The 2015 World Men's Curling Championship is set to go Saturday from Halifax.

Kevin Koe and Team Canada lost in the bronze medal game last year to Switzerland in Beijing, China. The same rink will be back this time around, albeit with a slighly different look. Kevin Koe is gone, Pat Simmons has taken over skip duties and John Morris is the new third. Despite the changes, Canada should be one of the top contenders in Halifax.

It's not going to be easy though as defending champion Thomas Ulsrud of Norway, Sweden's Olympic bronze medalist Niklas Edin and three-time world champion Ewan MacDonald of Scotland will be in attendance along with a slew of young rinks looking to make a name for themselves.

You can catch all of Canada’s action live throughout the week on TSN and you can follow the latest news on TSN.ca. Draw 1 goes Saturday at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt on TSN3 and TSN5 with Team Canada facing Team USA.

 

Team Canada

Skip: Pat Simmons Third: John Morris Second: Carter Rycroft Lead: Nolan Thiessen

After a whirlwind Brier which saw Pat Simmons and his Alberta foursome defend their national championship in somewhat surprising fashion, Team Canada will return to the World Championship with a slightly different look. Kevin Koe, who would leave the team at season's end, skipped this crew at the 2014 Worlds in Beijing where they struggled to a fourth place finish. John Morris came in to skip, but the new-look squad would play poorly on Tour to start the season and began the Brier with a 2-3 record. A change needed to be made. Simmons took over full skip duties while Morris went back to his familiar third position. Team Simmons went 8-1 the rest of the way and topped Olympic champion Brad Jacobs in the final to punch their ticket to the Worlds. This group looks much cooler and more confident with Simmons as the man in charge and should be the favourites to win in Halifax. Canada hasn't won the men's World Championship since Glenn Howard did it in 2012.

 

Team Sweden

Skip: Niklas Edin Third: Oskar Eriksson Second: Kristian Lindström Lead: Christoffer Sundgren

Young skipper Niklas Edin will have a new-look rink for his fifth appearance at the World Championship in Halifax. The 29-year-old won bronze at the Sochi Olympics last year with longtime teammates Sebastian Kraupp, Fredrik Lindberg and Viktor Kjäll, but now has former alternate Oskar Eriksson throwing third stones with Christoffer Sundgren and Kristian Lindström sharing front end duties. Eriksson actually skipped the rink that lost in the finals to Thomas Ulsrud at the Worlds last year in Beijing.  The foursome has played a busy schedule on the World Curling this season, but has yet to win an event. Edin won the Worlds in 2013 and should be in the mix once again this year.

 

Team Norway

Lead: Havard Vad Petersson Second: Christoffer Svae Third: Torger Nergård Skip: Thomas Ulsrud

Thomas Ulsrud will look to defend his World Championship title from 2014, the first of his career, in Halifax. The 43-year-old has skipped the same foursome since 2007. They lost to Kevin Martin and Team Canada in the 2010 Olympic final and finished off the podium in Sochi last year. Ulsrud sits 26th on the money list and won the Baden Masters earlier this season in Switzerland.  The Norwegians have always been one of Canada’s biggest competitors and should be again at the Worlds. At the very least, they’ll turn heads with their snazzy pants.

 

Team Scotland

Skip: Ewan MacDonald Third: Duncan Fernie Second: Ruairidh Greenwood Lead: Euan Byers

Ewan MacDonald will make his 10th appearance at the World Championship in 2015. He failed to make the playoffs at the 2014 Worlds. The 39-year-old is a three-time world champion, but has never won as a skip of his own squad. In 1999, he won gold as Hammy McMillan’s second and then won in 2006 and 2009 as David Murdoch’s vice. Interestingly two of those victories came in Atlantic Canada (1999 in Saint John and 2009 in Moncton), so something could be in water in Halifax. Olympic silver medalist Murdoch is the team alternate.

 

Team China

Skip: Jialiang Zang Third: Dejia Zou Second: Dexin Ba Lead: Jinbo Wang

Jialiang Zang will appear at the World Championship for a seventh time in eight years, but it will be the first time he’ll be calling the game and throwing skip stones. Zang’s best finish at the Worlds was in 2008 when he played lead for Fengchun Wang. The foursome finished fourth, but it was the first time a rink from Pacific-Asia made the playoff round.  The 27-year-old Zang also represented China at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics as a front end for Liu Rui. The rink has been very busy on Tour in 2014-15, appearing in nine events. They could surprise some people and find themselves in the playoff round at week’s end if they can get a little luck.  

 

Team Switzerland

Skip: Marc Pfister Third: Enrico Pfister Second: Reto Keller Lead: Raphael Märki

Marc Pfister upset Sven Michel 5-3 in the Swiss Curling Championship final to book his trip to Halifax.  Team Pfister has played in six events on Tour this season and are ranked 23rd on the money list with $15, 599 in winnings.

 

Team Japan

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

Yusuke Morozumi will make his fourth appearance at the World Championship in 2015. His rink sits 41st on the money list, making it as far as the semifinal round of the Coors Light Cash Spiel in late November.  The 30-year-old finished second last in 2013 with a 3-8 record, but went 7-4 in Beijing which was a wins record for Japan. Morozumi is actually on a two-game win streak against Canada, beating Brad Jacobs in 2013 in Victoria, BC and Kevin Koe at last year's World Championship. The Japanese could surprise and make the playoff round in Halifax.

 

Team Czech Republic

Skip: Jiri Snitil Third: Lukas Klima Second: Martin Snitil Lead: Jindrich Kitzberger

Jiří Snítil of Prague will be back for a seventh time at the Worlds. The 40-year-old has finished with a 6-5 record the past two years, just missing the playoffs. He’s also played in 11 European championships, grabbing bronze in 2012.

 

Team Russia

Skip: Evgeny Arkhipov Third: Alexander Kozyrev Second: Artur Razhabov Lead: Anton Kalalb

Twenty-three-year-old skipper Evgeny Arkhipov will play in his second World Championship in Halifax. Last year in Beijing he finished tied for last with a 2-9 record. He won silver at the 2013 World Junior Championship and sits 124th on the money list this season.

 

Team USA

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

John Shuster, the bronze medalist from the 2006 Olympics in Turin, will make his fifth appearance at the World Championship this year. The 32-year-old from Chisholm, Minnesota has appeared in the last three Olympics and is one of America’s most decorated curlers. Shuster’s foursome sit 36th on the money list this season, but have failed to reach a final in seven events.

 

Team Finland

Skip: Aku Kauste Third: Kasper Hakunti Second: Pauli Jäämies Lead: Janne Pitko

Aku Kauste and his rink from Finland won the Edinburgh International earlier this season in Scotland and are in 35th place on the money list. The 35-year-old Kauste will make his fourth World Championship appearance and second as a skip. He finished last in 2013 with a 2-9 record.

 

Team Italy

Skip: Joel Retornaz Third: Amos Mosaner Second: Daniele Ferrazza Lead: Andrea Pilzer

Joel Retornaz finished seventh with a 4-5 record at the 2006 Olympics in his home country of Italy. Retornaz calls the game, but Amos Mosaner throws skip stones for this rink.