With an eye on Olympic trials, Kevin Koe skips 3-man team at PointsBet Invitational

Kevin Koe will skip a three-man curling team for now.

The four-time Canadian and two-time men's world champion dropped second Jacques Gauthier from his Glencoe Club team on the eve of the PointsBet Invitational that started Wednesday in Calgary.

Koe opened the event that offers $50,000 in prize money to each of the men's and women's winners with an 8-4 doubling of national university men's champion Josh Bryden.

Koe, who also represented Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics, says there wasn't enough time to find a replacement for Gauthier for the PointsBet, and there won't be enough time before next week's first Grand Slam of the season, which is the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown.

"We haven't talked to anyone yet," Koe said. "We'll see who can come and play an event or two. I don't think we're going to rush out and grab someone right away, but come to an event with us and see how it goes.

"We'll get through these next two weeks and start talking about it and seeing what our options are."

A big-name curling free agent without a team in Koe's home province is Brendan Bottcher. The skip of the No. 2 men's team in Canada last season was supplanted on his team by Brad Jacobs.

When asked if it was a possibility Bottcher would join his team, Koe replied "no, it's not."

After skipping his own team for four years and representing B.C. in the 2023 Brier, Gauthier joined Koe, his cousin Tyler Tardi and Karrick Martin to play second for the 2023-24 season.

The team won a pair of tour events and made five finals with Gauthier on the squad, but didn't qualify for playoffs in five Grand Slam appearances and went 2-6 at the Canadian championship in Regina to miss playoffs.

Koe went 2-3 in the ATB Okotoks Classic last week before Gauthier was axed.

The 25-year-old son of Canadian champion and television commentator Cathy Gauthier, said Wednesday in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Elephant in the room. I got cut yesterday."

"I wasn't sure if I should make a public comment on it, but I wanted to provide some clarity," Gauthier wrote.

"The team decided I wasn't performing to their standard and decided they'd pursue alternative options moving forward.

"It happens. Nothing is a given in this sport, and although I am surprised at the timing, I know I can be better as a player. I plan on using this as an opportunity to grow both as an individual and a curler, looking to improve in all areas.

"For now, it's back to the lab."

The 49-year-old Koe wants to skip a team that can qualify for, and win, next year's Olympic trials, which he says is likely his last trials.

"We struggled at the end of last season and we had some good talks and meetings and thought we could turn it around at the start of the year," Koe said.

"If the trials were a couple years away we probably would have been a little more patient. They're 14 months away basically.

"They're never easy, these moves. Jaques was a great teammate, great curler, best person, but we felt we needed to do what was best for the team."

Koe finished last season ranked fifth in the men's Canadian Team Ranking System.

Four teams ranked higher — Brad Gushue, Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone — have pre-qualified for the 2025 Montana's Brier in Kelowna, B.C.

Koe will have to win Alberta provincials to join them. Since Koe, Tardi and Martin live in Alberta, the team can recruit a player from outside the province.

"We've had a few people kind of inquire, but this was yesterday, right?" Koe said. "It's a big week for us. We need some better results.

"We'll start talking about it in a week or two. Maybe we'll get some offers we weren't expecting.

"We're better than kind of the last half-year has shown, but it's time for us to prove it."