Pat Simmons has latched on with a new team for next season.
The two-time Brier champ from Moose Jaw, Sask., will skip with the Winnipeg-based trio of third Colton Lott, second Kyle Doering and lead Rob Gordon. Team Simmons made the announcement Monday on social media.
ANNOUNCEMENT: We are thrilled to welcome 2x Brier Champion Pat Simmons aboard as our skip for next season. @CurlingZone pic.twitter.com/dnqIA6ZqPC
— Team Simmons (@TeamSimmons) March 20, 2017
Simmons joined Brendan Bottcher’s team at the start of this season to play third after his own squad split, however, his stay was rather short as he parted ways with the Edmonton crew in late December.
Lott, Doering and Gordon won the Canadian junior curling championship and world junior bronze medal in 2016 with skip Matt Dunstone. The three played on tour this year with Jason Gunnlaugson calling the shots. The team tweeted out last week Gunnlaugson will skip a different team next season.
After a fairly successful season we have decided to part ways. Colton,Kyle and Rob will continue to curl together while Jason has a new team
— Team Simmons (@TeamSimmons) March 15, 2017
While Lott, Doering and Gordon are still relatively new to the men’s game, the 42-year-old Simmons is one of the most experienced players in the business. Simmons won five provincial titles as a skip in his home province before joining Kevin Koe in Calgary in 2011 at third. Team Koe won the Brier and finished fourth at the worlds in 2014. When Koe moved on to form a new team, Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen stuck together adding 2010 Olympic gold medallist John Morris at skip in order to return to the Brier the following year as Team Canada.
The new combo struggled until a switch during the 2015 Brier — with Morris and Simmons flipping skip and third spots — propelled them to another national championship and a bronze medal at the worlds. Rycroft and Thiessen stepped back from competitive curling last year while Morris rejoined Jim Cotter in B.C.