Kevin Koe's rink advances to playoffs at Alberta curling championship

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Kevin Koe’s bid to regain the king of men’s curling crown in the province took another step Thursday night in Central Alberta.

The eight-time provincial champ and his rink from Calgary’s Glencoe Club scored a 9-7 win over Calgary’s Cole Adams of the Garrison Curling Club at the 2025 Alberta Boston Pizza Cup, presented by Best Western, on now through Sunday at the Stettler Recreation Centre.

Koe and his crew of third Aaron Sluchinski, second Tyler Tardi, lead Karrick Martin and alternate Mike Libbus are now off to the playoff round with the A-final victory in pursuit of the Alberta tankard.

Koe counted three in the second end to get on the right foot and then locked the game with deuces in each of the fourth, sixth and ninth ends.

Also late Thursday, it was: Edmonton’s Evan Van Amsterdam of the Saville CC with a 9-4 win over Sherwood Park CC’s Benjamin Kiist; Edmonton’s Jacob Libbus of the Ellerslie CC defeating Sexsmith CC’s Daylan Vavrek 7-3; and Sherwood Park CC’s Johnson Tao edging Lacombe CC’s Daniel Humbke 9-8 in an extra end.

In the A semifinals earlier Thursday, Koe made his way to the final with a 6-4 edge of Tao by counting three in the eighth end, while Adams defeated Van Amsterdam 8-5 with a combined three in the final two ends.

The B event began early Thursday, with Humbke topping Calgary CC’s Jamie King 9-7 and Kiist hammering Irricana CC’s Rob Johnson 11-4.

Then came afternoon B games, as Vavrek dropped the Ellerslie CC’s Ryan Jacques 10-3 and Libbus routed the Saville CC’s Zachary Davies 9-1.

The C event begins early Friday (8:30 a.m.), followed by an afternoon draw of B-side contests (1 p.m.) and a busy evening set of games (5:30 p.m.), including the B final to determine the second qualifier for the Boston Pizza Cup’s playoff round.

The winner of the event — a triple-knockout format — earns the right to represent the province at the 2025 Brier, slated for Feb. 28-March 9 in Kelowna, B.C.