Team Brad Gushue added former Canadian men’s champion Brendan Bottcher at second in October 2024, an unusual in-season move that placed a longtime skip in a front-end position. Bottcher replaced E.J. Harnden, who had left the St. John’s-based team the previous week.
The revised four-player lineup
Brad Gushue remained skip, Mark Nichols vice and Geoff Walker lead. Bottcher was scheduled to make his debut at the Pan Continental Curling Championships in Lacombe, Alberta, from October 27 to November 2.
Adam Casey was to substitute at an intervening event in Sault Ste. Marie while the permanent lineup prepared. The timing gave the team little competitive runway before an international championship.
Why the choice surprised curling
Bottcher had built his elite career calling games and throwing last stones as a skip. The second normally delivers the third and fourth stones of an end and carries a substantial sweeping workload.
Gushue said the team was attracted by Bottcher’s world-class shot-making, particularly draws and runbacks. He acknowledged that sweeping would be a transition and set realistic expectations rather than claiming the new player would immediately master every part of the role.
A practical training connection
Bottcher and Walker were both based in Edmonton, allowing the front end to train together more frequently than a geographically dispersed national team might otherwise manage. Repetition is important for communication, timing and judging weight while sweeping.
Modern elite teams often live in different provinces, so shared location for two players can reduce one logistical weakness even when the team represents Newfoundland and Labrador.
Bottcher’s route to the opening
The 32-year-old had been removed from his own men’s team in April and replaced by Brad Jacobs. He shifted attention to mixed doubles with Rachel Homan and coached Homan’s top-ranked women’s team.
After joining Gushue, he planned to continue playing mixed doubles with Homan but step away from her coaching staff. Team Homan supported the change, according to Bottcher.
Two strong competitive records
Gushue had won three consecutive Brier titles and six in total. He was an Olympic champion in 2006, earned bronze in 2022 and led a team ranked third in the world at the time of the announcement.
Bottcher had reached the podium in seven of eight Brier appearances and won the national title in 2021. He also won Canadian and world junior championships in 2012, though his 2021 world men’s appearance did not produce a medal.
Why a skip can play second
Position labels describe responsibilities, not fixed identities. Experienced skips bring tactical knowledge and the ability to make difficult shots earlier in an end, and elite curling has other examples of former skips forming successful teams.
The tradeoff is role adjustment. Bottcher would have less control over strategy and needed to conserve enough energy for precise shooting while developing front-end sweeping technique.
The Harnden departure
Harnden had joined after the 2021–22 season and was part of a highly successful run. Gushue said discussions about alignment had continued for months, the team tried adjustments and the split was not a sudden reaction to one result.
That explanation avoided public personal detail. Lineup changes can be evaluated by performance without inviting speculation about private conflict unsupported by evidence.
How the experiment would be judged
Early results could reflect limited practice rather than the final ceiling. Shot percentage, sweeping communication, ability to manage difficult ice and performance under playoff pressure would show whether the unusual role fit worked.
The addition gave an already decorated team another elite thrower and gave Bottcher a route back to four-player competition. Reputation made the move compelling; the Pan Continental event and the rest of the season would determine whether four accomplished curlers had become a balanced unit.
