Players' Championship Preview

#BetweenTheSheets: Players' Championship Preview

Plus WMCC2022 FINAL Power Rankings

Ready to rock indeed!

Curling fans have no break in the action this week as the World Men's Curling Championship just threw its final rock in Las Vegas and two days later we will see opening rocks tossed at the GSOC Players' Championship.

This schedule...yikes!

Gotta feel for those men's teams who are coming from Vegas to Toronto to compete. We will be watching you Team Edin, Team Gushue, Team Retornaz and Team Schwaller.

Hmmm, interesting how all of those teams made the playoffs in Vegas.

Hmmmm, double interesting how the 3 podium teams in Vegas will be in Toronto.

Guess no time for Vegas celebrations. That sucks, straight up. Where else would you like to celebrate your world championship medal than The Strip in Las Vegas?!?!

Hopefully the crowd in Toronto can give those teams a celebratory welcome at least.

It will not just be the men's world championship teams we will see though.

We will also see podium, playoff and contending teams from the World Women's Curling Championship.

Is it an advantage to play events so close together? Or will we see one of the teams who has had a bit of a break these past few months emerge fresh, full of energy and ready to take the trophy?

And don't forget those teams who also competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

What a schedule. What a season.

Before we say a full goodbye to Las Vegas and hello Toronto, we need to release the final Power Rankings of the 2022 World Men's Curling Championship.

