Bottcher takes on Horgan in feature game as Brier playoffs begin on TSN

Two former teammates will go head-to-head in an elimination game as the Tim Hortons Brier playoffs begin Friday afternoon from London. 

You can watch Wild Card 1's Team Brendan Bottcher take on Northern Ontario's Team Tanner Horgan at 1pm et/10am PT on TSN 1/4 and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App. You can also catch updates of the second page qualifier between Alberta's Team Kevin Koe and Ontario's Mike McEwen LIVE during the broadcast or on TSN.ca. 

Wild Card 1 - featuring skip Brendan Bottcher, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert - posted a strong 7-1 record in round robin play, good enough to secure the second position in Pool B.

Northern Ontario - featuring fourth Tanner Horgan, skip Darren Moulding, second Jacob Horgan and lead Colin Hodgson - grabbed the third and final playoff spot in Pool A after posting a 6-2 record. 

The winner will advance to tonight's page seeding round.

This matchup is highlighted by another clash between former teammates in Bottcher and Moulding. 

The two found success curling out of Alberta together for six seasons, making four straight Brier final appearances with their lone Tankard win coming in 2021 inside the Calgary bubble. 

However, in a surprise move, Team Bottcher parted ways with Moulding last season just a few months before they were set to represent Canada at the national championship as the defending champs.

The messy breakup made headlines for weeks across the curling world with their matchup at the Brier in Lethbridge - Moulding joined New Brunswick's James Grattan after getting cut - being one of the most highly-anticipated round robin games in some time. 

Bottcher and Team Canada would win the game, 6-4. 

Bottcher is now skipping a team consisting of some of the game's best curlers while Moulding calls the shots and throws third stones for his Sudbury rink that has been competitive all week at Budweiser Gardens.

The dust has since settled between these two former teammates, but the history is still there, so it will be interesting to see how this one turns out with so much on the line. 

Ontario's Team Mike McEwen, who avoided a tiebreaker thanks to a tense win over Wild Card 3's Karsten Sturmay Thursday night,  will take on Alberta's Team Kevin Koe in the other page qualifier on Friday afternoon.