Yorkton鈥檚 Steve Laycock is heading back to the Brier.
The talented local curler won his third consecutive SaskTel Tankard in Kindersley this past weekend with a 6-4 final win over Shaun Meachem (Nutana Curling Club, Saskatoon) that saw Laycock start with the hammer and score two in the second before stealing one in the third to take a 3-0 lead.
A single point for Meachem in the fourth made it 3-1, but one in the fifth and a steal of one in the seventh gave Team Laycock a 5-1 advantage.
Things got a little scary late in the game as Meachem rallied to score two in the eighth and one in the ninth to cut the Laycock lead to one, but with the hammer heading home it was only a matter of time before Laycock and co. were crowned champions 鈥� something that, while great, comes as a bit of a relief for the team. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a relief to have that provincial competition over and done with because it鈥檚 always one of the most stressful events of the year, especially when you go in as the number one seed and have lots of expectations of winning,鈥� offered Laycock. 鈥淭o have the event go off without a hitch was obviously fantastic, and probably the best we鈥檝e played at a Tankard yet as a team, so I鈥檓 really happy with the performance of the team.鈥�
鈥楪o off without a hitch鈥� is a bit of an understatement, as Team Laycock, comprised of Steve Laycock (skip), Kirk Muyres (third), Colton Flasch (second) and Dallan Muyres (lead) had virtually no trouble all week long, trouncing Team William Coutts 9-3 to open the competition before snapping off five more victories 鈥� 7-5 over Scott Bitz, 9-6 over Dean Kleiter, 5-3 over Randy Bryden, 8-2 over Joshua Heidt and 6-4 over Meachem 鈥� for their third consecutive SaskTel Tankard title.
Now though, comes the hard part for Laycock and his team: The 2016 Tim Hortons Brier 鈥� a competition that sees the best curlers in the world compete annually for Canada鈥檚 national men鈥檚 title and a competition that Team Laycock finished third at just one year ago. 鈥淚t鈥檚 huge for us to go back there, because it鈥檚 our third time there now,鈥� mentioned Laycock, adding that last year鈥檚 third place finish means absolutely nothing now. 鈥渢here is a very realistic chance that we can play substantially better than we did last year and not end up with a better result just because the skill level of curling in Canada is so high.
鈥淎t the same time I know we鈥檙e capable of winning that event and there won鈥檛 be a team in that field that we wouldn鈥檛 have beaten in the past, whether it was in the Grand Slam series or just in some of the events that we play in throughout the year.鈥�
As for what a Brier title would mean to the team, Laycock says that it would be a dream come true. 鈥淚t would mean the world to us,鈥� offered the Team Saskatchewan skip, mentioning that to win would also be great for the province. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that all of us have dreamt about our whole lives growing up, ever since we started curling, and the extra significance it would have winning it for Saskatchewan, just because the time that has passed since Saskatchewan last won a Brier, would be great.
鈥淲e were a province that was one of the powerhouses in curling and I think we still are, we just haven鈥檛 broken through with a championship and hopefully we can do that this year.鈥�
Team Laycock will begin the quest for the 2016 Brier title on Saturday, March 5 at 7:30p.m. local time (Ottawa, ON) against Team Northern Ontario, however Northern Ontario has, as of yet, not completed their play downs to determine who their representative will be.
