Team Sluchinski after winning the Alberta Boston Pizza Cup

By Lisa Parent

Alberta’s Team Sluchinski breaks provincial trend, now eyes Brier gold

Feb 28, 2024 | 5:04 PM

In the last 18 years, only three teams have won the Alberta Men’s Provincial Curling Championship: Kevin Koe, Kevin Martin and Brendan Bottcher.

This year, Team Sluchinski broke that cycle.

The team, comprised of Aaron Sluchinski, Jeremy Harty, Kerr Drummond, Dylan Webster and coach Mickey Pendergast, kicked off their journey Feb. 7 at men’s provincials in Hinton, Alta.

After boasting a 4-1 record heading into playoffs, team Sluchinksi found themselves in a showdown against Calgary’s Kevin Koe, a four-time men’s national champion.

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Sluchinski’s team secured a 6-2 victory over Koe in the one versus two page playoff game, propelling them to the provincial final.

Koe bounced back with a victory in the semi-final and set the stage for a final rematch against Sluchinski.

Sluchinski emerged victorious once again, clinching the coveted Alberta Tankard.

“Beating Kevin Koe twice in one weekend is not an easy task, let me tell you that,” said Sluchinski’s second, Kerr Drummond.

But Drummond said going into the weekend, him and his teammates were always confident they could win.

After they accomplished a career-long dream, they made sure to celebrate.

“We took the Boston Pizza Cup home and partied till about 6 a.m. So the next day I was hurting a little bit,” Sluchinski said with a laugh.

When this team first formed about eight years ago, winning in the province of Alberta was a daunting task.

The addition of third Jeremy Harty two years ago, proved to be part of the missing link.

“Over the last two years, when we started putting in the effort and start playing against these guys in bigger events and having success against them at different levels, this year it kind of seemed like [winning provincials] was more attainable,” explained Sluchinski.

Now, goal accomplished and celebrations out of the way, the Sluchinski rink is off to Regina, Sask., to compete and hopefully win.

“I think it’s just a matter of taking each game as it comes. Be prepared, don’t let the foot off the gas, keep doing what we’re doing and then hopefully good things will happen,” said Drummond.

“Our expectation is to go and soak it all in and have a lot of fun, enjoy it with our friends and family that are coming out there with us,” Sluchinski said.

Their inaugural game in Regina will be against a familiar face, Team Kevin Koe, a team that, despite their provincial final loss, secured qualification with Canadian Team Ranking System points.

The 2024 Montana’s Brier starts Friday at 6 p.m.