Skip Brendan Bottcher has split with his Calgary-based club.
Third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert and coach Paul Webster announced Tuesday they are going in a new direction for next season.
“We have decided to make a change at the skip position and will be considering our options in the coming days,” the team said in a statement.
Bottcher also released a statement saying he was no longer teammates with the group and wished them all the best on and off the ice.
“I am more passionate about the future of curling and my future than ever before,” Bottcher said in the statement. “As our sport continues to evolve and grow with increased interest from fans across Canada and around the world, generating extraordinary ratings as well as club and elite level expansions, curling is entering its golden era.”
Although Bottcher did not say his future plans, he ended the statement saying he’s “excited for what comes next for curling in Canada and the next iteration of Team Bottcher” with more news to come.
The 32-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., formed the powerhouse team with Kennedy, Gallant and Hebert — all former Olympians and world champions — for the start of the quadrennial in 2022. They captured two Grand Slam of Curling titles winning the Co-op Canadian Open and Champions Cup in their first season together.
Bottcher reached two Grand Slam finals during the 2023-24 campaign finishing runner-up in the HearingLife Tour Challenge and Co-op Canadian Open. The team also won three tour events early in the season and was ranked No. 1 in the world for four weeks during the fall.
His team wrapped up its year this past weekend at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship missing the playoffs with a 2-3 record and secured a pre-qualifier spot for next year’s Montana’s Brier.
More from Sportsnet
Eight Ends: Gushue, Tirinzoni wrap up an unreal season with Players’ Championship wins
Gushue wins 15th GSOC title at Princess Auto Players’ Championship in thrilling fashion
News Related-
The best Walmart Cyber Monday deals 2023
-
Jordan Poole took time to showboat and got his shot blocked into the stratosphere
-
The Top Canadian REITs to Buy in November 2023
-
OpenAI’s board might have been dysfunctional–but they made the right choice. Their defeat shows that in the battle between AI profits and ethics, it’s no contest
-
Russia-Ukraine Drone Warfare Rages With Dozens Headed for Moscow, Amid Deadly Winter Storm
-
Trump tells appeals court that threats to judge and clerk in NY civil fraud trial do not justify gag order
-
Can Anyone Take Paxlovid for Covid? Doctors Explain.
-
Google this week will begin deleting inactive accounts. Here's how to save yours.
-
How John Tortorella's Culture Extends from the Philadelphia Flyers to the AHL Phantoms
-
Tri-Cities' hatcheries report best Coho return in years
-
Wild release Dean Evason of head coaching duties
-
Air New Zealand’s Cyber Monday Sale Has the 'Lowest Fares of 2023' to Auckland, Sydney, and More
-
NDP tells Liberals to sweeten the deal if pharmacare legislation is delayed
-
'1,000 contacts with a club': Tiger Woods breaks down his typical tournament prep to college kids in fascinating video