Craig Kochan

Craig Kochan (born October 18, 1974 in Marathon, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian curler from Toronto and Kapuskasing, Ontario. He has played competitively in both Northern and southern Ontario. He has won three Northern Ontario junior titles, a Northern Ontario mixed title and has played in six Ontario provincial championships and two Northern Ontario provincial championships.

Junior career

Kochan's junior career involved winning the Northern Ontario junior title three years straight in 1987, 1988 and 1989. This qualified him to represent Northern Ontario at the Canadian Junior Curling Championships each of those years. At the 1987 Canadian Juniors, Kochan and his rink of Craig Cordiner, Andy Davis and Mike Desilets finished the round robin with a 6-5 record, missing the playoffs. The Kapuskasing four-some returned to the Canadian Juniors in 1988 and this time finished the round robin with a 9-2 record, in first place. In the final they played against British Columbia's Mike Wood, and lost 6-2. At the 1989 Canadian Juniors, Cordiner and Davis were replaced by Greg Kawahara and Aaron Skillen and they curled out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Kochan did not fare as well with this new line up, and once again finished 6-5, out of the playoffs.

Provincial playdowns

After his junior career, Kochan has played in provincial playdowns both in Northern and southern Ontario, but has yet to win a provincial men's title in either region. The closest he came to winning was at the 1995 Northern Ontario finals where he lost to Al Hackner. He did win the Northern Ontario mixed title in 2011, and skipped the Northern Ontario team (which also included Liz Kingston, Colin Koivula and Alissa Begin) to a 4-7 finish at the 2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship.

References

• Craig Kochan on the World Curling Tour database
• 1987 Canadian Junior Curling Championships results
• 1988 Canadian Junior Curling Championships results
• 1989 Canadian Junior Curling Championships results
• "Kochan has curling's number - .079" - London Free Press
• 2011 Canadian Mixed - Northern Ontario team profile