Team Koe celebrates their Astec Safety Challenge purse win on Sunday with members of the event’s organizing committee following a 6-3 for Koe over Carruthers in the final. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source Photos
After an action-packed four days of world-class curling, Team Koe returned to Calgary a little bit richer.
It was an all-Canadian final at this weekend’s inaugural Astec Safety Challenge curling bonspiel with the rink of Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg taking on Koe and company on Sunday afternoon.
With nine of the top 10 men’s teams in the world competing, it was still anyone’s weekend. Quarter finals took place Saturday night before the semis on Sunday morning.
Quarter-final action saw Alberta’s Team Bottcher, sponsored by Astec Safety, beat out by Team Mouat of Stirling, Scotland 8-5. Koe beat out Yannick Schwaller of Geneve, Switzerland 6-5, Carruthers sent home Team Gushue of St. John’s N.L. after a tight 5-4 game, and Team Retornaz, the top-ranked team in the world, beat Niklas Edin and company from Karlstad, Sweden 6-1.
Sunday’s semi-finals kicked off at 10 a.m. with Koe sending the Scots home after a 6-4 win. Ranked 10th in the world, Team Carruthers successfully beat out the top-ranked rink of Retornaz 5-4.
Sunday’s 2 p.m. final was generating a lot of buzz at the LGCC as two of Canada’s top teams prepared to do battle.
Koe, who was a crowd favourite over the weekend, beat Carruthers 6-3 to win the bonspiel.
There was no breaking Skip Kevin Koe’s focus over the weekend at the Astec Safety Challenge. Team Koe beat out Team Carruthers in the final to win the $100K purse.
“We had a great week, and today, we just made some good shots at the right time,” said Koe. “You always need a few misses, too. We got them at opportune times and we were kind of in control of both games today. It was a big win for our team.”
As far as the bonspiel goes, Koe had nothing but praise for the Border City and organizer and Astec Safety co-owner, Jeff Mulligan.
“Look at the field here, the top nine of the top 10 teams in the world are here. It’s a slammed field,” said Koe.
“It was also a first-year event, and what a job they did … it’s probably the best spiel on tour already.”
Being an inaugural event, there will always be hiccups along the way, but ask any of the curlers, they’ll tell you Astec took out all the stops.
“It was unbelievable. The sponsors, the ice, the volunteers, the fans … everything. There was no stone unturned,” said Koe.
“They did everything for the players, it was an unbelievable event, and hopefully it keeps going; I’m looking forward to coming back.”
There was no off time for Koe and company as they left the Border City and headed to Red Deer for the Co-op Canadian Open Grand Slam of Curling, which started on Tuesday.
“We head to Red Deer tomorrow, so it’ll be a short turnaround, but it always feels good coming off a big win,” said Koe.
Team Koe Second, Jacques Gauthier (left) and Third, Tyler Tardi (right) sweep after a shot from Lead Karrick Martin during the finals against Team Carruthers of Winnipeg.
For Mulligan, seeing the bonspiel come to life was something he wouldn’t soon forget. He’s also looking forward to outdoing himself with future bonspiels.
“It’s something to see something go from a napkin to a reality, and all the people involved, all the sponsors involved, and of course, the curlers. You don’t do this without having the best curlers in the world on the best ice in the world, and we had it all,” he said.
“When the best in the world converge on something it’s because you did a lot of things right. We had great contacts, we’re partners with Team Bottcher, which opened a lot of doors,” explained Mulligan, adding having retired curler Kevin Martin on board didn’t hurt.
“We were able to bring people together and say ‘this is a real event, this is going to be one of the best on tour with the biggest purses,’ and here we are today.”
Aside from world-class curlers, the bonspiel also had world-class volunteers … roughly 130 to be exact, something Mulligan noted was essential for an event of this size.
“These people were dedicated; some were here all day, every day, and many did work beforehand. These are people who are passionate about doing good for Lloyd.”
The Source previously reported Mulligan hopes to expand the bonspiel into a 10-year partnership with the Cenovus Energy Hub, slated to open by the end of 2025.
After the success of the inaugural year, the future looks bright.
“When Joel Ratornaz, the number-one player in the world, did the junior clinic on Wednesday night, he said ‘Wow, curling looks strong here in Lloydminster,’ so that was a neat compliment.”
Mulligan thanked the many event sponsors, knowing it wouldn’t have been possible without their help.
“I think of The Tent Guys. They brought all their skills on how to decorate. We made a curling rink look like a Grand Slam arena,” he said. “You look at the big sponsors, Utility Safety Partners, Musgrave Agencies, BAR Engineering, those kind of guys that came on board right away. That got the volunteers and people we needed on board, then the teams said ‘we have to get to this can’t-miss event.’”
