World men's curling championship kicks off in Halifax

The 12-team round robin starts Saturday at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax. As always, Canada is a heavy favourite to win gold, especially with the tournament being hosted on home soil.

BUT by Canadian curling standards, this country is in a rut when it comes to the Ford Men’s World Curling Championship.

Team Canada hasn’t won gold since 2012 — an honour other countries could only dream about. But Canada hasn’t gone three years without a world championship gold medal since the infamous seven-year dry spell that lasted from 1973 to 1979.

Now the hopes and dreams of Canadian curling fans are pinned on the team from Calgary. Pat Simmons, John Morris, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen won the right to wear the red and white after a thrilling Brier win in their hometown on March 8.

It’s unclear whether we should name the rink after the former skip John Morris or the new skip Pat Simmons. Morris is trying to provide clarity.

"Right now, we're Team Canada," said Morris. "That's how we're rolling. If Pat's going to play like he did at the Brier, I'll play third for him until we retire."  

Skip swap

Team Canada almost didn’t get to this point. After starting very slow at the Brier, Morris called a team meeting. During that meeting Morris passed the skip position to Simmons. It’s a move that many in the curling world are still talking about.

"The biggest thing we'll take from the Brier is that we learned to play as a team," said Morris. "Pat is a natural skip. I’m an energy guy."

Since Simmons took over as skip the team has only lost one game. But being skip is nothing new for the Moose Jaw, Sask. native. Simmons lead Saskatchewan to a number of Brier appearances. Now he’s going to be skipping Canada on the world’s biggest curling stage.

Here’s the catch — John Morris, Carter Rycroft, and Nolan Thiessen have all won a world curling championship in the past. Simmons hasn’t.

"That's one of our big motivators going into Halifax," said Morris. "We want to get that world championship for Pat. He deserved the victory we got at the Brier. He played amazing."

Competitive field

National curling coach Paul Webster, who helps coach this team at the Glencoe Curling Club in Calgary, says they are incredibly focused.

"That’s their only goal right now," said Webster. "Is to not only compete at the world championship but to win it."

Webster is making the trip to Halifax to scout games for Canada, tracking other countries throughout the tournament to identify weaknesses Canada can take advantage of. The national coach says it should come down to four teams: Canada, Scotland, Norway, and Sweden.

"There are two sports in this country, ourselves and hockey, that the expectation is purely gold," said Webster. "It won’t be easy but we just want to get those boys on the podium."

Scotland has some familiar faces, led by skip Ewan MacDonald, who’s bidding for his fourth world championship gold medal. Thomas Ulsrud of Norway is the defending champion. He and his team will be in Halifax wearing those infamous pants. Niklas Edin, the 2013 world champion of Sweden, is also at the tournament.

Canada starts its pursuit of granite greatness Saturday night against the United States.

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