Koe riding momentum into Players’ Championship
It’s all coming together for Kevin Koe and his Calgary-based crew.
The team of Koe, third Marc Kennedy, second Brent Laing, and lead Ben Hebert took the world men’s curling championship by storm in Basel, Switzerland, capping the event with a 5-3 victory over Denmark in Sunday’s gold-medal game.
Sure, it was nothing new for the foursome with all of the members of the team having won the world title previously, but this was their first altogether and represents the next step in their overall plan. Koe stole headlines roughly two years ago when the super team formed with a four-year commitment and one clear goal in mind: winning gold for Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Their first year together last season was disappointing considering their championship backgrounds as they were left empty-handed at the majors. This season has been nothing short of stellar as they came out of the gate taking the first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season at the Tour Challenge in September. A Canada Cup title in December secured the first berth to the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in a year and a half from now and a strong showing at the Brier last month earned them the right to represent Canada at the worlds.
Team Koe had a rock solid run during the world championship with an overall 12-1 record – their lone blemish was a loss to Sweden during the round-robin stage – although Denmark put up quite the fight in the final. Denmark, skipped by Rasmus Stjerne, took control early forcing Koe to one in the first end and scoring two in the third to take a 2-1 lead. Koe matched with a deuce in five to briefly pull ahead before Stjerne replied with a single in six to knot it up 3-3.
After a pair of blanks, Koe’s clutch shot-making skills shined as he capitalized to score a deuce in nine to reclaim the lead and fired a beauty in the final end to run his opponent out of rocks and clinch the gold.
It’s Canada’s 35th world men’s championship and first since 2012 when Glenn Howard’s team — featuring Laing at second — won the gold medal coincidentally right in the same arena.
1st End: World championship quick hits
– While Denmark settled for silver, it’s worthy of praise as Stjerne had a sensational week for the nation’s best result ever at the world men’s curling championship. It was also Denmark’s first medal since Rasmus’ father Tommy Stjerne earned bronze in 1990.
– American John Shuster defeated Yusuke Morozumi of Japan 8-6 in the bronze-medal match as the U.S. earned their first medal at the event since 2007. On top of Morozumi’s fourth place, it’s been a fine showing at the worlds this year for Japan with Satsuki Fujisawa grabbing silver at the women’s championship last month.
– Few would have predicted neither last year’s champ Edin nor 2014 winner Thomas Ulsrud of Norway missing the playoffs. Edin started off with a 4-0 record but Team Sweden lost the momentum with a three-game losing skid. It came down to their final round-robin game against Denmark in order to qualify and the Danes prevailed 8-7 with Stjerne scoring the winning deuce in the final frame.
2nd End: Koe turns attention to Players’ Championship
No rest for the world’s best, Team Koe are back on the ice this week for the Players’ Championship.
The fourth major and sixth event of the Pinty’s GSOC returns to Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre — formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens — for the third time in four years. The historic setting is a fitting venue for the crown jewel event of the series.
The Players’ Championship runs Tuesday night through to Sunday with TV coverage beginning Thursday on Sportsnet.
Tickets are still available for the Players’ Championship, visit thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets for more details.
Players’ Championship: Scores | Standings | Schedule | TV Schedule | Watch Online
3rd End: Homan aims for record books again
Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team are in the midst of a historic season on the Pinty’s GSOC circuit. A quick rundown:
– First women’s team to win three consecutive Pinty’s GSOC titles: Masters, National, and Canadian Open.
– First women’s team to compete in a Pinty’s GSOC men’s invitational – the Elite 10 — since Sportsnet acquired the series in 2012.
– First women’s team to beat a high-ranked men’s team in a Pinty’s GSOC event when they defeated Charley Thomas’ team during the Elite 10.
Team Homan now have their sights set on the Players’ Championship as they have a chance to become the first team — men or women — to sweep the majors in a single season. Considering Team Homan hold a jaw-dropping 26-2 win-loss record during the first four women’s Pinty’s GSOC events of the season the odds are on their side.
4th End: Gushue, McEwen also eye history
Two men’s skips that have won Pinty’s GSOC titles this year also have an opportunity to crack the record books.
Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen and Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., are both a Players’ Championship title away from completing a career Grand Slam.
It’s a pretty exclusive group with only Kevin Martin, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, and Jeff Stoughton having skipped teams to all four major titles during their careers.
McEwen and Gushue have finished runner-up at the Players’ Championship twice each in their careers with the former coming in second place both times the event has been held in Toronto previously.
Gushue might have an edge as he’s coming off of winning the most recent Pinty’s GSOC event, the non-major Elite 10, last month in Victoria.
5th End: Super spares on hand at Players’
Eve Muirhead of Scotland is the defending women’s champion and also won the Players’ Championship when Toronto hosted the event in 2013. However, her team will be without third Anna Sloan, who will miss the rest of the season due to injury.
Subbing in for Sloan will be Cathy Overton-Clapham, a five-time Canadian champion and winner of three Players’ titles. Overton-Clapham has played the “super spare” role before helping Val Sweeting capture her first career Grand Slam title at the 2014 Masters.
Briar Huerlimann will play second on Alina Paetz’s team with Marisa Winkelhausen also out with an injury.
Meanwhile, reigning Scotties champion Chelsea Carey will have former teammate Kristy McDonald filling in for regular third Amy Nixon. Carey and McDonald won the Manitoba Scotties title and a bronze at nationals together in 2014.
Over on the men’s side, two-time Brier champ Pat Simmons joins Team Shuster and reigning Canadian junior champ Matt Dunstone is back at third with Team Thomas.
Wayne Middaugh is still on the IR recovering from a broken leg so Adam Spencer returns with Glenn Howard’s team after helping them win the Ontario Tankard and finish eighth at the Brier earlier this year.
6th End: Rule change for Players’
The Elite 10 introduced a new brush rule that restricted teams to two brushes for sweepers and one brush for the skip/vice skip in the house for the duration of the event.
A modification to that rule for the Players’ Championship sees those three brushes now designated specifically as right brush, left brush, and skip/vice skip brush, and cannot be rotated. For more details on the new brushing rules, click here.
It’ll be interesting to see how much of an impact the rule will have on play and how teams learn to adapt.
7th End: Rogers Grand Slam Cup on the line
The Rogers Grand Slam Cup, awarded to the overall season champions, will also be handed out following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship.
Gushue holds a slim lead on the men’s side, but with nearly double points available at Players’ Championship, this one will most likely come down to the wire.
Homan has a very good chance to take home the women’s title with a 23-point advantage, but it’s still open season for the other bonuses as the top four teams overall can cash in.
To see the full Rogers Grand Slam Cup standings, click here.
8th End: Last call for Humpty’s Champions Cup
The Players’ Championship is the last chance for teams to qualify for the Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 26 to May 1 at the Sherwood Park Arena Sports Centre in Sherwood Park, Alta.
The Humpty’s Champions Cup features all of the top winners on tour — including the Players’ Championship victors — in one final showdown to close out the season.
