by Martin Gavin
Special to Northern News Services

Jamie Koe and his rink from the Yellowknife Curling Centre will enter this year's Tim Hortons Brier as one of the most experienced teams in the field.

In fact, Team NWT is the second-most experienced team in the field with 40 appearances between its team members, second only to the defending Brier champion, Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador, who will play in this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 field as Team Canada.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a real opportunity to come to the Brier and get the experience playing against the top teams. Every year, we improve or find areas for improvement,SA国际影视传媒� said Koe during the 2017 Brier.

SA国际影视传媒�(The NWT) are here every year and they are tough,SA国际影视传媒� said Gushue, SA国际影视传媒淵ou know they are a tough team which we are glad to have behind us in the round-robin each year.SA国际影视传媒�

Gushue is speaking from real experience as Koe handed Gushue one of only two losses in the 2017 version of the Brier.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's nice to beat Brad,SA国际影视传媒� said Koe.SA国际影视传媒� They are a great team (and) they win everything. We had to play our best.SA国际影视传媒�

Koe's rink of Chris Schille, Brad Chorostkowski and Robert Borden square off in their first game tomorrow night in Regina against a newcomer to the Canadian menSA国际影视传媒檚 curling championship, that being Newfoundland and Labrador's Greg Smith.

Smith had high praise for his first ever Brier opponent.

SA国际影视传媒淧laying Jamie Koe in our first game is going to be incredible,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淗e is a legend out of the North and ISA国际影视传媒檝e been watching him ever since I started curling. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 a game ISA国际影视传媒檓 certainly looking forward to playing.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭hese kids will be new and pumped and ready to go, which is scary,SA国际影视传媒� said Koe. SA国际影视传媒淪hould be a good battle (and) whoever picks up the ice and rocks quickest will have the advantage.SA国际影视传媒�

The championship begins yet another new format this year with a two-pool system of eight teams each. The top four teams in each pool will advance to a championship pool and the remaining eight will play one more game for show and hit the road.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think we match up well with five teams in our pool so if we peak at the right time, we have a decent chance to move on to the next round,SA国际影视传媒� said Koe when asked about his chances.

The ranking system ranked the northerners 16th in a field of 16, which was a surprise to many Northerners and Koe's fans.

SA国际影视传媒淭he teams are ranked based on Canadian team ranking points for that year,SA国际影视传媒� said a Curling Canada spokesperson. SA国际影视传媒淚f there is tie, a random number generator is utilized to break the tie. In this case, the Yellowknife team was tied with the Nunavut representative from Iqaluit and placed in 16th spot by the algorithm.SA国际影视传媒�

There will be no Koe vs. Koe game at this yearSA国际影视传媒檚 championship as Kevin Koe was not able to play in the Alberta Boston Pizza Cup playdowns. He was busy in South Korea representing Canada in the Olympics. Jamie was on hand in South Korea with his whole family supporting Kevin and feels that the time away will not affect his performance in the Bier in Regina,

SA国际影视传媒淚'm battling jet lag right now but I am almost over it,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚'm throwing well and on track for the first game.SA国际影视传媒�

Chorostkowski has made a name for himself in Canadian curling circles as well. YellowknifeSA国际影视传媒檚 own version of Cal Ripken Jr., who holds the record for the most consecutive games played in Major League Baseball history, has moved up among curlingSA国际影视传媒檚 most elite players in games played and appearances at the Brier. This Brier will see Brad slide into third place, one appearance behind Gushue, for overall Brier appearances with 14 and also one game ahead of curling great Kevin Martin in games played.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 interesting that I have played that many games,SA国际影视传媒� said Chorostkowski. SA国际影视传媒淭oo bad my win/loss record isnSA国际影视传媒檛 as good as Kevin Martin or Russ Howard.SA国际影视传媒