Tim Hortons Brier has two Koes to contend with

So far, the skipper is shooting the northern lights out at the Brier.

It's clear to see that the darlings of these early days of the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier are the guys from Northwest Territories/Yukon, and their 3 and one record after draw 6 has been fashioned, in rather large part, by the play of their Skip, Jamie Koe.

Victories over contenders Northern Ontario, Ontario and Saskatchewan mean the Territories are on a 3 game win streak, and if they run that to four Monday night at the Credit Union Centre, in Saskatoon, it will mean they've added to the woes of Brad Gushue and his team from Newfoundland/Labrador, who saw their record standing at a dismal oh and 3 heading for action in Monday afternoon's 7th draw.

Koe's been the main reason why the team from way up north is in one of the cat bird's seats among the leaders at this year's Brier.

He opened with a wobbly effort, shooting just 69 per cent in a Day One loss to Nova Scotia, but since then, he's been spot on, rebounding with efforts of 86 per cent, 81 per cent and 90 per cent against Northern Ontario, Ontario and Saskatchewan, respectively.

After 6 draws, Koe saw himself among the elite skips, his 82 per cent standing him second to his brother Kevin, the Alberta Skip and 2010 Brier champion who sat at a scintillating 88 per cent.

The Koes will meet head to head on Wednesday morning. Prior to that, Jamie will have the previously mentioned game against Gushue's struggling NL team as well as Quebec and PEI. With their growing confidence and a skip who seems to have the valuable knack of placing his opponents in difficult-to-get-out-of situations, there's at least the possibility that that game might be for first place.

A lot of ice to be pebbled between now and then but it's an enticing scenario.

Jamie Koe is doing a little impersonation of his twin sister, Kerry Galusha, in some ways.

Galusha, who skipped the Territories for an 8th time in this year's Scotties Tournament of Hearts, in Red Deer, has made a habit of monkeying with the championship plans of contenders over the years. Two weeks ago, she opened with weekend wins over eventual champ Heather Nedohin, of Alberta, and one of the pre-event favourites, Heather Smith - Dacey, of Nova Scotia. Later in the week, despite being out of contention, she dashed the playoff hopes of defending champion Amber Holland, with a 7 - 5 win. Holland didn't recover and missed the playoffs.

For Jamie, a quick start against good competition will mean something only if he doesn't repeat the happenings of 2007, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Koe got out to a 4 and oh start that year, but wound up 5 and 6 and out of the playoffs.

The difference being that Koe didn't knock off anyone really daunting in that start, taking New Brunswick, Quebec, B.C. and PEI, before being run aground by the contenders in the bunch.

If Koe can keep it going against beatable opposition over the next couple of days, that game against his older brother's Alberta team could be rather large.

Those wins against Glenn Howard and Brad Jacobs and their Ontario teams are particularily impressive, but do they signal the rise of an unlikely 2012 playoff contender?

They might, if the man who's often called the OTHER Koe in the tournament keeps making a name for himself at the expense of those who already have.