Kevin Koe

Kevin Koe (/ˈkuːiː/ KOO-ee; born January 11, 1975) is a Canadian curler. Koe is a two-time World champion and four-time Canadian champion. He was the skip of the Canadian men's team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

Kevin Koe
Curler
Born	January 11, 1975 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
Team
Curling club	The Glencoe Club, Calgary, AB
Skip	Kevin Koe
Third	B. J. Neufeld
Second	John Morris
Lead	Ben Hebert
Alternate	Ted Appelman
Career
Member Association	Northwest Territories (1989–1994; 1998–1999)  Alberta (1994–1998; 1999–present)
Brier appearances	8 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)
World Championship appearances	4 (2010, 2014, 2016, 2019)
Olympic appearances	1 (2018)
Top CTRS ranking	1st (2015-16, 2018-19)
Grand Slam victories	5 (2004 Players', 2012 Masters, 2013 Canadian Open, 2015 Tour Challenge, 2018 Players')
Medal record Representing  Canada Men's Curling World Curling Championships 2010 Cortina d'Ampezzo 2016 Basel 2019 Lethbridge Tim Hortons Brier 2017 St. John's Representing  Alberta Tim Hortons Brier 2010 Halifax 2014 Kamloops 2016 Ottawa 2019 Brandon 2012 Saskatoon Canadian Olympic Curling Trials 2017 Ottawa 2005 Halifax Representing  Northwest Territories Arctic Winter Games 1994 Slave Lake

Originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, he now resides in Calgary, Alberta and curls out of The Glencoe Club. He learned to curl at the age of six in Inuvik, Northwest Territories.[1]

Career

Junior career

After several trips to the territorial junior men's curling championships, Koe finally won in 1994. This earned him the right to skip the Northwest Territories/Yukon team at the 1994 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. He led the team, which consisted of his brother Jamie at third, second Mark Whitehead and lead Kevin Whitehead to an 8-3 round robin record, in a three-way tie for first. This gave them a direct spot into the final against Alberta's Colin Davison, to whom they lost 6-5 amidst a controversy involving a burnt rock. The following year, he moved to Alberta for school, and made it to the finals of the 1995 Alberta Junior championships, where he lost to Cameron Dechant. It was his team's only loss in the tournament.[2]

Early men's career in Edmonton

After university, Koe stayed in the more competitive province of Alberta, first settling in Edmonton.

Koe's early career included skipping Team Alberta at the 2000 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, with teammates Susan O'Connor, Greg Northcott and Lawnie Goodfellow. He led the team to an 8-3 round robin record, and won both of their playoff games to claim the Canadian Mixed title. His early career on the World Curling Tour included winning the 1999 Dunlop Ford Cash Classic and the 2002 Pointoptical Curling Classic.

From 2003 to 2006 he played third for John Morris, with whom Koe would win his first Grand Slam event, the 2004 Players' Championship. The team played in the 2005 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, going 6–3 in the round robin, and losing in the semifinal. During this time, the team would also win the 2005 Meyers Norris Penny Charity Classic. In 2006, Koe left the Morris rink and formed his own team with Blake MacDonald throwing fourth stones, Koe skipping at third, Carter Rycroft at second and Nolan Thiessen at lead. In their first season together, Koe would win the 2006 Roaming Buffalo Classic.

Up until 2010, Koe had little success in his attempts to win a provincial title on the men's stage, as he and his rink were in the shadows of fellow Edmontonian Kevin Martin, widely considered to be one of the best curlers of all time. In 2007, he almost went to the Brier, but lost in the provincial finals to Kevin Martin. In both the 10th and 11th ends, his team's then-fourth player, Blake MacDonald (Koe skipped and threw third stones) had a draw to the eight-foot to win, but missed on both opportunities. The next season, the team would win the 2007 John Shea Insurance Canada Cup Qualifier.

