(by Kyle Jahns)
Adam Casey will wear a different shade of green at the 2017 Tim Hortons Brier. The former Prince Edward Island curler won the SaskTel Tankard, Saskatchewan’s provincial men’s curling championship.
2015, Calgary AB, Tim Hortons Brier, P.E.I., skip Adam Casey, lead Robbie Doherty, second Anson Carmody, Curling Canada/Michael Burns photo
Casey is the fifth player in Tim Hortons Brier history to represent three different provinces or territories at the national men’s championship. From 2012-14 he played second for Brad Gushue’s Newfoundland and Labrador team. In 2015 and 2016 Casey skipped Prince Edward Island’s team.
He joins Earle Morris (Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario), Ryan Fry (Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northern Ontario), John Morris (Ontario, Alberta, B.C.) and Chris Schille (Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories).
The impressive feat does not overshadow Casey’s remarkable provincial performance in Tisdale, Sask., earning his sixth-consecutive Purple Heart in the process. Casey, third Catlin Schneider (his sister Lorraine is playing second for Saskatchewan at the 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts), second Shaun Meachem and lead Dustin Kidby defeated six-time provincial champion Steve Laycock 11-1 in the final.
Meachem and Schneider played and lost to Laycock in the 2016 provincial final, but it seems that Casey was the missing piece of the puzzle to help them win their first provincial titles.
Casey has a few different teams on his curling resume, and he’ll face a few of his former teammates at the upcoming Tim Hortons Brier, March 4-12 in St. John’s, N.L. On March 6 Casey takes on Brad Gushue in front of his hometown crowd.
The next day he’ll take on David Mathers (playing second for Ontario) who played third for his Prince Edward Island team in 2016.
Robbie Doherty played lead for Prince Edward Island with Casey in 2015 and 2016. He resumes that role with Eddie MacKenzie this season and will get to play Casey if the team advances through the pre-qualifying tournament.
Single draw tickets and full event packages are still available for what will surely be an action-packed week. Don’t miss out and purchase tickets today at: http://www.curling.ca/2017brier/tickets/.