Vernon’s Jim Cotter has to quickly shake the pattern of win one-lose two to get back into the hunt at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men’s curling championship in Ottawa.
Cotter and his rink of Ryan Kuhn, Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky sat at 2-4 following action Tuesday, which saw the B.C. champs lose 8-4 to Pat Simmons’ Team Canada rink (4-2) in the afternoon, and 6-5 in the morning draw to Jean-Michel Menard (2-3) of Quebec.
Going into play Tuesday night, Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs was on top at 5-0. Brad Gushue of Newfoundland/Labrador was 5-1 followed by Simmons and Kevin Koe of Alberta at 4-2. Glenn Howard of Ontario and Steven Laycock of Saskatchewan were 3-3.
It was one of those days Tuesday for Cotter and company.
They gave up five in the fourth end in the afternoon loss to Simmons, the second five-ender to that point in the tournament (Koe scored five in a romp over Adam Casey of PEI).
In the morning against Menard, leading 5-4 in the final end without the hammer, Cotter had rocks in play and was poised to steal for the win. Menard, however, made an incredible triple takeout with his final rock to score a deuce for the 6-5 win.
Cotter, appearing in his third straight Brier and sixth overall, opened the championships Saturday with an 8-4 win over Casey, breaking open a close game with three in the seventh end for a 7-3 advantage.
The B.C. champs played twice Sunday, losing 8-4 to Laycock and 5-3 to Jacobs, before getting back into the win column Monday with an impressive 9-5 decision over Howard.
Cotter takes on Koe and Manitoba’s Mike McEwen today. The top four teams advance to the playoffs Friday. The final is Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time.