Eight Ends: Sweden setting the pace at world championship
There’s a crowded house at the top of the table for the world men’s curling championship in Las Vegas.
Sweden holds the edge for now at 7-1 to lead the pack. Canada and Scotland have sustained just one loss each but sit in second with identical 6-1 records. Norway (6-2) and Russia (5-2) are right in the hunt as well. Considering the top six teams qualify for the playoffs, these five should stay safely in the mix although they’re certainly making it harder for those who have stumbled so far to keep up.
Kicking off this week’s Eight Ends are some early observations at the midway mark of the tournament before business picks up heading into the final stretch of round-robin play and into the weekend playoffs.
1st End: No rest for Sweden’s best
Niklas Edin and the Olympic silver medallists from Sweden have been running full steam ahead opening with six consecutive victories to start the tournament. After losing 5-3 to Norway late Tuesday, Edin got back on track with a convincing 9-4 win over Italy on Wednesday.
Burnout? Not a problem here as Edin also squeezed in an appearance last month at the Princess Auto Elite 10 reaching the tiebreaker stage.
Edin looks to be following the same path as compatriot Anna Hasselborg, who won gold at the Pyeongchang Winter Games and followed that up by making it all the way to the world women’s curling championship final where she settled for silver after losing to Canada’s Jennifer Jones. (Obviously, Edin will be looking for a different ending).
Although other countries opted to let their Olympic reps rest, there’s nothing slowing down the Swedes from pulling off double duty. It was Anette Norberg who skipped Sweden to Olympic and world championship gold medals in 2006 after all.
2nd End: Gushue finding his form?
Canada’s Brad Gushue sports a 6-1 record but there have been a few dicey games that have probably left his fans back home in Newfoundland saying, “Oh, me nerves.”
Gushue had to bank on a steal in the final frame to escape with an 8-7 win over Italy on Monday and needed an extra end to solve South Korea 7-6 on Tuesday.
The ice conditions have been tough but it’s the same for everyone else, so it’s a matter of figuring it out before the other guys. That has usually been the case for Gushue, who has won major titles on tricky ice before including the Tour Challenge and Masters earlier this season.
Canada appears to be finding its groove now though and looking more like the defending champs they are following back-to-back routs taking down Japan 9-2 and Norway 8-2.
3rd End: USA not looking OK
The home side Team USA, skipped by third Rich Ruohonen, is already in back-against-the-wall territory. After winning their opener against Japan, they dropped four straight games in heartbreaking fashion as they held the hammer in the last end all four times and gave up steals. Two additional losses have them at 1-6 and at the bottom of the table.
Does anyone have Mr. T’s number? They’re going to have to channel some of John Shuster’s Olympic gold magic fast although with the logjam ahead of them it might already be too late for even a “miracurl” at this point.
4th End: No hammer, no problem for Mouat
Scotland’s Bruce Mouat has had a scintillating season on tour winning numerous titles including a Grand Slam at the Boost National. The 23-year-old skip and his team play a fearless style like they have nothing to lose and it’s a gamble paying off in Vegas.
The stat that jumps out so far at the world championship is they’ve won four times without the hammer to start. This was quite evident during their match Tuesday against Netherlands where they stole one in the first, two in the second and another pair in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead early and never looked back in the 8-3 victory. That might eventually catch up to them closer to playoff time but it seems they’re handling the pressure playing without hammer to begin quite well.
5th End: Martin makes Hall of Fame
Kevin Martin received the call to the World Curling Federation’s Hall of Fame and was inducted Tuesday. The Ol’ Bear needs no introduction as arguably the greatest of all time although his contribution to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling cannot be overstated.
We’re not just talking about his record 18 GSOC men’s titles either as Martin was central to the creation of the series in the first place. Martin led the charge among the skips who passed on competing in provincial playdowns (and thus Brier and world championships) at the start of the century to give the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling credibility and grow into what it is today.
In case you’re wondering what took Martin’s induction so long, there is a four-year wait period and he only retired in 2014, so he was a first-ballot choice once available.
6th End: Crocker, Muyres all mixed up
Laura Crocker and Kirk Muyres are your Canadian mixed doubles curling champions. Crocker and Muyres captured the national title Sunday scoring two in the last end to clip Kadriana Sahaidak and Colton Lott 8-7 in Sunday’s final in Leduc, Alta.
Like Olympic gold medallists Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris, this too was a last-minute partnership. Crocker needed a new teammate as fiancé Geoff Walker is off competing for Canada at the world men’s championship with Team Gushue. While Crocker is already a mixed doubles gamer (her and Walker were runner-up at nationals in 2016), it was marvellous Muyres could come off of the bench and step in with ease as the duo finished with an impressive 9-1 record.
Crocker and Muyres will represent Canada at the world mixed doubles championship April 21-28 in Sweden.
7th End: Latest curling team changes
Welcome back, Team Cotter. With Morris leaving the team, Jim Cotter returns to calling the shots next season for the Kelowna/Vernon, B.C. club. Cotter has brought in Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock to throw third stones with Tyrel Griffith and Rick Sawatsky returning up front. It was the best case scenario for Laycock, who recently skipped and threw third on his team that announced last month was splitting up.
Matt Dunstone, who tossed fourth stones for Laycock, is sticking around in Saskatchewan joining forces with third Braeden Moskowy, second Catlin Schneider and lead Dustin Kidby in Regina. They’ll be a young, strong team hungry to end Saskatchewan’s Brier drought that’s now at 38 years.
Winnipeg’s Braden Calvert revealed his new roster Monday retaining third Kyle Kurz and adding second Ian McMillan and lead Rob Gordon. McMillan previously played with Jason Gunnlaugson and Gordon was most recently with Pat Simmons (as well as Gunnlaugson and Dunstone before that. Talk about musical chairs).
Meanwhile, former skip Mark Kean is staying in Ontario but linking up in the northern half of the province at third for Sudbury’s Tanner Horgan. Tanner’s brother, Jacob Horgan, will slide over to second to accommodate Kean at third. Kean, who won the Ontario Tankard in 2015, should provide some veteran guidance for the young Horgan squad that finished runner-up at Canadian juniors this year.
8th End: One week to the Players’ Championship
The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season resumes in less than a week with the Players’ Championship starting Tuesday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. Click here to see the full draw schedule.
You don’t want to miss the 26th running of the crown jewel Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament featuring 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams of the season. The GSOC Bonus Cup is also on the line plus the final spots in the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup.
Full-event and weekend passes plus single-draw tickets are available, click here for ticket information. If you can’t make it to Toronto, Sportsnet and CBC will have you covered. Click here for the TV schedule with online streaming at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international).