Gushue hoping to keep dream season rolling at men's worlds

Brad Gushue is coming off arguably the most memorable victory of his career (and that's saying a lot for the 2006 Olympic champion) after he captured his first Brier title in front of a loud and proud crowd in his hometown of St. John's, N.L. 

Now Gushue and his rink of third Mark Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker have to bunker down and get back to business as the 2017 Ford World Men's Curling Championship gets underway April 1 from the other side of Canada in Edmonton. 

It's easy to think Team Gushue have reached the peak of the mountain for the 2016-17 season after giving Newfoundland and Labrador their first Brier triumph since Jack MacDuff accomplished the feat way back in 1976. That may turn out to be the sweetest moment of this foursome's tenure, but that doesn't mean they're not primed to reach the top of the podium once again in Edmonton.

No member of Team Gushue has ever played at the world championships, but will still be considered the favourites by most to win it all in the old home of the Edmonton Oilers, the Northlands Coliseum.

Gushue and his rink out of the Bally Haly Country Club will attempt to defend the title won by Kevin Koe's squad at last year's world championship in Basel, Switzerland. They'll be opposed by the likes of Sweden's Niklas Edin, who won it the last time the event was played in Canada in 2015, two time champion David Murdoch of Scotland and last year's bronze medalist John Shuster of the United States.

Canada kicks off the tournament against the Swiss on April 1 at 4pm ET/1pm PT on TSN 1/3/5. You can catch all of Team Gushue's games throughout the week on TSN. 

Let's take a look at the other rinks that will stand in the way of Gushue's goal in Edmonton.

 

Game 1 - Swiss - April 1 @ 4pm ET on TSN 1/3/5

Team:

Skip, Second - Peter de Cruz
Vice-skip, Fourth - Benoît Schwarz
Third - Claudio Pätz
Lead - Valentin Tanner

WCT Rank: 10th ($46,813) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 1 

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

Aside from Edin and Gushue, ranked one and two respectively, Team Peter de Cruz are the highest team on the World Curling Tour money list this season at No. 10. Thanks to a busy schedule which saw them win the Baden Masters in their home country and make the Cookstown Cash final, Team de Cruz have plenty of competitive matches under their belt this season and should be playoff contenders in Edmonton. This will be de Cruz's second world championship as he beat Koe in the bronze medal game in 2014.

 

Game 2 - Russia - April 2 @ 11am ET on TSN 1/3

Team:

Skip - Alexey Stukalskiy
Third - Alexey Timofeev
Second - Timur Gadzhikhanov
Lead - Artur Razhabov

WCT Rank: 142nd ($1,348) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 0

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

This will be the fourth world championship for 28-year-old Alexey Stukalskiy, but first as a skip. He also appeared in the 2014 Olympics in his home country of Russia, finishing with a 3-6 record. Stukalskiy has finished near the bottom of the standings at every men's worlds he's played in and will try to turn the tide around this time. However, expect the Canadian champs to take this one handily. 

 

Game 3 - Sweden - April 2 @ 9pm ET on TSN

Team:

Skip - Niklas Edin
Third - Oskar Eriksson
Second - Rasmus Wranå
Lead - Christoffer Sundgren

WCT Rank: 1st ($141,469) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 6

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-1

This one will easily be Gushue's toughest competition in Edmonton. Niklas Edin, 31, and his Swedish rink are having a career season, winning two Grand Slams, a European championship and sit atop the WCT money list. Edin has won two world championships in his career (2013 in Victoria and 2015 in Halifax) and has been arguably the best international skip over the past five years. Count on Team Sweden racking up eight or nine wins throughout the week and a appearance in the Page Playoff 1v2 game. A third world title seems like a good possibility for this rink. Game 3 will be an early test for Team Gushue.  

 

Game 4 - Scotland - April 3 @ 4pm ET on TSN 1/3

Team:

Skip - David Murdoch
Third - Greg Drummond
Second - Scott Andrews
Lead - Michael Goodfellow

WCT Rank: 15th ($33,143) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 0

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

David Murdoch will look to claim his third world men's championship and first since 2009. Team Murdoch has had some tough luck this year in finals, losing in the championship game of the Karuizawa International to fellow Scotsman Tom Brewster and the Swiss Cup Basel to Edin. The 38-year-old won bronze in his last world’s appearance as a skip back in 2013. The 2014 Olympic silver medalist hasn't been as successful lately as the mid to late 2000s, but will still be a hard out in Edmonton.

 

Game 5 - USA - April 3 @ 9pm ET on TSN 1/3

Team:

Skip - John Shuster
Third - Tyler George
Second - Matt Hamilton
Lead - John Landsteiner

WCT Rank: 25th ($20,951) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 0

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

John Shuster will make his seventh overall and third straight appearance at the men's world curling championship. His best finish came at last year's event when he won the bronze medal by beating Japan's Yusuke Morozumi, 8-6. Team Shuster will have the exact same foursome in Edmonton and there's no reason they can't work themselves into a playoff spot by week's end once again. 

