Canada has captured three straight Olympic gold medals in men’s curling and it will be up to Kevin Koe and his crew from Calgary to claim a fourth at the 2018 Winter Games.

In 2006, a 25-year-old Brad Gushue accomplished the feat in Turin, Italy. Four years later, Kevin Martin won on home soil in Vancouver. Finally, Brad Jacobs and the boys from Sault Ste. Marie finished the three-peat in 2014 from Sochi.

Can Team Koe get it done in Pyeongchang?

They definitely have the experience to do so as they’re one of the most decorated rinks in the game. Skip Koe, third Marc Kennedy, second Brent Laing and lead Ben Hebert share a combined 12 Brier titles, nine world championships and two Olympic gold medals.

Team Koe was put together following the conclusion of the Sochi Olympics run for the sole reason of being in the position they are in today. Koe won a Brier with third Pat Simmons, second Carter Rycroft and lead Nolan Thiessen in 2014, but before the world championships got underway in Beijing, the skipper announced he would be leaving the rink at season’s end. 

It can never be easy cutting ties with a championship squad, but the decision opened the door to create curling’s version of a “super team,” if you will. Koe joined forces with 2010 Olympic gold medalists Kennedy and Hebert as well as Laing, who won two Brier and two world titles with curling legend Glenn Howard.

Their first Brier together was in 2015 in their hometown of Calgary. They weren’t at their best and finished with a 6-5 record, outside of the playoffs. 

Things quickly changed, however.

In 2016, Team Koe won four World Curling Tour events before arriving in the nation’s capital for the Brier. This time they made the playoffs and beat Mike McEwen, Jacobs and Gushue en route to the top of the podium. They were world champions a few weeks later after dominating in Basel, Switzerland.

They got back into the national final last year, this time falling to Team Gushue in St. John’s, but were already established as a formidable foursome in Canada and throughout the world.

When they returned to Ottawa for the trials in December, Koe and his teammates were firing on all cylinders. The only game they lost that week was a meaningless clash against Gushue in the round-robin finale.

All things considered, Canada is sending their curling best to Pyeongchang. Now comes the hard part.

The Olympic favourites may be sporting an impressive 39-15 record this season, but those numbers will be thrown out when the first rocks fly in South Korea. Having success at tour events, Briers or even world championships are one thing, but the Olympics are a different animal.

So how does the rest of the competition stack up against the Canadians?

Both Koe and Sweden’s Niklas Edin seem like locks for the playoffs while Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud, Switzerland’s Peter De Cruz, Great Britain’s Kyle Smith, Denmark’s Rasmus Stjerne, Japan's Yusuke Morozumi and John Shuster of the United States could all contend for the last two spots.  

In the playoffs, the top seeded team plays the fourth in one semi-final, with the second and third battling in the other.

Take a look below to see Canada’s path to gold in South Korea.

 

Game 1: Feb. 13 vs. Italy (Joel Retornaz)

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

Season Record: 26-27

The Koe rink starts off the biggest week of their curling lives with a clash against the Italians, a team they will be expected to win handily.

Retornaz and his teammates hold a record below .500 this season and have failed to qualify for the playoffs in seven of eight WCT events. Retornaz calls the shots, but Amos Mosaner throws last rocks on this team.

The 34-year-old Retornaz rose to fame in his home country at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, unexpectedly finishing with a 4-5 record.

Finishing with a similar record this time will be considered a success for Italy, but they don’t have much of a shot against Canada in the opener.

 

Game 2: Feb. 14 vs. Great Britain (Kyle Smith)

Skip: Kyle Smith Third: Thomas Muirhead Second: Kyle Waddell Lead: Cammy Smith

Season Record: 37-28

The Calgary rink’s second game on the opening day of the tournament will be much tougher.

For the past three Olympics, Great Britain has been represented by David Murdoch. The Scot was a win away from gold in Sochi four years ago but lost to Canada’s Jacobs in the final. 

In South Korea, however, the United Kingdom is going with a youth movement as they’re sending 25-year-old Kyle Smith and his young Scottish rink.

Team Smith is in their fifth year together and already sport an impressive resume despite zero world championship appearances. They won gold at the 2013 world junior championships and were runners up at the most recent European championships, losing to Sweden’s Edin in the final.

The Scots have played a ton this season, mostly recently making the final of the German Masters in Hamburg. However, they have a 1-7 record at two Grand Slam events. 

Smith and company might still be another four years away until they become true Olympic contenders, but Pyeongchang could prove to be their coming out party on the world stage.

They’ll be a tough out for Team Koe and there’s a chance they could see them later in the week in the playoffs.

 

Game 3: Feb. 15 vs. Norway (Thomas Ulsrud)

Record: 43-28

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Skip: Thomas Ulsrud Third: Torger Nergaard Second: Christoffer Svae Lead: Håvard Vad Petersson

This will be the third straight Olympics for Thomas Ulsrud of Oslo.

The 46-year-old claimed silver in 2010 and lost a tiebreaker to Murdoch four year ago in Russia.

The 2017-18 campaign has been trying for Ulsrud’s rink. They haven’t won any events on the WCT and missed the playoffs at both Grand Slam events. Team Ulsrud has yet to play Koe’s squad this season, but faced Team Edin, another top contender in South Korea, plenty of times, winning just one of seven matches.

Ulsrud and his teammates, known for their fancy pants, have been together for 11 years now and will look to capture some magic in possibly their last Olympics as 28-year-old Steffen Walstad seems to be the future of Norwegian curling.

 

Game 4: Feb. 16 vs. South Korea (SooHyuk Kim)

Season: 24-21

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Skip: SooHyuk Kim Third: Taehwan Kim Second: Jongdeok Park Lead: Yunho Nam

Canada’s fourth matchup might be their loudest.

