Morris joins Simmons, Rycroft & Thiessen
John Morris will take the reins for Team Canada.
Morris was announced as the skip on Tuesday and joins Nolan Thiessen, Carter Rycroft and Pat Simmons, who hold an automatic berth to next year’s Brier, becoming the first men’s curling team to return to the national championship tournament as Team Canada.
Thiessen, Rycroft and Simmons won the Brier this year with Kevin Koe but the Calgary skip chose to form a new team with Brent Laing, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert while the other three decided to stick together to retain the Brier berth.
Morris won two Brier championships, one world title and the 2010 Olympic gold medal with Kevin Martin’s team in Edmonton and returns to Alberta after spending the past season with Jim Cotter in Vernon, B.C.
Scott Bailey, who won the 1998 Brier and world championships with Wayne Middaugh’s team, was announced as the team’s fifth player who will compete with them during the Grand Slam of Curling series as Rycroft plans to take some time off during the season.