KINGSTON, Ont. – In between ends, you can usually catch Brendan Bottcher casually sitting on the back padding waiting for play to resume.

It doesn’t matter if the 28-year-old skip just executed a highlight-reel shot to score a bunch or whiffed completely to give up a steal. Bottcher is always cool, calm and collected no matter the situation. Always. 

“He truly is the machine that you see, that’s Brendan,” said his third Darren Moulding. “I’ve never really seen him lose it. He’s pretty unflappable. The guy has a good head on his shoulders, and I think he’s the greatest curling mentality in the game.”

That demeanour has gotten Bottcher and his Alberta rink to the Tim Hortons Brier playoffs for the third year in row. Alberta finished first after championship round play with a 10-1 record and will square off against Saskatchewan’s Matt Dunstone in the Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game on Saturday afternoon.

“I think it helps,” Bottcher said of his calm persona minutes after making an impressive game-winner to beat Team Wild Card 4-2 Friday night. “But we all have to be working together. And today I think we did a good job of that and all week we’ve been doing a good job of that. If I can add a bit of a calming influence on the guys, then I’ll certainly try to.”

Alberta’s foursome of Bottcher, Moulding, Bradley Thiessen and Karrick Martin have been rolling on all cylinders this week at Leon’s Centre, with their only loss coming to Canada’s Kevin Koe Thursday after a rare late-game miss from Bottcher.

But a lot of the stories around Team Bottcher this week have been about what’s happened to them in the past. Bottcher joined Al Hackner and Guy Hemmings as the only skips in history to lose in back-to-back Brier finals last year after dropping the championship tilt to Koe in Brandon. He lost to Brad Gushue in the 2018 final in Regina. No skip has lost three in a row.

So, did Bottcher dwell on those stinging championship losses?

“Not too long. I think some guys would dwell on it maybe a little longer than I did personally,” Bottcher told TSN.ca earlier this week. “They were both amazing weeks and were really good accomplishments in themselves. It’s always a bit crappy to lose that last game, but that’s kind of how it goes.”

It’s appears Bottcher’s mentality is starting to rub off on other members of his rink as well.

“I think it’s confidence. I think it’s playing for each other. I know for me, and think the rest of the team would agree, we have a theory that if you prepare and try as hard as you can on every shot, then no matter the result, you’re OK with that,” said Moulding. “That’s what I kind of remind myself every time I get upset or feel like things are slipping away, I just remind myself to work as hard as can, do as well as I can all the time, then at least I won’t regret anything.”

Martin says he’s very similar to Bottcher in that way on the ice.

“I think that’s the way you go to be in those high-pressure situations,” he said. “Darren is there to bring us up if we need it. We know if there’s a shot to be made, Brendan is going to make it.”

Two-time Brier champ Don Bartlett was brought on to serve as coach for Team Bottcher this week in Kingston after a trial run at the Canada Cup in November went swimmingly. He says Bottcher’s way of thinking is what you need to win at this level.

“Nothing fazes him. Bad end. Bad shot. He gets over it real quick and that’s a sign of a champion,” said Bartlett, who also calls Bottcher one of the greatest shooters in the game right now.

The 59-year-old Bartlett, who spent his best years as a lead for Kevin Martin’s rink, knows what it’s like to lose in a final at a major event. Bartlett settled for silver at the 1985 and 1996 Briers, the 1991 world championships and the toughest of them all, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

“I’ve always said ‘fear the team that lost last year’s final.’ They’ve lost two, so hopefully that’s enough,” he said. 

Moulding, a 37-year-old head ice technician from Lacombe, Alta., says they could use the experiences from those Brier losses to propel them forward. 

“We’re proud with how we’ve done. It’s hard to make it to the Brier final,” he said. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Both games in the finals were great. We feel confident. We want another shot at it.”

The Page playoff 1 vs. 2 game goes Saturday at 2 pm ET on TSN 1/3/4.