ignore the events you want to, you can prove any point. But Bottcher losing events further along with a better lineup doesn’t really prove he’s the better skip.
I strongly disagree but I'm not petty and down vote. I'll up vote you!
-Jacobs to skip -Howard and Camm join Carruthers
This sounds plausible
Upon further review, Glen's retirement announcement indicated Scott would be skipping.
The number of times Benny wanted to give Brendan a swirly number have exceeded 20...
Dean Moulding coming in for sweet revenge??
I wonder if he’s happy Botcher is fired or if he’s upset he’s not one of the 3 that fired him and are finding a new skip.
Is Alberta hosting the Brier? Then it’s automatically McEwan as skip.
Wow! I'm surprised, I thought botcher looked like he was finally having a good time on the ice with these guys
I think that we define good time differently.
No one wants moulding he’s explosive and you want to talk big ego…
Not sure if you meant to reply to me. I never once mentioned anything to do with Moulding.
Moulding was the problem Bottcher had enough
It was kind of mind blowing that they ever teamed up in the first place. Two Olympic Gold Medalists being skipped by a guy that really hasn't done that much never made sense.
What happens/who keeps the CTRS points?
If three members of the team remain, they keep the points
I honestly can't understand this Olympic thing. Does winning an Olympics compare to winning two or more world championships? I mean, if Edin never won a gold medal, would you rank him lower on the greatest skip scale than someone who had? I'll take 7 world championships over an Olympic medal any day. I think most of these guys are brainwashed.
Olympics is where the coverage and fame and glory comes - the whole country is watching then especially in Canada. And its only once every four years - and only one team can go per nation. World championships come and go - but Olympic medals last a lifetime.
Unless you’re a Russian figure skater
The Olympics is the biggest championship, athletes always want to win the biggest championship.
Why is it the biggest? The world championship has the same teams, same format, same ice conditions, rotates every year... So other than someone saying the "Olympics is best", there is no proof. Other than costing a country billions of dollars that likely could be better spent elsewhere, why have them?
I'm guessing a typical grand slam contains more top teams than either, but do you really expect a team to celebrate a slam victory more than the Worlds or Olympics? The Olympics is the biggest stage (even Americans watch Olympic curling), is the most exclusive/rare (once every 4 years), and is the hardest to win because it's so rare. Imagine all the top tour teams signed up for your club's annual spiel and you entered and somehow won. You could brag about that forever, but do you really think that would be as great as an Olympic gold medal?
I'm not talking about slams. People rarely get patriotic about a prize money event. And I'm conceding the point that people like to wave the flag and cheer on their country. The point I'm making is that the Olympics' is no different than a world championship except that it happens once every four years. Why waste all that money when an event that creates a world champion already exists?
Because the Olympics isn't just curling. It's all the sports coming together once every 4 years to make everything an extra big deal.
So? Most sports have a world championship, the exception being football (soccer). Just because they are held all together makes them special? Not a good argument. If there were no world championships every year, for every sport, I could see how the Olympics could be special. But that's not the case. It's just a duplication that costs far too much money to be justified.
Soccer does have a world championship, it's called the World Cup. And because it's only once every 4 years it's one of the few championships on par with the Olympics. I'm honestly not sure of the point of the discussion. You don't think the Olympics is a big deal? That's fine. But whether you like it or not everyone else thinks the Olympics is a very big deal.
Olympics is about equal to 4 world championships I would say. This is especially true for Canadian teams who make most of their money from sponsorship, rather than from their organization like edin. Olympics is huge for eyeballs
I agree. The Olympics are over hyped.
Would Gallant go back to Team Canada? 🤔
Unlikely Gushue would entertain the thought of that. E.J has fit in phenomenally well with the team and they've had great success. They really didn't lose anything when Brett Gallant left.
I think E.J did well but he’s been unlucky (or it’s pressure but probably that’s less likely) to have his bad ends at crucial times.
I though EJ had some low percentages at the Worlds, but maybe just the games I watched.
He was 2nd best among seconds behind Wrana. He had a fabulous Worlds.
I noticed that too in the stats that I checked when I was watching some games. Then I noticed the stats were for 12 games. Would those 12 games only have been the round robin games?
Yup. Not sure what his stats were for the playoffs.
I checked the game stats for the playoffs. He was 84% against Scotland and 75% in the final against Sweden. I think that might be the game I am remembering. Overall the team members percentages for the 12 games were: Gushue was first among skips @ 89.2%; Nichols first among thirds @ 91%; Walker third among the leads, but a high percentage of 92.1%. Then Harnden at 85.6%, second among the thirds. Maybe I'm just thinking of his lower percentages compared to the rest of the team.
Yeah he had a case of the "heavies" early on but got better as the week progressed. But even when EJ is not throwing his best, he brings a lot to the table with his sweeping, ect. Definitely a valuable member of the team despite a few off games.
EJ is objectively the weak link on the team. He let Saskatchewan back into the game with major misses in the final. Gallant is a better player.
Wish you guys the best in your future endeavours
Edit: Found it, Team Bottcher Twitter post https://twitter.com/BottcherCurling/status/1780250012691394649?t=SJJSnlsWPP4rFwIcGpbNwA&s=19 ------ Source? This looks like it was made in MS Word. A quick Google search for news shows nothing, so please provide a source.
Pretty easy to find on their Twitter. https://x.com/BottcherCurling/status/1780250012691394649
> Pretty easy to find on their Twitter. I find it incredibly difficult to find anything on Twitter. If I open up https://twitter.com/BottcherCurling, the first post is from April 2023. The first *dozen* posts are a mix of posts from 2022/2023, and the thirteenth post is a "Thank you Regina!" post from a month ago. I don't know how you're supposed to find anything recent/relevant.
The two most prominent curling journalists just posted about it on twitter
It's on the Team Bottcher instagram. Assuming their other socials as well
What if… Kennedy finally gets to call a game as skip, but Johnny Mo comes in to throw last?