Brendan Bottcher moved from second back to skip this season and says the new-look Team Bottcher has started well in early events.
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Brendan Bottcher’s return to the skip position has agreed with him so far this season, and he says the same has carried over to his new-look foursome.
“It felt great doing something else, but it certainly feels like I'm back home as well this year,” Bottcher said.
Bottcher is a national champion who won a world title in 2021, and the previous quadrennial began with him on a new rink before he was replaced by Brad Jacobs after two seasons.
He briefly shifted to coaching, working with Rachel Homan’s top-ranked women’s team for a few months, before returning to men’s play as second on Brad Gushue’s side.
That team disbanded after Gushue’s retirement last spring, but lead Geoff Walker remained with Bottcher.
Bottcher then added brothers Jacob and Tanner Horgan, creating a team with a mix of youth and experience.
“The new-look Team Bottcher has been going great, and I think you can see it in our results,” Bottcher said.
He said the team has played five events, qualified for playoffs in all five, and made it deeper into the playoffs in a handful of them.
Bottcher also cited the team’s focus on “winning some curling games” and said the group is “off to a good start.”
In the four bonspiels leading up to the start of this week, Bottcher guided the team to semifinal appearances in four straight events before they fell to Brad Jacobs in the quarterfinals last month at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Co-op Invitational.
At this week’s Slam stop in Medicine Hat, Alta., Bottcher was scheduled to open round-robin play Tuesday night against John Epping.
Walker is the veteran on the team, with Tanner Horgan, 28, throwing second rocks ahead of his brother Jacob, 26.
Bottcher, 34, said the transition has included taking on a more leadership-oriented role, noting that the team is focused on winning major events including Slams and the Brier.
At No. 10 in World Curling’s world rankings, Bottcher’s team is one of three Canadian teams in the top 10, joined by Matt Dunstone at No. 3 and Jacobs at No. 6, while Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland is listed at No. 1 and Scotland’s Grant Hardie at No. 2.
Play at the P&H Masters continues through Sunday’s finals.
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