Two months after winning the Twin Anchors Invitational, the team played in the 2009 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, finishing the round robin with a 4–3 record, missing the playoffs. Later that season, Koe finally won a provincial championship, benefiting from an absent Martin who would be preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Koe went on to win the 2010 Brier, beating Ontario's Glenn Howard in the final. Koe's rink became the first team to come out of the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game to win the Brier, and he became the first rookie skip to win the Brier since Vic Peters in 1992. Koe finished with a 9-2 round robin record at the 2010 Capital One World Men's Curling Championship, finishing second behind Norway. However, in the playoffs, Koe beat Norway twice to claim his first world title.

The season following their World championship, the Koe rink would win three World Curling Tour events, the 2010 Twin Anchors Invitational, the Skookum WCT Cash Spiel and the March 2011 DeKalb Superspiel. They would not repeat their World title however, as they would lose in the final of the 2011 Boston Pizza Cup to Kevin Martin.

Move to Calgary (2011–2014)

Koe moved to Calgary in 2011. At the same time, his long-time fourth, Blake MacDonald, retired, and was replaced by Pat Simmons. Koe returned to the Brier in 2012, for the second time in his career. In doing so, he broke an 18-year drought for the city of Calgary in winning the Alberta provincial championship, representing the city's Glencoe Club. He was helped by the fact that the Olympic champion Kevin Martin rink lost in the semifinal, avoiding a final match-up of province's top two ranked teams. At the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, Koe led Team Alberta to an 8–3 record. In the playoffs he had to face off against his brother Jamie's team from the Northwest Territories in the 3 vs. 4 game, which he won. He then won the semifinal, before losing to Ontario (skipped by Glenn Howard) in the final. Also that season, Koe won the TSN Skins Game event, pocketing $43,900 for his team.

Koe finally won his first Grand Slam title as a skip at the 2012 Masters. After going 3–2 in the group stage, he led his team to three straight playoff wins to claim the title. Also that season, he won the 2012 Canad Inns Prairie Classic and the 2012 Cactus Pheasant Classic. The next season, Koe won another slam title at the 2013 Canadian Open of Curling, losing just one game in the process. The next month, Team Koe played in the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, but finished with a 2–5 record, missing the playoffs. On the tour, the team won the 2013 Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic.

Koe's rink won their second provincial title in 2014, finally defeating Kevin Martin in the final. At the 2014 Brier Koe's rink won their second Canadian championship, defeating John Morris' British Columbia rink 10–5 in the final.[3] Koe's rink then went on to represent Canada at the 2014 World Men's Curling Championship. After finishing the round robin in 2nd place with an 8–3 record, the team collapsed in the playoffs, losing all three of their games, including the bronze medal game, settling for fourth place.

A new team (2014-2018)

Koe's win at the 2014 Brier gave his team an automatic bye (as Team Canada) at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier, following a rule change by the Canadian Curling Association. However, Koe announced that he was leaving his team to form a new team to prepare for the 2018 Olympics in South Korea,[4] leaving him ineligible to represent Team Canada at the 2015 Brier. Somewhat ironically, Koe's former teammates recruited 2014 runner-up Morris to skip Team Canada for the 2015 Brier. Koe's new team consisted of lead Ben Hebert and third Marc Kennedy who had previously played on the 2010 Olympic champion Kevin Martin rink and second Brent Laing from Ontario who had left the Glenn Howard rink. With his new team, Koe successfully repeated as Albertan champion in the 2015 Boston Pizza Cup, which qualified him to represent Alberta at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier. There, he led his new team to a 6–5 record, missing the playoffs. On the tour, his new team won the Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic and the Karuizawa International Curling Championship.

