Veteran skip Koe in veteran form with perfect run through five games at Montana’s Brier

Kevin Koe has been in vintage form this week at the Montana’s Brier.

The 51-year-old skip - the oldest in this year’s field - has captained the Alberta champions to a 5-0 record so far in St. John’s, Nfld., highlighted by a 7-6 victory over previously undefeated Team Matt Dunstone of Manitoba on Tuesday night.

Team Koe has now beaten Team Dunstone and Saskatchewan’s Team Mike McEwen, giving them a leg up in head-to-head matchups with three more games remaining in Pool B action.

“That puts us in a real good place,” Koe told reporters after shooting 88 per cent against Dunstone.

Koe is shooting 89 per cent for the tournament, leading the way among skips.

Team Koe - rounded out by third Tyler Tardi, second Aaron Sluchinski and Karrick Martin - defended their title at the Alberta men’s curling championship way back in early January.

The provincial playdowns occurred a month or so earlier than usual due to the Olympics. Furthermore, half of Koe’s Calgary-based rink were in Italy for Milano Cortina 2026 as Tardi was the alternate for Brad Jacobs’ gold-medal winning team while Sluchinski and his wife, Amanda, worked alongside the broadcast during the duration of the curling events.

As a result, Team Koe weren’t able to practice as a foursome until arriving to The Rock.

“It’s been weird coming into this. We had such a long break, close to two months. Tyler and Aaron were over in Italy for the Olympics so we didn’t play or practice once as a team until we got here,” Koe explained. “So, [it’s] a little unique, but everyone has practiced on their own. We’re feeling good, but I think we still feel like we can pick it up a little bit.”

The four-time Brier champion has turned back the clock so far this week in St. John’s. Koe’s run as a perennial Brier contender has waned in recent years, missing the playoffs the past two seasons.

Ranked ninth in Canada coming into this event, Team Koe has put up improved results in 2025-26 compared to recent years. They had an unexpectedly strong week at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in November, beating both Team Jacobs and Team Dunstone before falling apart on the last day of the round robin, finishing with a 3-4 record.

“We had a better year this year. At the Trials we played pretty good. We beat the two teams in the final and we had a bad last day against some teams that hadn’t had a great week. [We] struggled with the ice and they touched up the rocks and we just had a horrible day,” Koe explained.

Koe said it’s “been a while” since he’s felt this good at a Brier, citing his loss to Brad Gushue in the 2022 final from Lethbridge.

The foursome out of the Glencoe Club are scheduled to play Northern Ontario’s Team Sandy MacEwan (2-3) on Wednesday afternoon before wrapping up pool play on Thursday against British Columbia’s Cody Tanaka (0-5) and Yukon’s Thomas Scoffin (1-4).

The top three teams from each pool make the playoffs with the first and second-place finishers earning an entry to 1 vs. 2 page qualifiers and an “extra life” in the playoffs.

Koe won his first Tankard as a Brier rookie in 2010, adding wins in 2014, 2016 and 2019. He won the World Men’s Curling Championship in 2010 and 2016.

The winner in St. John’s will represent Canada at the 2026 World Men’s Curling Championship in Ogden, Utah from March 27 to April 4.