#WMCC2022 Final Power Rankings

1. Sweden (11-3, #2) - Champions find ways to win, regardless of the situation around them. Was the ice ideal? No! Did Edin capitalize on it a bit better than Team Gushue in the final? Possibly. At the end of the day, Sweden's Team Edin wrapped up the #4peat and become the only team to win a world championship this past Olympic cycle. Hmmm, sounds familiar to what we said at the end of the world women's championship, no? The GOAT wins title #6 as well and cements his legacy. Congrats boys! And HUGE shout out to Daniel Magnusson for stepping in at lead when Christoffer Sundgren had to step aside due to an on-going body issue. This is why Edin has been mentoring Magnusson for so many years, for these type of situations should they arise. Magnusson stepped into the team to perfection. He played his part and helped the team capture their world title. This is Magnusson's 3rd world title as alternate with Team Edin (2019, 2021, 2022) but this one will mean even more as he got more playing time AND played in the final. Also best wishes on a speedy recovery for Sundgren. He is a great guy on and off the ice and we hope the lingering injury is able to be treated with minimal recovery. Props on his social media coverage though once he was on the bench. He crushed it! And LSD for Sweden?!?! Yowie Wowie!! They pretty much hit the pin EVERY TIME! And this is not new. As Sundrgren tweeted (from the Team Edin twitter account), this has been consistent with this team at major events all season (ECC, Olympics, WMCC). Just champions doing champion things I suppose.
2. Canada (11-3, #1) - The playing surface did them no favours but, end of the day, both teams were playing on the same ice and it came down to who would make the least amount of errors at the right time. Regardless of the final, a tremendous week of grinder curling from Team Gushue. Some games they won where they probably should have lost. They didn't look their best throughout the week but still found ways to win. Great teams do that. Nothing to hang your heads about after winning a silver medal at a world championship. What a goodbye season from these 4 guys. And stats props for Canada as they scored 100 points in the RR. The only team to hit that number. The next closest? Germany with 91.
3. Italy (10-5, #3) - The blog nailed it. In the preview podcast, the #TwineTime medal picks were Sweden, Canada, Italy. What was the final podium? Sweden, Canada, Italy. BOOM! Full faith in Italy's Team Retornaz. This team has been trending upwards over the past few seasons. It wasn't a matter of "if" they would breakthrough but "when". The "when" was #WMCC2022. Hard work, dedication and determination pays off kiddos. Congrats on making #HIStory Italy, winning the first-ever world men's championship medal. Remember, they did knock off Edin in the RR.
4. USA (8-7, #4) - The Young Bucks may be disappointed to lose the bronze medal game (or to lose the SF vs. Canada) but finishing 4th in your rookie world's appearance is nothing to be upset about. This team showed they can be the future leaders of the sport in America. They just need to find the confidence and happiness a bit sooner in the week. When they play well, all smiles. When they struggle, the body language tells the story and they struggle to recoup. Learning lessons though. And, as we just said, finishing 4th is nothing to be upset about. They will be back!
5. Scotland (7-6, #8) - Up and down performances this week haunted Team Paterson. When they went on their winning streak mid-week to get into the playoff conversation, everyone started wondering if perhaps this team could fight for a podium spot. But things fell apart near the end and in their playoff game vs. USA. As the blog says: consistency, consistency, consistency. It is what let them down this week. Solid overall performance though, making the playoffs and hopefully silencing some doubters. They belonged here and they showed it with their playoff appearance.
6. Switzerland (6-7, #5) - A team who may feel a bit let down is Switzerland's Team Schwaller. Picked by many to be fighting for a medal, they struggled during the week. Good one draw, bad the next. Similar to Scotland, consistency plagued them. On the flip side, the "glass half full" argument is they made the playoffs in thanks to Netherlands' huge upset over Korea in the final draw. This was their rookie world championship appearance as well and they reached the playoffs. I wouldn't be too disappointed. We know Team De Cruz is living in Splitsville now so what does Team Schwaller do? If they stick together, they could be the face that runs the place in Swiss curling for a few years. And lets just clear up the whole "ran out of time/default" situation. For anyone watching the game vs. Italy, Schwaller was left with an impossible quad takeout plus needing to hold his shooter to just try and score 2 for the tie. The shot was not there. They went down to the hack, didn't feel it and the time ran out without them even really getting in the hack to attempt the shot. Either way, the L result was going to be the same. Lets not "sell" a narrative of poor time management or lack of paying attention. They knew what the shot was and it wasn't there and they were taking the loss regardless. We can all move on...as they did.
7. Germany (6-6, #6) - Oh so close! Team Totzek land 1 game out of a playoff spot. An incredible story it would have been as not many predicted them to be in the playoffs pre-event. I think this team showed a lot in Vegas. Skipped Sixten Totzek will come into his own over time, he is only 22 years old remember. And he already has 2 world championship appearances under his slider, getting better both times. Similar to Switzerland, if the German Curling Federation keeps this team together and continues to fund them and support them, they are right there on the cusp of being a consistent playoff contender. Eyes will be on them next season as expectations continue to grow. I hope Sixten got his pizza too!
8. South Korea (6-6, #9) - The 3 teams above may be feeling mixed emotions but I doubt any team is feeling more emotion after the RR than Team Kim. It was quite simple: #WinAndIn. They took care of Germany, effectively eliminating them, in the early draw. They just needed to defeat the Dutch in their final draw and they were off to the playoffs. Not so fast said #TeamOranje. Korea took the loss and are left with an 8th place finish. Of course, "glass half full" says this is a huge step up from the past few years where Korea has finished at or near the bottom of the standings. But missed opportunity too. Their record is supported by their stats. 6-6 record. 83-83 Points For - Points Against. 51 - 48 for Ends Won - Ends Lost. They were right in the middle, which is where they finished. Overall this was a fun team to watch and they made some highlight reel shots all week. It is tough representing your entire region but Korea did so with pride.
9. Czech Republic (5-7, #10) - The blog's #TeamUpset pick fell a bit short of the playoffs, one game from being in the discussion actually. But still chalk up the experience overall as a positive one for Czech Curling. Getting back to the world championship field has not been an easy process for the Euro nation. Team Klima has fought through Euro-B division and survived Euro-A division to get to this point. Now lets see if they can sustain it and become a regular fixture at this event. The future is looking bright for Czech Republic curling. Plus Lukas Klima sure made some hearts flutter over the week with that smile and those good looks. He has many new fans I think.
10. Norway (5-7, #7) - Another "oh so close" team who fell just short of the playoff conversation. Chris Gallant noted Norway as his #TeamUpset pick in the preview podcast and he was not wrong. In only his 2nd appearance, Magnus Ramsfjell proved to be the #NextGen curler for Norway. He only turns 25 this year so he has lots of years left in the tank and could become the next Thomas Ulsrud. He has the talent and skill. Plus did you see the team's dance moves during warm-up? We need to see an #ECC Dance Battle between Team Ramsfjell and Denmark's Team Dupont in the near future!
11. Netherlands (3-9, #13) - If it is all about how you finish, Netherlands finished as champions. What a final draw story, eliminating Korea with the upset win and handing the final playoff spot to Switzerland. Perhaps the Euro alliance is stronger than any of us think?!? Being serious though, you know #TeamOranje wanted to go out and just finish strong and pick up another W. They may be a bit disappointed with the overall performance of the week but at least they end with a win. They came close to the coveted 4 win mark but fell just short. They did avoid a last place finish with the result. And they even moved up a few spots on the #PowerRankings. These boys will be back and they will make some noise on world championship ice. Just a matter of asking "when?"
12. Finland (4-8, #11) - Props to Finland on surviving the COVID scare and continuing to fight in the competition. We saw what has happened at other events (Brier, WWCC2022) when COVID decides to find the ice. It can almost derail a team. But teams can also rally around the situation and fight back (see Team Gushue in Lethbridge). Finland did not close up shop and go home. This is why you have an alternate. They alter the line-up and get right back on the ice. For a team who was last invited into the field and, arguably, had the least amount of prep time, a solid result in securing 4 wins, one against playoff bound SUI and another against playoff contender KOR too.
13. Denmark (2-10, #12) - Tough go for the Danes. We really did not know what to expect from this team heading into the championship. They have been playoff challengers before, see recent #ECC results, but also have struggled, see #Beijing2022. Anything and everything was in the realm of possibility. Unfortunately the team struggled in Vegas. Conceding 96 points in 12 games will not help but, even worse, only scoring 49 points hurts more. I don't think we have seen the last of this team though, at least lets hope not. As was mentioned during the coverage, Danish curling will now go back and select the 6 guys who will move forward for the next Olympic cycle. Lets also hope they start applying more funding for the team. Hearing how the team had to fund their own way to Beijing to represent Denmark at the 2022 Winter Olympics is heartbreaking.