Koe and his new rink found more success in the 2015–16 season. The team began the season by winning the inaugural GSOC Tour Challenge Grand Slam event. They would also win the 2015 Canada Cup of Curling and would go on to win the 2016 Boston Pizza Cup, sending their team to that year's Brier. After going 8–3 at the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, Koe and his foursome railed off three straight victories in the playoffs (again having to come out of the 3 vs. 4 game), defeating Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue in the final. The team would represent Canada at the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship, losing just one game en route to winning the gold medal. Koe led Canada to a 5–3 win over Denmark, skipped by Rasmus Stjerne, in the final. On the tour, the team won the Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic again and the Mercure Perth Masters. They would finish the season in first place on the World Curling Tour Order of Merit rankings and in the CTRS standings.

Koe's win at the 2016 Brier qualified the team to represent Team Canada at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier. Koe again led his team to an 8-3 round robin record, and again had to fight through the 3 vs. 4 game and the semifinals in the playoffs to make it to the final, where he faced Brad Gushue in a re-match of the 2016 Brier. However, Gushue and his Newfoundland rink would win the re-match in front of a partisan home crowd. Earlier in the year, Koe would win the 2017 Pinty's All-Star Curling Skins Game, winning $71,000 for his team. On the tour, the team would win the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic and the Red Deer Curling Classic.

Later in the year, Team Koe played in the 2017 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, leading his team to a 7-1 round robin record, which put him in the final against Mike McEwen. Koe would get the better of McEwen, qualifying his rink to represent Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where the team placed fourth overall after losing the semi final match to Team Shuster of the United States and falling short in the bronze medal match versus Switzerland.[5] On April 15, 2018, Koe won the Player's Championship Grand Slam of Curling event with a 6–2 victory over Niklas Edin of Sweden.

After the season, Kennedy and Laing left the team and were replaced with B. J. Neufeld and Colton Flasch.

Post Olympics (2018-present)

Koe and his new team began the 2018–19 season by winning the first leg of the Curling World Cup, defeating Norway's Steffen Walstad in the final. They also lost the final of the 2018 Canada Cup to Brad Jacobs 5–4. In provincial playdowns, the Koe rink lost two of their first three games at the 2019 Boston Pizza Cup, before winning five straight games to claim the Alberta championship. The team represented Alberta at the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier, and went undefeated in the entire tournament, winning the event by beating their provincial rivals, Team Brendan Bottcher who were the Wild Card entry. They went on to represent Canada at the 2019 World Men's Curling Championship, finishing the round robin with a 9–3 record. They battled through the playoffs to play Team Sweden's Niklas Edin rink in the final, losing 7–2. In Grand Slam play, the team failed to win any slams, but did make it to three finals. Despite the lack of any event wins, their strong play was good enough to award them with the Pinty's Cup for the season's best Slam team.[6] The team ended the season in the Grand Final of the Curling World Cup, where they beat the host Chinese team (Zou Qiang).

Team Koe started their 2019–20 season at the 2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic and lost in the quarterfinal to Brad Jacobs. They lost the final of the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard to the Jacobs rink as well. In Grand Slam play, they made the semifinal of the Tour Challenge and the quarterfinals of the National. They missed the playoffs at both the Masters and the Canadian Open. At the Canada Cup, they finished the round robin with a 5–1, which qualified them for the final which they lost to John Epping. At the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier they finished the championship pool with a 7–4 record, which was a four-way tie for fourth. They faced Jacobs in the first round of tiebreakers where they lost 8–3 and were eliminated. It would be the team's last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] On March 16, 2020, Team Koe announced they would be parting ways with second Colton Flasch.[8] The following day, the team announced they would be adding John Morris to the team as their new second.[9]

Personal life

His brother, Jamie Koe, has represented the Territories in four of the last five Briers, while his sister Kerry has represented the Territories in five of the last six Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Chief Jim Koe of Aklavik,[10] Kevin's grandfather, was the pioneer behind the family's involvement in curling. Kevin's father, Fred, a politician and former skip, participated at the 1999 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship alongside Jamie and Kerry. Fred is part of the Gwich'in First Nations tribe, which connects Kevin to the indigenous community in the Northwest Territories.[11] The Koe family, received a recognition award at the Aboriginal Sports Circle of Northwest Territories awards dinner, for their years of service in the curling community.

