When the curling world first heard the news that Jamie Koe was returning to his hometown of Yellowknife last year after several seasons in Alberta, you could forgive the Whitehorse teams if they were a bit nervous.

That's not to take anything away from the existing teams from the N.W.T., or the rinks from the Yukon. But Koe, who comes from a long line of experienced family curlers, has been to five national junior curling championships and three mixed curling championships, the most recent being this past fall, when he represented the territories at the 2006 mixed championships, which were held in Whitehorse.

He knows how to play the big games. He didn't get the chance to take on the Yukon rinks last year, in his first year at the helm of a new team. But this time around, he wouldn't make the same mistakes, coming out on top after going undefeated through the six-draw round-robin and earning the right to represent the territories at the Tim Horton's Brier.

Koe was supported by lead Brad Choroskowski, second Mark Whitehead, third Kevin Whitehead and alternate Richard Robertson. It was the first time a men's team went undefeated at territorial playdowns since Whitehorse's Jon Solberg rink did it in 2002.

'Last year, it was my first back from Calgary and we didn't play very well,' Koe acknowledged. 'We didn't even make it (into the territorial playdowns). We went in to the championships in the N.W.T. thinking we would win no problem (last year). And we didn't.

'This year, we have a whole new attitude. We worked hard for this.'

The Koe rink secured the championship by defeating Yukon's number two rink, Pat Paslawski, in Draw 5 on Saturday night, stealing three points in the seventh end to take a 6-3 lead, with a final score of 8-4.

Paslawski was joined by lead Kelly Eby, second Rick Laberge and third George Hilderman at the championships.

Koe came in ranked as the number one rink from the N.W.T., ahead of number two Steve Moss. Moss, along with Scott Alexander, Rod Pielak and Jim Sosiak, finished second after defeating Paslawski 9-7 in the final draw Sunday morning. Also on Sunday, Koe defeated Yukon number one Chad Cowan 4-1.

Cowan was supported by lead Ross Milward, second James Buyck and third Wade Scoffin.

'Obviously, we're pretty happy because we were victorious,' said Koe. 'We got a couple of key breaks early in the tournament that set the stage for us.

'They were all tough games. Everyone was playing well. We knew it would be close. We just happened to pull it off in the end.'

Koe said percentage-wise, his crew got better and better each draw, never really making too many big mistakes. He hopes they'll be able to keep the momentum going for the Brier, which gets underway in Regina March 11. It will be their first trip to what is considered the toughest curling championship in Canada.

'We're just going to stick to our usual routine of throwing rocks,' he said. 'We'll probably go to Calgary for a day and a half or so before the Brier, to work with the national curling coach we've been training with.'

The N.W.T. rink has no specific goal in mind just yet for the Brier, but they definitely plan to be competitive.

'We're hoping to be in the middle of the pack. I think that's a realistic goal for our first Brier.'

Koe and company will be up against the following rinks at the Brier in Regina: Kevin Martin from Alberta; Jeff Stoughton from Manitoba; Ontario's Glenn Howard; Robbie Gordon from Northern Ontario; Quebec's Jean-Michel Menard; James Gratton from New Brunswick; Ken Peddigrew from Newfoundland and Labrador; P.E.I.'s Rod MacDonald; Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons; Nova Scotia's Mark Dacey (the defending champion); and Brian Windsor from B.C.

Koe said it's especially nice to be mentioned among that company because he almost never even made it to Whitehorse for the playdowns this year.

Thankfully, fate stepped in.

'I didn't think I was going to make it because my son was due on February 18, but he came early, on February 9, so I was actually able to come.'