Back in skip position, Bottcher has settled in nicely with new-look foursome

A move from the second position back to skip has agreed with Brendan Bottcher so far this season. His new-look team has settled in quite nicely as well. 

"It felt great doing something else, but it certainly feels like I'm back home as well this year," Bottcher said. 

A national champion in 2021, Bottcher started the previous quadrennial on a new rink before being replaced by Brad Jacobs after two seasons.

Bottcher briefly turned to coaching, working with Rachel Homan's top-ranked women's team for a few months before returning to men's play as a second on Brad Gushue's side.

That foursome disbanded after Gushue's retirement last spring, but lead Geoff Walker remained with Bottcher, who added the Horgan brothers – Jacob and Tanner – to a squad that boasts a mix of youth and experience.

"The new-look Team Bottcher has been going great, and I think you can see it in our results," Bottcher said. "We're having some good success. We've played five events now, qualified [for playoffs] in all five, made it deeper into the playoffs in a handful of them. 

"We're just playing well, having fun, winning some curling games, and I think we're off to a good start."

Bottcher, who won a world junior title in 2012, made his Montana's Brier debut in 2017. 

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After reaching the national final on three straight occasions, he broke through in 2021 on a team with Darren Moulding, Brad Thiessen and Karrick Martin.

Walker, meanwhile, who's also based in Alberta, won the Brier six times with Gushue's rink.

He also won a world title with the St. John's-based side and earned an Olympic bronze in