 

Game 6 - China - April 4 @ 4pm ET on TSN 1/3

Team:

Skip - Rui Liu
Third - Xiaoming Xu
Second - Dexin Ba
Lead - Jialiang Zang

WCT Rank: 23rd ($23,019) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 1

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

Despite playing in a plethora of events this season, Team Liu of China is another rink Gushue's squad has yet to see this season. Liu and his team from Harbin have played in a dozen events in 2016-17, including qualifying for three finals. They went undefeated at the Cloverdale Cash Spiel in Surrey, BC earlier this season for their one and only event win. This will be Liu's sixth appearance at the worlds and he will look to cause a few upsets in Edmonton.

 

Game 7 - Germany - April 4 @ 9pm ET on TSN 1

Team:

Skip - Alexander Baumann
Third - Manuel Walter
Second, Vice-skip - Daniel Herberg
Lead - Ryan Sherrard

WCT Rank: 65th ($6,040) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 0

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

Alexander Baumann's best finish this season came at the Mercure Perth Masters in Scotland where he fell to Brewster in the semi-final. Daniela Jentsch is coming off a solid 5-6 performance for their country at the women's worlds and Baumann will do his best to match that effort, but will likely find himself in the bottom three by week's end. His foursome finished with a 1-10 record at last year's event in Basel.

 

Game 8 - Netherlands - April 5 @ 11am ET on TSN

Team:

Skip - Jaap van Dorp
Third - Wouter Gösgens
Second - Laurens Hoekman
Lead - Carlo Glasbergen

WCT Rank: 84th ($4,000) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 1

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

Jaap van Dorp picked up his first career World Curling Tour victory earlier this season at the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard Tier 2, but has failed to make the playoffs at any of his six events since. This will be only the second time the Dutch have qualified for the men's world curling championship, and the first since 1994. It won't be an easy ride for Team van Dorp, but then again, they having nothing to lose.

 

Game 9 - Japan - April 5 @ 4pm ET on TSN 2

Team:

Skip - Yusuke Morozumi
Third - Tetsuro Shimizu
Second - Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi
Lead - Kosuke Morozumi

WCT Rank: 32nd ($14,531) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 0

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

This will be Morozumi's fifth straight appearance at the men's world championship. His best placement came last year when he fell to Shuster of the United States in the third-place game. In 2016-17, the 32-year-old Morozumi made it to the final of the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic where he lost to Canadian junior champ Tyler Tardi as well as the Mercure Perth Masters quarters, falling to Team Steffen Walstad. Let's see if Morozumi can catch lightning in a bottle once again this year.

 

Game 10 - Italy - April 6 @ 11am ET on TSN 2

Team:

Skip, Third - Joel Retornaz
Vice-skip, Fourth - Amos Mosaner
Second - Andrea Pilzer
Lead - Daniele Ferrazza

WCT Rank: NA

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 0

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

In five events this season, Joel Retornaz, who calls the game but throws vice stones for this squad, has failed to qualify for a playoff round. Retornaz represented Italy in his home country at the 2006 Olympics, finishing with a respectful 4-5 record. Expect the Italians to finish near the bottom of the standings this time around. 

 

Game 11 - Norway - April 6 @ 9pm ET on TSN 2

Team:

Skip - Steffen Walstad
Third - Markus Høiberg
Second - Magnus Nedregotten
Lead - Alexander Lindstrøm

WCT Rank: 17th ($31,463) 

WCT/CCT Events Won in 2016-17: 1

Record against Gushue in 2016-17: 0-0

Thomas Ulsrud has represented Norway in each of the past six world championships, but this year we are going to see some new blood coming out of the Scandinavian country. Out of all the teams competing in Edmonton, Team Walstad have won the fifth most money, thanks in large part to their recent triumph at the German Masters on the Curling Champions Tour. Walstad and his crew from Oslo also made it to the championship game of the Mercure Perth Masters (lost to Brewster) and semis of the Curling Masters Champery (lost to Edin). This may be Team Walstad's first rodeo on the world stage, but the way they've been playing this season, it wouldn't be a complete shock if they turn out to be one of the final four. The Norwegians could be the dark horses in Edmonton and Team Gushue should have their hands full in this one.

 

Final Word

An area for concern for Team Gushue heading into the worlds is whether or not a Brier hangover will exist. The foursome is coming off the most emotionally draining week of their curling careers and it might take a few games to find the same groove they had in St. John's. A week after the Canadian championship, Team Gushue competed at the Elite 10 on the Grand Slam circuit, finishing with a 2-2 record as they watched the playoffs from the sidelines. Regardless, a playoff spot should be a lock for the Canadians as well as the Swedes at this event with the likes of Norway, Scotland, United States, Switzerland and Japan fighting for the remaining two.