Simmons set to shoot for fifth

The goals of Moose Jaw's Pat Simmons rink have extended a little higher than that of your average Saskatchewan curler.
Saskatchewan's four-time defending champion Simmons rink had a short summer but Simmons said he is looking forward to the 2008-09 schedule, which includes some of the biggest prizes in the world of curling.
One of the big events coming in the 2009-10 season is the Olympic trials, which will see one Canadian men's rink earn a spot on the Olympic team for the Vancouver games.
"We've qualified already into the pre-trials event, and it's nice to have that done," said Simmons. "But we still have a chance to be one of the four teams that gets right into the trials."
The Davidson-based rink, which carries the same line-up of second Jeff Sharp, third Gerry Adam and lead Steve Laycock, is off to Edmonton this weekend for the World Curling Tour's Boston Pizza Shootout. They won that title last year but are looking to add some bigger hardware to their trophy case.
"Our goal this year is that we've got to win a major event, whether that's a Brier or a Canada Cup or a Players Championship or something. We want to accumulate enough points and keep the ranking high enough so that we can compete in the Canada Cup to keep that door open, and after Christmas, hopefully we can have a chance at three different opportunities to win one or more of those events as well."
The goals are high but Simmons feels comfortable with this team.
"Last year, we had pretty lofty goals for ourselves as well," he said. "I wouldn't say we set them higher than last year because we expected to win, too. But I think we're in the right direction as far as getting closer to accomplishing those goals.
Simmons said his team is right in the hunt of getting one of the last two Olympic trials spots but they are a little bit behind in that they have to win something big to get there.
"Hopefully, we're closing in on our time to do that," Simmons said. "I think last year showed we're still going in the right direction, but with that being said, we don't really have too far to go."
At the 2008 Brier in Winnipeg, Simmons went 9-2 in the round robin and made the 1-2 Page playoff game against Alberta's Kevin Martin. They lost when Simmons' final stone of the 11th end picked on some debris. Then, only hours later, he lost to Ontario's Glenn Howard rink.
Simmons feels like his team had a chance to win some of the major events, including the Brier.
"Really, it's just going to come down to just some small improvements on little things and finishing off some events," he said. "Once we do that we should be in position to be winning those things. Hopefully it's this year."