Team Simmons’ unprecedented shakeup gets the spotlight Sunday on TSN

With the COVID-19 global pandemic putting a halt to sports - including curling - for the foreseeable future, TSN will deliver classic curling matches every Sunday night to help fill the granite void. Check out the preview for this Sunday's games featuring Team Pat Simmons and their memorable defence of the Brier Tankard in 2015.

Calgary put on quite the show at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier.

The Canadian championship was so intriguing that year because of the number of compelling storylines coming into the week.

For the first time in the 84-year history of the Brier, there was a Team Canada. Curling Canada changed the format of the national men’s championship to mirror the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, meaning Team Canada would be represented by the previous year’s winner.

Sunday Sweeps Broadcast Schedule - April 26

2015 Brier Page 3 vs. 4 Playoff: Canada (Simmons) vs. Saskatchewan (Laycock): 4pm ET on TSN1, streaming on TSN.ca, the TSN App and TSN Direct

2015 Brier Semi-final: Canada (Simmons) vs. Newfoundland (Gushue): 7pm ET on TSN1, streaming on TSN.ca, the TSN App and TSN Direct

2015 Brier Final: Canada (Simmons) vs. Northern Ontario (Jacobs): 10pm ET on TSN1, streaming on TSN.ca, the TSN App and TSN Direct

Kevin Koe, alongside third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen, captured the 2014 Brier Tankard in Kamloops, B.C., by beating John Morris’ home province rink in the final.

However, in a somewhat shocking move, Koe announced he would be stepping away from his Brier-wining rink following the world men’s curling championship in Beijing, China, to form a new foursome in attempt to qualify for the 2018 Olympics.

After finishing off the podium at worlds, Koe was gone, leaving the Canadian champions without a skip.

Enter Morris, the man they beat to capture the Canadian title in Kamloops just a few months prior.

Morris, a two-time Brier and Olympic champ, took over skip duties to start the 2015-16 campaign as the new rink played a light schedule ahead of the Brier at Scotiabank Saddledome.

Despite being the defending champions and the hometown rink, Calgary's Team Morris were not the favourites to repeat with the likes of Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs, Newfoundland’s Brad Gushue, British Columbia’s Jim Cotter, Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock and Alberta’s Koe – now playing with Marc Kennedy, Brent Laing and Ben Hebert – in the stacked field.

It’s safe to say Canada didn’t come out of the gate guns blazing either.

After losses to Gushue, Laycock and PEI’s Adam Casey, they held a record of 2-3 following Monday’s play and didn’t look like a playoff team.

A change was needed.

So, Morris called a meeting that night after an 8-4 loss to Saskatchewan and proposed Simmons take over skip duties.

“That was all John [Morris] basically,” Simmons told TSN.ca. “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.”

The unprecedented move worked. With Simmons, who had skipped his home province of Saskatchewan at Briers in the past, throwing last rocks and Morris playing third, Canada reeled off a 5-1 record the rest of the way in the round robin, including a 6-3 win over their former captain in Koe and his Alberta rink. The win was crucial as it meant Team Simmons earned the final playoff spot with a 7-4 record, one game ahead of Team Koe’s 6-5 showing.

Making the page playoffs after such a slow start was a real accomplishment. But the defending champions were just getting warmed up.

In the page 3 vs. 4 game, Canada faced Saskatchewan’s Team Laycock, the first game of a tripleheader airing this Sunday at 4pm ET on TSN1. Saskatchewan was making its first playoff appearance at the Brier since 2008, when Simmons skipped the prairie province to the final four.

The contest was an exciting affair, with Team Simmons shooting a collective 90 per cent. Team Laycock sent it to an extra end with a two-spot in the 10th end, but their skip wrecked on his last throw in the 11th, handing Canada a dramatic 8-7 win, their sixth in the last seven games.

Up next was Gushue and his rink from St. John’s, Nfld., in the semifinals, the second game of TSN’s tripleheader airing this Sunday at 7pm ET on TSN1. Team Jacobs, the 2013 champs, were waiting in the finals.

Gushue was hungry to claim his first Canadian championship after making many deep runs in the past. Newfoundland defeated a Morris-led Team Canada, 9-7, in Draw 3 by picking up a deuce in the 11th end. The skipper seemed to be locked in as well, posting a 9-2 round-robin record that included a remarkable Hail Mary winner to beat Alberta in Draw 12 – a shot that has gone down as one of the best in Brier history.

In the semis, Team Gushue held a 4-3 lead over Team Simmons through seven ends. Canada scored two in the eighth before Newfoundland took their one-point advantage back, scoring a deuce of their own in the ninth end.

It was going to come down to the wire once again for the defending champs.

Newfoundland had first and third shot stones with Canada’s second shot stone sandwiched in between. Simmons needed to make some granite move with his last to avoid the steal and a loss. Rycroft and Thiessen were on the brush as soon as Simmons released the rock. The sweepers held the line, helping Simmons to execute the shot perfectly to score three and the 8-6 win.

Next up was Team Jacobs and the boys from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the final, the third and final game on TSN’s tripleheader, airing Sunday at 10pm ET on TSN1.

After winning their first Canadian championship in 2013 and then Olympic gold in 2014, Team Jacobs was the rink everybody was chasing. The Northern Ontario foursome went 10-1 in the round robin, beating Canada, 6-3, in their last round-robin game.

The first four ends of the championship game were blanks for the first time in Brier history. Things heated up in the later stages, with Team Simmons taking three in the ninth before Team Jacobs sent the game to an extra with a deuce in the 10th.

It all came down to Simmons needing to “bite the white” to defend the Canadian championship with the last throw of the game. As Canada’s stone came to a rest, Simmons tossed his broom and raised his hands as a Canadian champ, finishing one of the wildest weeks in Brier history.

It marked just the second time in page playoff history (since 1995) that the fourth-seeded team captured the Brier Tankard. The first happened two years prior when Team Jacobs accomplished the feat.

Relive it all this Sunday on TSN!