Kevin Koe

Career

Koe skipped his Yukon/Northwest Territories team to the final of the 1994 Canadian Junior Curling Championships. The team lost the final to Alberta's Colin Davison amidst a controversy involving a burnt rock.

Koe would later leave Yellowknife, to curl in the more competitive province of Alberta. He skipped Alberta to a 2000 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship. From 2004 to 2006 he played third for John Morris. He currently skips his own team.

Up until 2010, Koe had little success in his attempts to win a provincial title on the men's stage. His team is currently regarded as one of the best in the world, and while he has been in many Grand Slam finals, he has only won three Slam events as a skip. In 2007, he almost went to the Brier, but lost in the provincial finals to Kevin Martin. In both the 10th and 11th ends, his team's former fourth player, Blake MacDonald had a draw to the eight-foot to win, but missed on both opportunities. In 2010, Koe finally won a provincial championship, benefiting from an absent Martin who would be preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Koe went on to win the 2010 Brier, beating Ontario's Glenn Howard in the final. Koe's rink became the first team to come out of the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game to win the Brier, and he became the first rookie skip to win the Brier since Vic Peters in 1992. Koe finished with a 9-2 round robin record at the 2010 Capital One World Men's Curling Championship, finishing second behind Norway. However, in the playoffs, Koe beat Norway twice to claim his first world title.

Koe moved to Calgary in 2011. At the same time, his long-time third, Blake MacDonald retired, and was replaced by Pat Simmons. Koe returned to the Brier in 2012, for the second time in his career. In doing so, he broke an 18-year drought for the city of Calgary in winning the Alberta provincial championship, representing the city's Glencoe Curling Club. At the 2014 Brier Koe's rink repeated as Canadian champions, defeating John Morris' B.C. rink 10-5 in the final. Koe's rink then went on to represent Canada at the 2014 World Men's Curling Championship. After finishing the round robin in 2nd place with an 8-3 record, the team collapsed in the playoffs, losing all three of their games, including the bronze medal game. Two years later, the team of Koe won the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship with a 10-1 round-robin record and beat Denmark twice in the play-offs to win his second World Championship gold medal.

Koe's win at the 2014 Brier gave his team an automatic bye (as Team Canada) at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier, following a rule change by the Canadian Curling Association. However, Koe announced that he was leaving his team to form a new team, leaving him ineligible to represent Team Canada at the 2015 Brier. Somewhat ironically, Koe's former teammates recruited 2014 runner-up Morris to skip Team Canada for the 2015 Brier. With his new team, Koe successfully repeated as Albertan champion in the 2015 Boston Pizza Cup, which qualified him to represent Alberta at the 2015 Tim Hortons Brier. There, he led his new team to a 6-5 record, missing the playoffs.

Koe and his new rink found more success in 2016; after going 8-3 at the 2016 Tim Hortons Brier, Koe and his foursome railed off three straight victories in the playoffs, defeating Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue in the final. The team would represent Canada at the 2016 World Men's Curling Championship, losing just one game en route to winning the gold medal. Koe led Canada to a 5-3 win over Denmark, skipped by Rasmus Stjerne, in the final.

Personal life

His brother, Jamie Koe, has represented the Territories in four of the last five Briers, while his sister Kerry has represented the Territories in five of the last six Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Chief Jim Koe of Aklavik, Kevin's grandfather, was the pioneer behind the families involvement in curling. Kevins' father, Fred, a politician and former skip, participated at the 1999 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship alongside Jaime and Kerry. The Koe family, received a recognition award at the Aboriginal Sports Circle of Northwest Territories awards dinner, for their years of service in the curling community.

Koe, who was born in Yellowknife, attended École Sir John Franklin High School, where he was later inducted into the Falcons Hall of Fame, before moving to Alberta to attend the University of Calgary. Koe was the recipient of the 2016 Scott-Mamini Memorial Award, for Male Athlete of the Year, given by the Calgary Booster Club. Koe works as a surface landman for Repsol Oil & Gas Canada. He is married and has two children.