2014 Tim Hortons Brier: Contenders, challengers and long shots

The defending champion isn't here. The perennial champ from Ontario isn't either.

Nevertheless, the 2014 Brier - beginning this weekend in Kamloops, B.C. - consists of a roster that is not lacking for familiar names and faces.

A grizzled, decorated vet. Another one, long denied a national championship. One that hopes to emerge as a skip. Another that returns after an annual, pitched battle in Alberta.

Here's a breakdown of the Brier field separated into three categories: Contenders, challengers and long shots.

Note: Won/loss records quoted are according to statistics found at CurlingZone.com.

CONTENDERS

Here you will find the four teams that are the best bets to secure the playoff positions. They are no strangers to playing on the final weekend. Three of the four skips have won at least one Olympic gold medal or world championship and the other has one of each while playing vice for Kevin Martin.

That would be John Morris, who also won three Briers while throwing third stones for Martin. Morris skips a contender from British Columbia, here, after his long and fruitful tenure with Martin's team ended last spring. Taking over as skip for what was formerly the Jim Cotter rink, Morris has fit right in. Throwing third stones (Cotter throws fourth) Morris is the leader of a crew that gelled quickly under his guidance, making it to the final of the Olympic Trials. In winning the British Columbia provincial final earlier this month, they trounced Jason Montgomery's rink, 11 - 2, in eight ends. Record this season: 31 and 17.

Kevin Koe is back at The Brier after yet another epic match against Martin, in the Alberta final. The 2010 world champion skip brings a team that was a big disappointment at The Olympic Trials, finishing far out of playoff contention with a record of 2 and 5. They didn't play at all in the two months after that, until the Alberta Championship began. When they got waxed in their first game there, it seemed the beat would go on, but they hard-scrabbled their way into the final, shedding chunks of rust as they went. Koe had said that The Trials disappointment weighed heavily, sapping motivation at first. It's hard to know what to make of the team right now, but the pedigree is obviously there. Record this season: 45 and 18.

Manitoba will be represented - for the eleventh time - by Jeff Stoughton. The three-time Brier champion goes back to Kamloops with fond memories, as it was the site of his first Brier win in 1996. The team stands second in the World Curling Tour's Order Of Merit standings but, like Team Koe, had a disappointing time at The Trials. For the third time in five years, a Stoughton-led team denied Mike McEwen's squad a berth in the Brier, by beating them in the Manitoba final. Big news here is that, after a perfect run at provincials, the team is flipping the front end. Second Reid Carruthers will go to lead, and Mark Nichols will shoot second stones at The Brier. At the age of 50, Stoughton still seems jazzed up for competition. “It never gets old… it’s always really exciting," he told the CCA's Graham Lloyd. Record this season: 42 and 15.

The final team in the contenders' group is from Newfoundland and Labrador, helmed by Brad Gushue. Like Stoughton, this is Gushue's eleventh appearance at nationals (eighth straight). This team has won three events, recognized by the World Curling Tour, this season and lost to Koe's Alberta rink in the final of the Canadian Open, in November. Over the years, Gushue has had a propensity to change up his team's personnel quite a bit, but here he brings the same group he had at last year's Brier and that should be a great help. Record this season: 47 and 18.

CHALLENGERS

In this group are the four teams with the best chance of snapping up a playoff spot should one of the four top contenders falter.

Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard won it all in 2006, and he makes his sixth Brier appearance this year. Bringing back exactly the same line-up that appeared in last year's Brier, they'll be tough for anyone and should be close to the playoff teams all week. Record this season: 31 and 18.

Ontario, skipped by Greg Balsdon, knocked off perennial winner Glenn Howard in the provincial final. They had a little luck in that final, but also had a skip who planted some beauties when he most needed to. The team actually qualified for provincials without Balsdon, who was out with injuries during the playdowns. Record this season: 34 and 16.

Saskatchewan's Steve Laycock lost a close one to Kevin Martin in the final of the Shoot-Out at the Saville Centre, last fall, but has an ordinary record of 29 and 21 this season. Still, most teams that emerge from Saskatchewan are a handful and they will not be an exception. Laycock has plenty of experience, thowing lead for Pat Simmons (now third for Kevin Koe) at two Briers before skipping for Simmons in 2011.

New Brunswick's James Grattan makes his eleventh appearance, looking to recapture some of the magic of his very first. That's when, at the age of 22, he skipped his team to a bronze medal. Grattan has a habit of giving contenders fits when he plays them. Record this season: 27 and 7.

LONG SHOTS

These four teams would have to be considered least likely to grab a playoff spot at the end of the week. Season records in parentheses.

Jamie Koe (10 and 5) brings a Northwest Territories/Yukon team here for the sixth year in a row. After making the playoffs in 2012, the team slipped back into the middle of the pack in 2013. There's a change at vice, where Kevin Whitehead returns to the team. He last played for Koe at a Brier back in 2010.

With Northern Ontario's Brier champs from 2013 in Sochi winning gold in the Olympics, the task of defending for the region falls to Jeff Currie (29 and 10).

Jamie Murphy (25 and 16) represents Nova Scotia after defeating Mark Dacey in the provincial final and Prince Edward Island's Eddie Mackenzie (8 and 15) comes to The Brier for the third time in four years.

THE OVERVIEW

You'd have to expect that a couple of teams that disappointed at the Olympic Trials - Kevin Koe's and Jeff Stoughton's - are back on the right path after taking down big opponents in their respective provincial finals. They'll need to be as that clutch of challengers behind them is filled with possible playoff perchers, waiting to pounce. The Stoughton rink's change at the front end seems a very intelligent one. Nichols has long been known to be a great, great hitter and he'll have more opportunity to play takeout shots at second, making the team that much more formidable.

Is this Brad Gushue's year, finally? With roster stability and a very good trio of young players in front of him, can the 2006 Olympic champ, at long last, add a Brier to his trophy case? It'll be tough, but he should be good to go for a playoff spot at minimum.

With the smooth shooting of Cotter at fourth stones and the skip's smarts and determination to show he wasn't just a second fiddle player to Kevin Martin, John Morris will be tough to beat.

* Right away, we see a big game on the schedule. B.C. will take on Alberta in the very first draw.

* If Koe has a good record after five games, he'll be in great shape because his team plays B.C., Manitoba and Newfoundland & Labrador in those first five.

* Ontario's Balsdon could use a good start. His last five games will be peppered with B.C., Manitoba and Alberta.

* Gratton and New Brunswick face the top four within the first six games of their schedule.

* Laycock has a little 'murderer's row' in the middle of his draw, facing Newfoundland & Labrador, Alberta and Manitoba in succession.

* Manitoba and B.C. square off on Thursday morning, in what could be a showdown for first place.

THE WINNER

Any of the four contenders make a great case to be chosen as the predicted winner.

But...

Morris over Stoughton.

Good curling, everyone.