And finally, we must reveal the #TwineTime All-Star Awards. These are not "official" and are solely based on #TwineTime observations and player statistics.

1st All-Star Team

S - Niklas Edin (SWE)

V - Oskar Eriksson (SWE)

2nd - Brett Gallant (CAN)

L - Christoffer Sundgren (SWE)

2nd All-Star Team

S - Brad Gushue (CAN)

V - Kyle Waddell (SCO)

2nd - Rasmus Wrana (SWE)

L - Simone Gonin (ITA)

Congratulations to all the medal winners, playoff qualifiers, All-Stars and EVERY nation who competed in Las Vegas.

You entertained the world all week and the curling community says "Thank You!!"

But no rest for the wicked as they say. For some teams, no time to celebrate as they needed to get on a plane and head to Toronto to prepare for the Players' Championship.

Out of the hack we slide with another #GSOC event preview.

Take note the #NoTick rule will be in effect. Similar to what we saw at the world championship events, rocks sitting on the centre line within the free guard zone cannot be touched until after 5 rocks have been played.

The #GSOC has used a similar rule in the past but only in the 8th and extra ends of play. For this event, the rule will be used throughout the entire game.

This preview will use a slightly new format. As this is a triple knockout event, for the preview we will focus on the Upper and Lower halves of each draw.

Who are the #Favs? Who can be #TeamUpset? And, of course, #W2W4!

Players' Championship

Toronto, ON

2021 Champions: Team Einarson (women) & Team Mouat (men)

Format: 16 team triple knockout with 8 qualifiers

WOMEN

Upper Draw

#Fav

Olympic Champ or World Champ? Who do you pick as the #Fav? 

Both?

Perhaps a slight advantage to Team Tirinzoni on the sole fact they are not as far removed from their last game compared to Team Muirhead.

Plus you wonder about the Olympic hangover. Sure we did not see it with Team Edin but Muirhead has had a few months off now. Could be a slight bit of rust on the slider.

Eve has won this title 3 times in the past though. She was the first international skip to hoist the trophy back in 2013.

Silvana has never won this event; however, in 9 appearances she has reached the SF 5 times, including 2021.

And while champions may grab headlines, do not undersell Japan's Team Fujisawa. Olympic silver in Beijing to follow up the bronze in PyeongChang showcases how talented and strong this team is. Fujisawa has reached the QF in every appearance at this event (4 for 4) but has failed to advance further.

#TeamUpset

Germany's Daniela Jentsch will be making her #GSOC debut in Toronto. Ok, yes the team competed in the 2019 Tour Challenge Tier II but this is their first toss on Tier I ice.

When Korea's Team E. Kim declined their invite, Team Jentsch was first in line for the spot and they pounced on the opportunity. I saw them in Lethbridge at the Brier just after they found out and they were very excited. Can they turn the enthusiasm into wins though?

