‘It means everything:’ Knapp brothers capture first provincial curling title

The wait is finally over for the members of the Kelly Knapp rink.

Knapp and his twin brother Trent began curling when they were both in Grade 5, and both have competed in more than a decade’s worth of Saskatchewan provincial tournaments.

But on Sunday in Estevan at the 2023 SaskTel Tankard, they finally broke through and won the right to wear the green jackets at the Tim Hortons Brier.

Knapp’s Regina-based rink — skipped by Kelly, with Brennen Jones at third, Mike Armstrong at second and Trent at lead — defeated Steve Laycock’s rink 5-4 to claim the provincial title.

“It means everything (to win it with my brother),” said Kelly, 33. “We’re twins but we’re mainly best friends. We’ve both put a lot of time into the game and we’ve played a little bit on different teams.”

Trent also said it was a special moment to share the win with his brother.

“We parted ways for a few years there but to come back with him at the helm at skip, it really is a storybook (ending),” Trent said.

The victory also marked the end of a 12-year wait for Jones, whose only other Brier appearance was in 2011 as second on Pat Simmons’ rink.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be here again. I took a few years off and had a bit of a back injury and didn’t ever think I would be in this position,” Jones said. “Kelly asked me last year if I wanted to play and it was too good of a chance to pass up, just being really good friends with these guys.”

It will also be Armstrong’s second time at the national tournament; he went with Scott Manners’ rink in 2012.

At the Tankard, Knapp and his rink compiled a 5-0 record and were the best team throughout the tournament.

Part of why Knapp wanted to skip his own team was to throw the last rock with the game on the line – which is exactly the situation he found himself in.

With the game tied 4-4 in the 10th end Sunday, Knapp had to come through with a hit-and-stick for the win.

Trent said he didn’t need to offer any sort of encouragement to his brother ahead of the final shot.

“It’s our system. He knew what he had to do and the broom was in the right place and he just threw it perfect,” Trent said.

The throw gave Knapp’s rink the win, its third over Laycock during the Tankard.

“I was super-ready for that moment,” Kelly said. “I’ve had the chance to make a few big shots before this — none quite like this — but those ones prepared me to settle into the hack and get into the zone to make it.”

Both sides couldn’t pull away from the other throughout the final.

After two blank ends, Knapp scored the first point of the game in the third. But with hammer in the fourth, Laycock scored two points after 10 rocks settled in the house.

Once again Knapp was held to just a single in the fifth and Laycock answered with a single of his own in the sixth.

The seventh was blanked.

In the eighth, Knapp took advantage of having hammer and scored two to take the lead.

Laycock chose to try to get two in the ninth but his draw was heavy, forcing him to settle for a single point and the tie heading into the final end.

That’s when Knapp came through with the shot to send his team to the Brier.

Knapp’s win caps off a great season of curling in Saskatchewan for the rink. The team played in six Saskatchewan Curling Tour events, winning four of them and losing in the semifinals in the other two.

Kelly said as the wins started to add up, the team grew more confident this could be its year to win the Tankard.

“We were super-comfortable coming here together. There was nothing odd or awkward and we just built a lot of momentum throughout the year,” Kelly said. “We have won four events (this year); why not go win this one too?”

It’s another wait Knapp’s rink will try to end — this time for a whole province.

A Saskatchewan rink hasn’t won the Brier since 1980. The 2023 edition of the Canadian men’s curling championship goes March 3-12 in London, Ont.

“I do not look at that lightly at all. We are not there for a participation ribbon,” Knapp said. “If we keep working at it, then we will see what happens. There are some incredible teams out there but maybe on a year where new teams are forming and whatnot, this is a good year we can go in.

“We have experience as a group. We just have to handle the nerves like we did (Sunday) and I think we will be right there with the rest of the competition.”