Team Koe face off against South Korea’s Team SooHyuk Kim in what should be a packed building at Gangneung Curling Centre.

Kim and his rink will not be the favourites in these Olympics, but it will be interesting to see how much the home crowd support affects them throughout the week. It definitely helped Team Martin eight years ago in Vancouver.

The rink from Gangwon Province won their first event of the season all the way back in August, but haven’t done much since, making the playoffs in just two of eights events.

At their most recent world championship in 2016, Team Kim posted a 2-9 record, losing 9-2 to Team Koe in the round robin.

Canada should easily take this one.

 

Game 5: Feb. 17 vs. Sweden (Niklas Edin)

Season Record: 56-19    

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Skip: Niklas Edin Third: Oskar Eriksson Second: Rasmus Wrana Lead: Christoffer Sundgren

Mark this one down on your calendar as it will be considered a gold-medal preview by many.

The two best rinks at these Olympics will square off at the mid-point of the tournament with the strong likelihood they’ll meet again in the playoffs.

Skip Edin will compete in his third straight Winter Games for Sweden and will look to improve on his bronze-medal performance from Sochi. The 32-year-old native of Karlstad is also a two-time world champion (2013, 2015) and a six-time European champion, having won that title four consecutive years.

In 2017-18, Edin and his teammates have an incredible 0.746 winning percentage with victories at the Baden Masters, Curling Masters Champery and Mercure Perth Masters. They’ve made two Grand Slam finals as well, falling to Team Gushue at the Masters of Curling and fellow Olympic competitors Team de Cruz of Switzerland at the recent Canadian Open. 

Koe has taken three of four matches against Edin this season.

This is easily Canada’s toughest opponent as Team Edin has a very good shot at ending the red and white’s curling gold-medal streak in Pyeongchang.

 

Game 6: Feb. 17 vs. Switzerland (Peter de Cruz)

Season Record: 53-22

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Fourth: Benoit Schwarz (pictured above) Third: Claudio Paetz Skip: Peter de Cruz Lead: Valentin Tanner

Don’t sleep on Team Peter de Cruz of Switzerland. They might have a real shot at the top of the podium if Canada and Sweden aren’t careful.

The Geneva rink is probably the hottest team coming into the Olympics after a surprising victory at the Canadian Open, beating Team Edin in the final, 5-3. They’ve been playing well all year, actually, posting a record 31 games above .500, including four final appearances (winning just one) and 10 playoff appearances.

They’ve won three of six matches against Team Edin and have dropped two of three games against Team Koe.

This will be de Cruz’s first Olympic appearance, but he does have some experience on the world stage with two bronze-medal performances in 2014 and 2017. The 28-year-old also won the 2010 world junior championship.

Fourth Benoit Schwarz throws last rocks for this team while de Cruz calls the game and throws second stones. 

Playing Edin and de Cruz back-to-back will be Koe’s toughest stretch in the round robin. The Swiss will be the dark horses in South Korea and have a good chance to make it on the podium one way or another.

 

Game 7: Feb. 19 vs. United States (John Shuster)

Season Record: 29-25

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

When somebody mentions curling in the United States, John Shuster’s name inevitably comes up.

The 35-year-old will represent the red, white and blue for a fourth consecutive Olympics and will look to win his first medal since capturing bronze in 2006. At the very least, Shuster will look to improve on back-to-back 2-7 performances in 2010 and 2014.

It’s been an average year for the foursome from Duluth, Minn., as they’ve reached the semi-final stage or better in just one of nine WCT events. However, they beat Team Koe in their one and only match this season, taking a 5-4 decision in early September at the Tour Challenge.

Despite the victory earlier this season, they’ll be underdogs against Koe’s squad in this matchup. It will be interesting to see how long the Americans can stay in playoff contention.

Second Matt Hamilton will be a very busy man in South Korea, as he'll take part in the mixed doubles tournament with sister Becca Hamilton during the first week of the Olympics. 

 

Game 8: Feb. 19 vs. Japan (Yusuke Morozumi)

Season Record: 45-30

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

For the first time since 1998 in Nagano, Japan is competing in men’s curling at the Winter Games.

The Japanese will be led by 33-year-old skip Yusuke Morozumi.

Team Morozumi has been together for a decade and appeared in the last five world championships. Their best finish came at the 2016 worlds in Basel, finishing with a round-robin record of 8-3. They eventually lost to Team Shuster of the United States in the bronze-medal game.

So far, the highlight of the 2017-18 campaign has been their victory at the Karuizawa International in their hometown.

They’ve faced Team Koe once this season, losing 4-3 at the Direct Horizontal Drilling Fall Classic in October.

Morozumi and his teammates have had plenty of game action under their belts this year, but will likely end up being in the middle of the pack by week’s end.

 

Game 9: Feb. 21 vs. Denmark (Rasmus Stjerne)

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Skip: Rasmus Stjerne Third: Johnny Frederiksen Second: Mikkel Poulsen Lead: Oliver Dupont

Season Record: 39-18    

Team Koe wrap up the round robin against the team they topped in the 2016 world championship final.

Denmark’s Rasmus Stjerne made a surprising run that week in Basel, but ultimately fell to Koe in the gold-medal game, 5-3.

The 29-year-old and his rink from a small town named Hvidovre will be looking for a little payback in Pyeongchang.

Team Stjerne played in eight WCT events this season, making the playoff round in half of them. Their lone win came at the Latvia International Challenger against a less than stellar field.

At this point of the tournament, Canada will most likely have a playoff spot looked down and will just look to stay sharp.

Denmark is another bubble team at this year’s Winter Olympics. Will they be playoff contenders or hover around the bottom of the standings? Both are possibilities.