Kevin Koe and Brad Gushue were the best of the best in men's curling this year. Check out TSN.ca's recap of this past season on the men's side and what to look out for in 2016-17 when Olympic qualification ramps up.

 

Team Kevin Koe (Calgary, Alta)

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CTRS Rankings: 531.160 (1st)
WCT Money List: $143,356 (2nd)
Events Won: 7

Kevin Koe had the greatest season of his curling career in 2015-16. It was the second year lead Ben Hebert, second Brent Laing, third Marc Kennedy and skip Koe played together and the improvement from a season ago was noticeable from the very beginning. 

They started things off by winning the inaugural Tour Challenge on the Grand Slam circuit in early September from Paradise, Nfld., beating crowd favourite Brad Gushue in the final. After a cashspiel win on the World Curling Tour, Team Koe would capture the Canada Cup in Grande Prairie, Alta., punching their ticket to the 2017 Canadian Olympic Trials in the process (Dec. 2-10, 2017 from Ottawa). After beating Charley Thomas in the Alberta playdowns, Koe and company made their way to the Canadian championship in March. Team Koe put together a solid week of curling, posting an 8-3 record in the round robin and then would go on to win both the Page Playoff 3vs4 game against Manitoba's Mike McEwen and a memorable semifinal against the Olympic champs led by Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario. They would top Gushue in the final once again to claim the Brier title in a field that was considered the most talented in its history. It was the third career Brier championship for each member of the foursome. The curlers from Calgary didn't stop there though as they cruised to another first-place finish at the world championships in Basel, Switzerland just a month later.

Team Koe will be a team to be reckoned with again next season. They don't have to worry about securing their spot for the 2017 Trials, but will still look to add a few trophies to the mantel piece and will wear Team Canada colours at the 2017 Brier in in St. John's, Nfld.  

 

Team Brad Gushue (St. John's, Nfld)

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CTRS Rankings: 527.643 (2nd)
WCT Money List: $194,051 (1st)
Events Won: 9

Just like Koe, Brad Gushue had the greatest season of his career in 2015-16, but was still one win away from making it perfect.

His group from St. John's won a load of events including The National, Elite 10 and Players' Championship on the Grand Slam schedule and made national headlines after Gushue suffered a nasty face first fall at The Masters on Halloween.

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Gushue also made it to his second career Brier final, but once again the 35-year-old came up short, losing 9-5 to Koe. This was the 13th national championship appearance for Gushue, but still has yet to stand atop the podium at week's end. All things considered, winning $194,051 on Tour, over $50,000 more than his closest competitor, is something to be proud of.

Team Gushue will be back next year as one of the top rinks in the game and for the first time since 1972, the Brier will be held in Gushue's hometown of St. John's. Maybe losing the Canadian title this season was a blessing in disguise. Winning his first Brier on home soil in front of endearing fans would be a career defining moment for Gushue.     

 

Team Mike McEwen (Winnipeg, Man)

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CTRS Rankings: 457.921 (3rd)
WCT Money List: $119,613 (4th)
Events Won: 4

Mike McEwen was finally able to cross an important curling goal off his list this winter. At 35, McEwen and his rink of nine seasons finally qualified for their first Brier after many years of being one of the top teams in the game. They posted an 8-3 record, good enough to qualify for the weekend, but fell to the eventual champions from Alberta in the Page Playoff 3vs4 game. 

Outside of the Brier, Team McEwen put together another solid season on Tour, but were unable to win the money title for a third consecutive campaign. The Winnipeg rink won three events, including one Grand Slam, and made the final of the Canada Cup where they fell to Koe 7-3.

Team McEwen will likely return to the ice in 2016-17 with the same foursome, marking a 10th straight year of playing together. Their decade run is the longest in the sport today and they'll look to capture their first Brier title as well as a ticket to the 2017 Olympic Trials.

 

Team Reid Carruthers (Winnipeg, Man)

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CTRS Rankings: 397.944 (4th)
WCT Money List: $120,085 (3rd)
Events Won: 2
 

Reid Carruthers is giving Mr. McEwen a run for his money as the skip of the best rink in Manitoba.

After beating McEwen in the province's final (to qualify for the Brier) two years ago, Team Carruthers were unable to get back to the Canadian championship this season, but still put up good numbers otherwise. The 31-year-old Carruthers, who won a Brier and world championship in 2011 as Jeff Stoughton's second, lost in two Grand Slam finals this year before finally coming through victorious at the season-ending Championship Cup where he bettered Toronto's John Epping to claim the title. With the win, Team Carruthers edged his provincial rival on the WCT Money List. 

