Image credit: Curl B.C. and CFJC

By Earl Seitz

B.C. Curling

Cotter and Brown rinks to represent B.C. at 2021 Brier and Scotties

Jan 8, 2021 | 6:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — With fingers crossed that the COVID crisis will be gone, or at least under control a year from now, Curling Canada has announced today that the 2022 Brier will be played in Lethbridge.

Plans are for the 2021 Brier and Scotties to be played in a Calgary bubble.

While there won’t be fans in the stands, on the ice it will look much the same as the 2020 Brier and Scotties.

At least six provincial associations have cancelled their playdowns.

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Some intend to send their 2020 champions to Calgary.

That will include B.C.

With the restrictions relating to sports extended to February 5, yesterday Curl B.C. cancelled the B.C. men’s and women’s playdowns.

The cancellation of the B.C. Scotties, that was to have been played at McArthur Island January 26 to 31, means that 2020 champion Corryn Brown and her Kamloops team, will once again be representing the province at the Canadian Scotties.

“Given what’s going on in the world I think it was the best decision.” says Corryn Brown. “We’re looking forward to going to the Scotties and representing B.C. Any opportunity to represent our province is a great one, so we’ll definitely take advantage of this opportunity we have been given, but definitely bitter sweet for sure.”

The same applies to the Jim Cotter rink, the 2020 B.C. champions, who will one again represent the province.

It will be Cotter’s 10th Brier, a B.C. record.

“Obviously thrilled at the opportunity, thankful for it.” says Jim Cotter. “But at the end of the day I would rather compete, and maybe even lose to some degree than being in this position. If we were able to play that means the economy in local communities are doing well and things are progressing forward. So that’s the other unfortunate part of it.”

The Scotties and the Brier will both be played without fans.

While crowds add much ambience to the national champions, Corryn Brown quips that no crowd in Calgary will be one advantage.

“I think it will take away home ice advantage, which might be a bit unique in that sense.” says Brown. “Especially with Alberta being a province that supports curling.”

“Well the last Calgary Brier, we played Koe in our very first game” says Jim Cotter Saturday night, the crowd was excited, may some overindulged — the crowd was chanting ‘Cawwwterrr’. We ended up having to go to an extra end and we managed to pull out the win — uh yah, funny guess I’ll avoid that sort of thing if we happen to play Koe (laughter)

Alberta was able to pull off successful Stanley Cup playoffs and the World Junior Hockey Championship in an Edmonton bubble.

Curling Canada has set out some strict protocols for the Calgary bubble.

Any player or coach who leaves the curling bubble without clearance or invites a non-participant into the bubble, will not only be disqualified from competition immediately, but suspended from competitive play until July 2022.

That would take them out of qualification for the 2022 Olympics.