AFTER REGINA WIN, CURLER GUSHUE DROPS WORLDS
For the fourth time, skip takes home silver in `disappointing' loss, writes Darrell Davis
It's always surprising when Brad Gushue loses a curling game. Unless it's a world final.
After watching Gushue and his teammates up close for 10 days as they won the Montana's Brier last month in Regina, the skip's familiar, repeated fist-pumps and bubbling confidence sparked a hometown belief they would win another men's world curling championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. It would be Gushue's second — the first came in 2017 — to go along with the 2006 Olympic gold medal, six Canadian crowns and three runner-up performances from his last three appearances at the world championship.
If not for that dratted Niklas Edin! Edin skips a dedicated Swedish rink who basically self-funds the worldwide journeys that helped him win a seventh world championship Sunday with a 6-5 victory over Gushue's Canadian foursome.
“For the fourth time, silver sucks,” said Gushue, ever-honest and always forthcoming, in a post-game interview on TSN. “To be second in the world, we have to be proud of what we did. But it's just disappointing now.
“This is four in a row for me. I'm sure at some point down the road I'll appreciate it more than I do right now. But right now it's tough to take.”
Gushue beat Edin in the 2017 world championship final, but the tables turned in 2018. Edin also beat Gushue in 2022. Gushue lost last year's final to Scotland's Bruce Mouat.
“We just played maybe the best event we've ever played,” Edin said on TSN, after completing the event with only one loss — when the skip took a game off to rest a surgically repaired knee. “I'm super proud of the team.”
Edin has been in six of the last seven finals. His seven world championships are a record for a skip. When he surpassed Regina's Ernie Richardson's mark of four world titles, the legendary Canadian curler sent Edin a congratulatory note and received a heartfelt response.
There's another, small Regina connection to the Edin rink. When they tour Canada, specifically going through Alberta, they stay at the Calgary home of Art and Sandra Zimmerman, who used to live in Regina and have provided boarding for well-known Canuck curlers Ben Hebert and John Morris.
Sweden's top curling teams don't get funded like Canada's best, whose training and travelling expenses are well-supported by Curling Canada and Sport Canada. Edin's squad — which also includes Oskar Eriksson, Rasmus Wranaa and Christoffer Sundgren — relies primarily on sponsorships, not to mention the hospitality of friends and fans.
That makes their accomplishments quite impressive and allows them to compete on the pro tour, with tough games against high-ranked competition. Edin's squad spent the months preceding the worlds playing throughout Canada.
For Edin and Gushue, their next game was slated for Tuesday evening in Toronto in the Grand Slam of Curling Players' Championship. Against each other!
Make no mistake, the improvement of curlers worldwide comes partially from Canada's contributions. European and Asian countries have learned techniques and strategies from Canadian coaches. That has closed the gap and explains why Canada doesn't breeze to world championships any more. It doesn't mean Canadian curling is getting worse. Quite the opposite. Canada's curlers are better than they have even been, but so are their competitors.
Indeed, Rachel Homan's team had the most amazing season rolling through the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and winning the women's world championship. Top-tier results like Gushue's and Homan's still help Canada qualify for the next Winter Olympics.
It still sucks for Gushue, third Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker, although the Canadian championship allows their roster to remain intact next season as Team Canada. Gushue and Nichols are from Newfoundland, while Walker lives in Alberta and Harnden in Ontario.
No wonder Saskatchewan can't win a Brier! Provincial representatives can only have one imported player, while the reigning champions and tour qualifiers have no such restrictions, leaving Saskatchewan a long-shot to end its 44-year Brier drought.
And Gushue's not done yet. Neither is Edin. What's next, the seven-time champion was asked.
“I guess eight golds,” said Edin, who has also won gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals. “No, I think the big goal is obviously the Olympics.”