Koe, who was born in Edmonton, Alberta,[12] attended École Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife, where he was later inducted into the Falcons Hall of Fame,[13] before moving to Alberta to attend the University of Calgary.[14] Koe was the recipient of the 2016 Scott-Mamini Memorial Award, for Male Athlete of the Year, given by the Calgary Booster Club.[15] Koe works as a surface landman for Repsol Canada.[16] He is married[17] and has two children.[18]

Grand Slam record

Key
C	Champion
F	Lost in Final
SF	Lost in Semifinal
QF	Lost in Quarterfinals
R16	Lost in the round of 16
Q	Did not advance to playoffs
T2	Played in Tier 2 event
DNP	Did not participate in event
N/A	Not a Grand Slam event that season

Event	2002–03	2003–04	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14	2014–15	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20
Elite 10	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	SF	SF	SF	SF	QF	N/A
Masters	DNP	QF	Q	QF	QF	F	F	F	QF	QF	C	QF	QF	SF	Q	SF	F	Q
Tour Challenge	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	C	Q	Q	QF	SF
National	DNP	DNP	QF	Q	F	F	Q	SF	Q	QF	SF	QF	Q	QF	QF	QF	SF	QF
Canadian Open	DNP	DNP	SF	F	SF	Q	Q	Q	SF	Q	QF	C	SF	SF	Q	SF	QF	Q
Players'	Q	C	Q	QF	DNP	SF	QF	SF	SF	Q	Q	QF	QF	QF	QF	C	F	N/A
Champions Cup	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	QF	F	SF	F	N/A

Teams

Season	Skip	Third	Second	Lead	Events
1989–90[19]	Kevin Koe	Conan Donahue	Gordon McDermid	Brad Chorostkowski
1990–91[20]	Kevin Koe
1991–92[21]	Kevin Koe	Darcy Moshenko	Jaret Moshenko	Brad Chorostkowski
1992–93[22]	Kevin Koe	Jamie Koe	Mark Whitehead	Brad Chorostkowski
1993–94	Kevin Koe	Jamie Koe	Mark Whitehead	Kevin Whitehead	1994 CJCC
1994–95	Kevin Koe
1995–96[23]	Mickey Pendergast	Kevin Koe	Kevin Pendergast	Doug Marks	1996 Alta.
1996–97	Mickey Pendergast	Kevin Koe	Kevin Pendergast	Bryan Blaylock
1997–98	Mickey Pendergast	Kevin Koe	Kevin Pendergast	Eugene Doherty
1998–99	Kevin Koe				1999 Terr.[24]
1999–00	Kevin Koe	John Ferguson Adrian Bakker[25]	Scott Cripps	Jamie Koe
2000–01	Kevin Koe	Jamie Koe	Scott Cripps	Mike Westlund	2001 Alta.
2001–02	Kevin Koe
2002–03	Kevin Koe	Jamie Koe	Scott Cripps	Mike Westlund	2003 CC
2003–04	John Morris	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Paul Moffatt	2004 CC, 2004 Alta.
2004–05	John Morris	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Paul Moffatt	2005 CC, 2005 Alta.
2005–06	John Morris	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Paul Moffatt	2005 COCT, 2006 CC, 2006 Alta.
2006–07	Blake MacDonald (Fourth)	Kevin Koe (Skip)	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2007 Alta.
2007–08	Blake MacDonald (Fourth)	Kevin Koe (Skip)	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2008 CC, 2008 Alta.
2008–09	Blake MacDonald (Fourth)	Kevin Koe (Skip)	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2009 CC, 2009 Alta.
2009–10	Kevin Koe	Blake MacDonald	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2009 COCT, 2010 Alta., 2010 Brier, 2010 WCC
2010–11	Kevin Koe	Blake MacDonald	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2010 CC, 2011 Alta.
2011–12	Kevin Koe	Pat Simmons	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2011 CC, 2012 Alta., 2012 Brier
2012–13	Kevin Koe	Pat Simmons	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2012 CC, 2013 Alta.
2013–14	Kevin Koe	Pat Simmons	Carter Rycroft	Nolan Thiessen	2013 COCT, 2014 Alta., 2014 Brier, 2014 WCC
2014–15	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Brent Laing	Ben Hebert	2014 CC, 2015 Alta., 2015 Brier
2015–16	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Brent Laing	Ben Hebert	2015 CC, 2016 Alta., 2016 Brier, 2016 WCC
2016–17	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Brent Laing	Ben Hebert	2016 CC, 2017 Brier
2017–18	Kevin Koe	Marc Kennedy	Brent Laing	Ben Hebert	2017 COCT, 2018 OG
2018–19	Kevin Koe	B. J. Neufeld	Colton Flasch	Ben Hebert	2018 CWC/1st leg, 2018 CC, 2019 Alta., 2019 Brier, 2019 WCC, 2019 CWC/Final
2019–20	Kevin Koe	B. J. Neufeld	Colton Flasch	Ben Hebert	2019 CC, 2020 Brier
2020–21	Kevin Koe	B. J. Neufeld	John Morris	Ben Hebert

