Simmons ready to skip Team Canada

What was once old is now new again for Pat Simmons.

The 40-year-old will skip Team Canada at the 2015 Ford World Men's Curling Championship in Halifax starting March 28.

“I’m confident.  I wouldn’t say I’m over confident. We were tried, tested and battle tested through the Brier to do what we did which is a huge factor and certainly motivating and a good boost to the confidence for sure,” Simmons told TSN.ca from his chiropractor’s office in Moose Jaw. “It still doesn’t change that I haven’t skipped very much. I still think I probably need to do a little improving as far as the overall bit of that. ”

Simmons skipped a very good rink out his home province of Saskatchewan for nine years, appearing in five Briers and grabbing bronze in 2008 in Winnipeg. He then joined Kevin Koe’s Alberta team for the 2011-12 season as a third and was integral in their 2014 Brier victory. The foursome, now led by John Morris, got an automatic entry to this year’s Brier in Calgary as Team Canada, but got off to a slow 2-3 start.

A change needed to be made.

“That was all John [Morris] basically,” said Simmons on the team’s decision to shake up the lineup after a loss to Saskatchewan. “When we got together that night for a meeting that was just John, putting it all on the table and saying ‘the start to the Brier has kind of been the story of our year and at this rate we’re going to have a heck of a time accomplishing our goal this week.’ So he purposed the change.”

Simmons took over full skip duties and Morris moved down to third, a position he excelled at when he played under Kevin Martin.

Almost instantly, Team Canada looked re-energized with a completely new confidence and surged to an 8-1 record the rest of the way. Simmons capped it off with a draw to the button in the extra end of the final against Northern Ontario to repeat as Brier champions.

“I think everyone upped the ante a little bit which really needed to happen and we all played well,” explained Simmons. “Most teams I don’t know could have done what we did considering the year and what we’ve gone through or lack of what we’ve gone through. Just a super team effort I would say.”

Simmons, who splits his time between Calgary and Moose Jaw, says he was a little surprised at how fast he became comfortable at his new-old position.

“I thought it came back a lot quicker than I thought it would. I enjoyed the mental part of it again and seeing the game in a different light at the other end,” said the husband and father of two. “I really enjoyed being in those tough games against those good teams and the mental battle that ensues when you’re the skip.”

Going into the World Championship in Beijing last year Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen knew that Koe would be leaving at season’s end, but Simmons says that had nothing to do with the team’s disappointing fourth-place finish.

“I felt going into Worlds myself that it was kind of behind us and we had talked all that through and there was an understanding to go be the team that we typically were,” he said.

The fact that the Worlds are back in Canada this time around is especially exciting for Simmons as the conditions in Beijing were below average.

“A - We’re going to have a great atmosphere and a great bunch of fans, fans that are backing us which is fantastic. B – We know what we’re in for as far as the facility and the ice. Everyone working in that respect knows the importance of the little details,” said Simmons.

You can catch all of Canada’s action live throughout the week on TSN and you can follow the latest news on TSN.ca. Draw 1 kicks off on March 28 at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt on TSN3 and TSN5 with Team Canada facing Team USA.