There is little doubt that Canada will be the favourite both on and off the ice today as teams march in to the opening ceremonies of the 2013 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship.
Having won the last three straight and five of the last six titles, betting money would definitely lead toward Brad Jacobs and his rink of third Ryan Fry, second B.J. Harnden and third Ryan Harnden.
But the field is not shy of talent, with Scotland’s David Murdoch, Thomas Ulsrud of Norway and Sweden’s Niklas Edin, who is coming off a win at the World Curling Tour’s Victoria Curling Classic last weekend, right behind.
Canada’s international veterans know what Jacobs will be up against.
“It’s a tough field,” said 2010 Olympic champion Kevin Martin, who was in Victoria for the Classic. “The world is getting better and better all along, and [the Victoria Curling Classic] was a great idea, to have all these international teams here before and the top Canadian teams. It was fantastic.”
Eight teams competing at Worlds were at the local WCT stop.
“Scotland’s changed its lineup, so it will be interesting to see how they do,” Martin said of David Murdoch’s crew, which includes third Tom Brewster, second Scott Andrews and lead Michael Goodfellow. “Brewster was curling very, very well, and now he’s not skipping this rink, so that’s weird. I’m not sure what is up with that one.
“Of course, Edin is very good and Ulsrud and Murdoch could be good, but as I said I haven’t seen that [Scottish] lineup the last three years, so it’s interesting.”
Murdoch is a two-time world champion — the last non-Canadian rink to win it in 2009. He also lost the final here in Victoria in 2005 to Randy Ferbey before bouncing back to win it in 2006.
But the lineup change is of concern, and the team did struggle at the Victoria Classic last week, beating B.C.’s Jim Cotter before losing to Manitoba’s Jeff Stoughton and Rob Fowler, downing Joel Jordison of Saskatchewan, then being eliminated by Ulsrud.
“They’re probably the top international team out there,” 2010 Brier and world champion Kevin Koe said of Ulsrud, who is without his regular third Torger Nergard, who remained back at home. “They have all the shots, and they’re a great group of guys and it’s always fun to play them.”
But Koe, like most, says Canada is the team to beat.
“Brad is one of the favourites. He’s the top Canadian team, and that sets you up well when you get to an event like that,” Koe said. “Obviously, it’s all in how he’s playing. If he’s playing like he was at the Brier, he’s a big favourite.
“I like Brad, Norway, Sweden and Scotland to be up near the top.”
Then Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic and Sven Michel of Switzerland roll in as dark horses.
“We’ve never played that [Swiss] team once,” Koe said. “They looked like they were coming on last year, and this year they have struggled a bit. The Worlds, though, you don’t know a lot of the teams and you can’t take any of them for granted.
“Brewster and Murdoch together, Ulrsud and Edin will all be in there,” Koe said. “Those are not easy teams to beat, and they’ve got that extra experience from all the international events they’ve been to. Jacobs will have his hands full with those guys. He has to beat the teams he should beat and get into the mix on the final weekend.”
The field is rounded out by China’s Rui Liu, Denmark’s Rasmus Stjerne, Finland’s Aku Kauste, Japan’s Yusuke Morozumi, Russia’s Andrey Drozdov and Brady Clark of Seattle representing the United States.
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