References

1. https://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/canadian-olympic-skip-kevin-koe-father-was-shaped-his-residential-school-experience.html
2. "Dechant beats Koe to win Alberta junior men's curling". Edmonton Journal. January 16, 1995. p. D3. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
3. "Brier: Alberta's Kevin Koe beats B.C.'s Morris for title". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
4. Wyman, Ted (2014-10-01). Ice Gold: Canada's Curling Champions. ECW Press. ISBN 9781770906457.
5. "Kevin Koe misses bronze, becomes first Canadian men's skip to miss medals | Toronto Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
6. https://www.sportsnet.ca/curling/koe-reaches-players-championship-final-clinch-pintys-cup/
7. "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
8. Ryan Horne (March 16, 2020). "Team Koe part ways with second Flasch". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
9. Ryan Horne (March 17, 2020). "Morris joining Team Kevin Koe". The Sports Network. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
10. http://www.nnsl.com/sports/nov3_10koe-spt.html
11. "Meet Canada's Indigenous Olympians | PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games | CBC Kids". Kids' CBC Olympic Games. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
12. https://olympic.ca/team-canada/kevin-koe/
13. "Falcons Hall of fame Inductee" (PDF). Retrieved 24 March 2017.
14. "Kevin Koe". CurlingZone. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
15. https://www.calgaryboosterclub.com/award-winners/male-athlete-of-the-year/kevin-koe
16. 2018 Home Hardware Canada Cup Media Guide: Kevin Koe
17. http://www.curling.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/58/files/2016/03/BRIER-THURSDAY-ALL.pdf
18. 2017 Brier Media Guide: Team Canada
19. "Curling territorials begin tonight". Whitehorse Daily Star. February 1, 1990. p. 16. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
20. "Curlers ready to rock". Whitehorse Daily Star. January 31, 1991. p. 18. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
21. "Playdowns hit Yellowknife and Whitehorse". Whitehorse Daily Star. January 31, 1992. p. 27. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
22. "Andrews belts out junior title". Whitehorse Daily Star. February 1, 1993. p. 21. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
23. "Lethbridge skip back with a bang". Calgary Hearald. February 5, 1996. p. D4. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
24. "Senior curlers tied for third at nationals". Whitehorse Daily Star. January 25, 1999. p. 20. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
25. "Every man for himself". Calgary Herald. January 18, 2000. p. C3. Retrieved June 12, 2020.

External links

• Kevin Koe at International Olympic Committee
• Kevin Koe at Olympic Channel
• Kevin Koe at Canadian Olympic Committee
• Kevin Koe at Olympedia
• Kevin Koe at World Curling Federation
• Kevin Koe at CurlingZone
• Team Koe Webpage