The future looks bright for this rink as they'll enter their third season together in 2016-17.

 

Team Brad Jacobs (Sault Ste. Marie, NO)

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CTRS Rankings: 345.129 (6th)
WCT Money List: $66,900 (9th)
Events Won: 2

The 2014 Olympic champions were probably hoping for a few more wins this season. 

Aside from repeating as the TSN Skins Game champs in January, taking home $71,000 in cold hard cash in the process, Team Jacobs failed to win an event all year (aside from provincials) in 11 played. The only final they made was the Players' Championship in Toronto where they lost to Team Gushue. They claimed bronze at the Brier, but were expecting much more than that after finishing the round robin with a perfect 11-0 record looking like a team that was destined to win their second Canadian championship.

So 2015-16 was a down year (for their standards) for Team Jacobs, but curling fans should expect a change of fortune for the boys from Sault Ste. Marie when September rolls around.

 

Team John Epping (Toronto, Ont)

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CTRS Rankings: 369.167 (5th)
WCT Money List: $94,749 (5th)
Events Won: 2

John Epping's shining moment this season came at Canadian Open in Yorkton, Sask. back in December when he edged Gushue 7-4 to win his first Grand Slam title since 2012. He added to that with a win at the U.S. Open less than a month later.

On the negative side of things, the 33-year-old lost the Ontario Tankard final for a second straight year in heartbreaking fashion. Curling legend Glenn Howard made a very tough double angle-raise takeout with the last shot to score two and qualify for his 16th career Brier.     

With McEwen's appearance this year in Ottawa, Epping takes over the role as the best skip to never qualify for the Brier. Next season will be the second full-year with Mathew Camm throwing vice stones for Team Epping and they should be competitive once again.

 

Team Steve Laycock (Saskatoon, Sask)

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CTRS Rankings: 324.012 (7th)
WCT Money List: $81,085 (6th)
Events Won: 2

Sasky skip Steve Laycock played in a fair number of events (15 in fact) this season. He took the Canad Inns Men's Classic in October from Portage la Prairie, Man. in October, beating Koe in the final. Team Laycock made it to five semifinals this season, including two Grand Slam semis, to win the most money of his career. In his sixth Brier appearance, Laycock finished with a 5-6 record amongst a very tough field. 

The 2016-17 curling season will likely mark the fifth year of skip Laycock, third Kirk Muyres, second Colton Flasch and lead Dallan Muyres together. It's evident they're the best team from the Prairie province, but it will be interesting to see if they can continue to improve at big events like the Brier and the Grand Slams.

 

Team Glenn Howard (Penetanguishene, ON)

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CTRS Rankings: 268.134 (8th)
WCT Money List: $47,000 (10th)
Events Won: 1

For the first time since 2013, 53-year-old Glenn Howard returned to the Canada's championship this year. And to make it all the more special, he got to play with his son Scott who joined the rink after being a part of Mark Kean's Brier team the previous year. Team Howard, who was without Wayne Middaugh due to a broken leg, went 4-7 in the nation’s capital. 

The foursome made the finals of the Shorty Jenkins Classic and the StuSells Toronto Tankard, but lost to Gushue and McEwen respectively. 

Howard and company will look for another Brier appearance in 2016-17 and hope to take a step closer towards qualifying for the 2017 Olympic Trials. 

 

Team David Murdoch (Scotland)

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CTRS Rankings: NA
WCT Money List: $75,349 (7th)
Events Won: 4

Scotland's David Murdoch really heated up over the second half of the season. From mid-December through mid-April, Team Murdoch picked up four wins including the German Masters and EURONICS European Masters on the Champions Curling Tour.

Murdoch did not play at this year's world championships in Basel, Switzerland.

 

Team Niklas Edin (Sweden)

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CTRS Rankings: NA
WCT Money List: $74,357 (8th)
Events Won: 1

Two-time world champion Niklas Edin won his first event of the season - the Baden Masters in Switzerland - but then failed to find his groove the rest of the season. The best team in Sweden would not win another event and failed to make the semifinals in any of the seven Grand Slams.

Team Sweden went 6-5 at the Worlds and failed to make the playoff round to defend their title from a year before.