Gushue’s ‘bubble’ has been burst
Canadian rink embracing distractions at curling world championship in Vegas
You can’t pretend you’re in Regina if you are in Las Vegas.
Brad Gushue spent the first half of the World Men’s Curling Championship trying to put his team “in the bubble” they usually try to build around themselves. Tuesday, he finally gave up. There’s no Glitter Gulch in Regina. There’s no Orleans hotel in Edmonton with more than 2,000 fans decked in Canadian red and white and wandering around a casino with cocktails contained in large plastic curling rocks.
There’s no Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Vegas showgirls nor a Brier Patch at the pool in St. John’s, N.L.
It’s 25 C in Las Vegas compared to 2 C in St. John’s and -4 C in Regina, where Gushue played his last two Briers, and -3 C in Edmonton, where he played his last worlds.
After going to the 10th end to dispatch Italy 8-7 in Canada’s only game Monday, Gushue held a team meeting to try to figure out a way to get “inside the bubble.” When the meeting was over, they decided that just isn’t going to be possible playing in a world championship and staying in a hotel and casino on the same property as the arena.
“We decided to embrace it and deal with it as best we can. There’s just a lot of stuff out of our control. We can’t do what we did in St. John’s and Regina at the Briers or Edmonton for the last worlds,” said Gushue.
“There’s a lot going on around here,” said third Mark Nichols.
“There are lots of fans staying in the hotel. Everyone recognizes you. People want autographs and pictures with you. It’s good. It feels like we’re the home team out there. There are so many Canadian flags. We need to enjoy that.”
Gushue said that one day they’ll look back on playing in a worlds here and tell their grandchildren about it.
“You heard in Kevin (Martin’s hall of fame) speech that when you’re done, you learn to respect the losses as much as you do the wins. And you have to embrace the experiences, too. Playing a worlds in a place like Las Vegas is definitely one of those. No matter what happens, it’s going to be great to be here for a week and a half and experience what Vegas has to offer and to say you curled here.
“Accepting it is a big part of it. We just have to accept the environment that we’re in for this week. That’s a challenge because it’s extremely different from what we normally do.
ANOTHER HIGH-WIRE ACT
Get up early. Come unravelled. Battle back to try save the day in the final end.
That had been the story of Canada at the 60th World Men’s Curling Championship going into Tuesday morning’s game against Changmin Kim of South Korea.
Gushue changed the ending a little bit. He had to do it in an extra end.
The Canadians didn’t win the draw to the button for hammer for the first time against South Korea, but stole three points before they finally had the hammer in the sixth end and used it to get a 5-2 lead.
As was the case in four of their first five games, when the Gushue crew had used the hammer for leads of 5-1 in a 7-6 win over Russia, 4-1 in an 8-7 loss to Scotland and 4-1 in an 8-7 win over Italy, Canada couldn’t close. Gushue missed his last-rock shot in the eight and South Korea scored two to make it 5-4.
Up 6-4 without hammer headed into the 10th end and Kim was down to four seconds left on the time clock when he delivered his final rock to draw for two to send it to an extra end.
Gushue needed to draw to the four-foot to win it 7-6.
“It was a little bit better,” he said of the performance compared to the games during the first three days.
“It was just one shot in three ends. A couple of them were wrong-side misses, which was frustrating. But there’s no question, we can bring it up another level.
“That is something we discussed last night. Probably in the first few games, it was taking our foot off the gas.
“We had such success at the Brier by getting up and throwing two rocks in the rings and peeling away. The ice was so consistent there and we knew if we threw it well, we were going to make the doubles and get out of an end.
“Here the ice is improving, but those shots are a little more challenging here than they were in Regina. Because of that, we’re giving up a lot of deuces to allow people back in the game. We’re hoping the ice will keep improving and get a little more consistent, so we can play that style. If not, we will have to make some adjustments.”
The skip shot 85 per cent against the South Koreans to move his percentage up to a pedestrian 82 per cent for the event.
PLAY ONE FOR KEVIN?
Gushue stood leaning on the hockey boards at the Orleans Arena with coach Jules Owchar watching Martin be inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame and decided to take Martin’s approach.
The Edmonton skip was noted for being the aggressor.
Gushue had been struggling to produce a killer instinct after getting an early lead in games this week, but Tuesday afternoon against Go Aoki of Japan, Team Canada put the pedal to the metal and kept it there for a quick afternoon of work.
Gushue chose a different word. “I think we were a little more assertive. If we had a chance, we took it. I think it’s something we need to do going forward,” he said of the 9-2 win with Aoki shaking hands after the sixth end.
Gushue scored three in the first end, two in the third and two more in the fifth in registering the win to go to 5-1 in the standings.
“I have the utmost respect for Kevin. In my opinion, he’s the greatest curler that ever played. I definitely looked up to him early in my career and throughout my career.”