Canada’s Gushue gunning for gold despite nagging injury
St. John’s team to face Sweden for world title today
EDMONTON — There was a time last summer when Canada skip Brad Gushue didn’t know if he’d be able to play in a single game this season.
A left hip/groin injury that first bothered him in the spring was not progressing the way he expected.
“It was a real mental struggle, emotional too,” Gushue said. “You didn’t know where that light at the end of the tunnel was, when I was going to be able to throw again.”
Mark Nichols took over as skip for the first few months with substitutes filling in at third. Gushue eventually returned in December and has continued regular physiotherapy, massage work and stretching routines since.
He has been able to manage the injury this season and his team hasn’t missed a beat.
Gushue’s quest for that elusive Tim Hortons Brier title ended last month and now he’s one win away from becoming a world champion.
Gushue, Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker have been dominant this week at the Northlands Coliseum.
They swept the 11-game round-robin and beat Sweden’s Niklas Edin in the Page playoff 1-2 game on Friday.
Canada will play Sweden again in the final tonight. Edin advanced with a 6-5 extra-end victory over Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz in the semifinal.
“We have played a lot of big games as a group,” Gushue said Saturday after a half-hour practice session. “I think we know how to handle it a whole lot better now than what we used to.” Gushue and Nichols won a world-junior title together in 2001 and took Olympic gold at the Turin Games five years later.
The current foursome has been together for three seasons. And the team has managed to stay on top of the rankings this year despite the unusual first half of the campaign.
Gushue won’t need surgery to repair his injury, which is actually the result of a tilted pelvis. He plans to take two months over the off-season to get the muscles around the pelvis strong enough to hold it in place. Gushue is hopeful that will allow him to play pain-free next season.
In the meantime, he’s playing through the pain and has cut back on practice time. Shorter games thanks to blowout wins have also helped minimize his time on the ice.
“I’m still working through it. It was tough,” Gushue said. “It was a long road to get here, no doubt.”