Alberta's Koe beats Saskatchewan's Flasch in battle of former teammates at Brier

Alberta's Kevin Koe scored a single in an extra end for a 9-8 victory over Saskatchewan's Colton Flasch on Friday night as fans returned to the Tim Hortons Brier for the first time in two years.

Flasch, skipping at a Brier for the first time, had a chance for a game-winning hit in the 10th but settled for one point when his other stone spilled out. Koe had hammer in the extra end and made a raise takeout to end it.

Defending champion Brendan Bottcher edged Ontario's Glenn Howard 5-4 in the opening round-robin draw at the Enmax Centre. Bottcher won his first Canadian men's curling title last year in the spectator-free bubble in Calgary.

Patrick Janssen moved from fifth to third for the Canada rink as a replacement for Darren Moulding, who was let go last December in a surprise split.

New Brunswick's James Grattan, with Moulding at vice, dropped a 7-6 decision to Matt Dunstone's Wild Card Two team. Nathan Young of Newfoundland and Labrador defeated Yukon's Thomas Scoffin 7-5 in the other game.

Flasch threw second stones for Koe in 2019 on a team that won world silver in this same venue. The team parted ways with Flasch the following year and replaced him with John Morris.

Flasch drew for a pair in the fourth end and made a runback double-takeout to set up a steal of two in the fifth. Koe rebounded with a tap for three in the sixth end and added a deuce in the eighth.

Earlier in the day, four athletes set to compete at the Brier did not make the trip to Lethbridge, Alta. They tested positive for COVID-19 on their pre-departure PCR tests, Curling Canada said in a statement.

Each competitor plays on a different team, the federation said, without identifying any of the athletes. The players remained in isolation in their