Steep learning curve as Lott gears up for Brier debut

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This article was published 03/03/2022 (1620 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s not how he envisioned it, but nonetheless, Colton Lott will be making his Brier debut this weekend for Team Manitoba in Lethbridge, Alta.

Mike McEwen announced earlier in the week lead Colin Hodgson has been taken off the roster for nationals. Hodgson has been battling through micro-tears in his left quad muscle, but was planning on playing through the pain until he recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Lott, who lost to McEwen in the Viterra Championship final in Selkirk last month, was signed on to be the team’s fifth but will now throw the first stones in place of Hodgson. Lott’s teammate Kyle Doering will now be the fifth.

The event starts Friday but Manitoba doesn’t play its first game until Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT when they meet Brent Pierce out of British Columbia.

“It’s super exciting, my first ever Brier and actually being able to play is unbelievable. But I feel so bad for Colin,” Lott, a 26-year-old from Winnipeg Beach, told the Free Press.

“You put so much time and effort over the years and this is one of your goals, to go to the Brier and play in the Brier. I’m going to do the best I can for the team and for him. It’s super exciting, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a bittersweet kind of moment, too.”

It’s been an interesting season for Lott to say the least. He started out playing third for Pat Simmons, who took a step back from competitive curling in the middle of the season, filled in at the last minute at the Olympic trials in November at third for Saskatchewan’s Matt Dunstone, and then skipped his own team — featuring Doering, Tanner Lott, and Emerson Klimpke — to a perfect record at provincials before falling 8-3 to McEwen for the right to wear the buffalo jacket.

The trials gave him a taste of playing on a big stage, but playing lead, nevermind playing with McEwen, Reid Carruthers and Derek Samagalski, will be a whole new experience for Lott.

“In a competitive stature, I’ve never played lead. But that’s what I’ve been practising this past week, getting out on the ice, and zoning in on my weights,” said Lott. “… I think one of the big adjustments, which I don’t think I’ll have too much of a problem with, is that I’ve always been in the house and calling the shots as a skip or as a third, deciding shots and being a part of that. I’ll have to park that a little bit and be there when they need me to be there.”

They’re going to have to get everyone on the same page quickly, but McEwen is confident Lott can make all the throws. With or without Hodgson, however, the West St. Paul rink is heading into the week under less than ideal circumstances.

“Unfortunately with our team, we’ve had some difficulties getting together. Colin’s not the only one who had COVID,” McEwen said in a phone call from Lethbridge on Thursday.

“There were multiple players on our team that had COVID in the last couple weeks so this has been challenging as far as preparation for this Brier. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a challenging situation as far as getting ready and what not. We’re going to take advantage of the next 48 hours to kind of come together as a team, get some ice time and build those dynamics that we’re going to need through the week.”

The 18-team event, that runs through March 13, is split into two pools where they are seeded based on final standing on the Canadian Team Ranking System. The tournament kicks off with an eight-game round robin within the respective pools. The top three teams from each pool advance to an expanded playoff field.

In order to get there, something McEwen didn’t do in 2021 as a wild card team, the 41-year-old Brandon native believes his new-look foursome needs to come out of the gates firing.

“The opening weekend is going to be important for us. Once we get comfortable with the ice and get Colton on that accelerated learning curve, I think once we get through opening weekend and hopefully in a good position, we’ll settle in for the rest of the week,” said McEwen.

McEwen’s in Pool B with Winnipegger Jason Gunnlaugson who is playing in his third Brier, but first as a wild-card entry. Gunnlaugson also plays his first game Saturday afternoon in a matchup with Brad Jacobs out of Northern Ontario.

1,000 GAMES FOR MANITOBA

Team Manitoba, as well as Team Ontario (skipped this year by Glenn Howard), will hit an impressive milestone at this year’s event as both provinces will play their 1,000th game in Brier history. Ontario will reach the big number in its opener Friday night against Team Canada’s Brendan Bottcher. Manitoba will join the club in their seventh round-robin game on Thursday, March 10 in the morning draw against Jamie Koe’s Northwest Territories team.

Manitoba owns a 670-323 cumulative record at the Brier while Ontario has gone 618-381. Alberta, 700-300, hit 1,000 Brier games last year when Bottcher reached the final.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31