‘It was brutal:’ Hebert details decision to break up Team Bottcher

A major curling shakeup has taken place in Canada.

Earlier this week, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert announced Brendan Bottcher would no longer be the skip of their rink. A couple of days later, they announced that Brad Jacobs would be the team’s skip.

“It was brutal,” Hebert, a Regina product who now calls Calgary home, told the Green Zone on Thursday. “Those were not decisions we took lightly and it came really fast and there’s a lot of thought put into it. We played out the pros and cons. We don’t live in a world of general managers and coaches making those decisions on our end.

“We had a great time and we had some success for sure. It’s tough; you get close with the family and you build a good bond together. To be able to have to make that (decision) and cut those ties, it’s a bit personal and a bit tough. Those are tough conversations but one that we thought we had to make.”

Bottcher won the 2021 Brier with a different rink after finishing second in two previous Canadian championships.

In their two years together, Bottcher, Kennedy, Gallant and Hebert had become one of the best teams in the world with their successes on the Grand Slam circuit.

But a third-place finish at this year’s Montana’s Brier — and a third straight Canadian title won by Brad Gushue’s rink — led the team’s third, second and lead to decide a different direction was needed.

“In the end, if you looked at our team, we weren’t looking to be third-best, second-best or fourth-best; we were looking to take down Brad (Gushue) and his reign and try to be the best team in Canada and go represent Canada at the world championships — and we failed,” Hebert said.

“That’s a tough pill to swallow for all of us and we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and swallow that pill that we didn’t reach our ultimate goal of representing our country. We didn’t think the status quo was going to be able to get us there in time to represent Canada at the world championships next year and then be ready to take on the world at the Olympic Games if we can get through the Olympic trials.”

Hebert also admitted the three of them aren’t the easiest teammates to deal with, but Bottcher did a great job of that.

“There’s a lot of history with the three of us. We wanted to give Brendan the reins, but there was some pushback from our end with certain things we had seen with our former leaders that we wanted to implement — and it was tough,” Hebert said. “I think Brendan did a good job. Certainly in work ethic and teammate-ability, he was 10 out of 10.”

Hebert also said he thinks Bottcher could be one of the best skips in the world in a few years.

“When Brad Gushue and certain folks retire, he is going to be around for a long time and have a ton of success. We just didn’t know in this short window to beat Brad if that was going to be the answer,” Hebert said.

So the team is bringing in Jacobs, the 2013 Brier winner and 2014 Olympic gold medallist.

“Brad Jacobs is a superstar. He’s always had that superstar mentality. He brings tons of energy to a team. I think he has matured a lot over the years to become the person he is now – a great dad and really invested in the family side,” Hebert said.

“I have a ton of respect for Brad playing against them all those years. Sometimes I hated playing them because they suck the energy right out of you when they are fist-pumping down the sheet and making big shots and being electric like they have been in the past. I think it is going to be a blessing to have that and to give us that extra jolt which hopefully we need to put us over the edge.”

Hebert said this wasn’t something he, Kennedy and Gallant had been planning to do.

“It wasn’t talked about up until last weekend. It was a thought that turned into something and then there was some serious conversations and we had to dig deep for some answers and weigh out some pros and cons and see if this was a risk we were willing to make,” Hebert said.

But now the work starts for the new team as the members try gel with the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy nearing.

“We have to get rolling with that stuff right away here and get on the same page here with what we are going to do for the summer – a training plan and a couple times get together and build that team camaraderie that we want to build,” Hebert said.