The curling world is waiting for the breakout performance of this team. We have seen them win medals at the European Curling Championship (Bronze 2021, 2018) but we have not seen those results at world championships.

They arrive in Toronto off a 9th place finish at #WWCC2022, the same place the team finished in 2021.

The draw actually favours them. They are more familiar with international/European teams so the opportunity to face those teams on the path to qualifying might be an advantage.

They have played those teams more. They have also beaten those teams. They know they can compete.

If they can get some momentum and confidence going out the gate vs. world champ Tirinzoni, watch out!

Keep your eyes on the last team into the field too, Sweden's Team Wrana. When RCF was deemed ineligible to compete, Team Kovaleva was removed from the field. Ontario's Team Duncan declined the spot so Wrana earned the next invite.

We saw this team compete at the last slam event, 2021 National, where they reached the QF. It was the first time they qualified at a slam in 9 appearances. Do they have some slam momentum now?

#W2W4

International Flavour of Love highlights this section of the draw.

We have Scotland, Sweden, Canada, USA, Switzerland, Germany and Japan all represented.

8 teams in this section. 7 different nations.

It truly is a global sport folks!

Plus there are 4 teams in this section of the draw who competed in Beijing: Scotland/Team GB Muirhead, Switzerland's Tirinzoni, Japan's Fujisawa and USA's Team Peterson.

Whichever team claims the "Qualifier #1" position will have to beat some of the best teams in the world to get there.

Lower Draw

#Fav

Hard to bet against the two-time defending champs here.

Team Einarson is off a Scotties #3peat and world championship bronze medal win. They have momentum and confidence. 

But also some redemption. They may be happy with their world championship bronze medal, which they should be, but they may also feel like they didn't accomplish their goal of playing in the final.

If so, that feeling could keep them hungry for a win, even after a long season.

We saw what they did after the disappointment in Saskatoon at the Trials. They went out and won the Scotties.

They were two-time defending champs there too.

Now they come to Toronto looking for a similar #3peat following a tough loss in their last event.

#HERstory Repeating?

#TeamUpset

From a pure #GSOC participation standard, Team McCarville would be considered the #TeamUpset here as we do not see them on slam ice too often.

We last saw McCarville compete at the 2018 Tour Challenge. Yes, 2018!! It has been 4 years folks. McCarville did reach the SF at the 2016 National. And she has success at this event, having reached the final in 2008 (lost to Amber Holland).

But lack of slam appearances does not equate to lack of results. McCarville is coming off a silver medal finish at the 2022 Scotties. The team also won bronze at the 2021 Olympic Curling Trials.

I would not want to face them here.

But if we take McCarville's overall resume into consideration, tough to call her a #TeamUpset flag bearer. Maybe we look a little further from home and over to #PACC contender Team Gim from Korea.

The 2020 Korean champs will be making their 4th #GSOC appearance overall and 1st in Toronto. We actually saw this team compete at both slams to start the season (The Masters, The National) but they failed to qualify in either event.

Gim actually made her slam debut at the 2013 Masters as vice with Team Kim Ji-sun. The team would reach the QF at the event.

Team Gim also competed at the 2018 Tour Challenge Tier II, reaching the QF.

This is a very talented team, quite capable of making some noise at a slam event. Remember they did reach the Korean Championship final this season, losing to Team E. Kim. And we all saw how they did at the world championship.

Never count out the Koreans! 

#W2W4

There are numerous storylines to watch here.

Team Einarson vs. Team Homan in the opening round. HUGE!

Team Hassleborg vs. Team McCarville in the opening round. HUGE!

Possible Team Fleury vs. Team Jones in R2. HUGE!

A possible Scotties final rematch between Team Einarson and Team McCarville in R2. HUGE!

Plus this is the last look for Team Carey as the team will look a bit different next season.

And watch out for Team Hasselborg. After missing the world championship podium for the second straight season, you know they are going to arrive in Toronto looking to end their season with a W (yes, they also will compete at the Champions Cup but you get the point).

ICYMI, Team Homan just won the 2022 Ontario Scotties this weekend too. Pretty much no travel and coming off a big win, hmmmm....

Qualifiers: Team Fujisawa, Team Homan, Team Fleury, Team Einarson, Team Tirinzoni, Team Peterson, Team Hasselborg, Team McCarville

#GSOC Players' Championship Women's Final: Team Homan def. Team Fujisawa

MEN

Upper Draw

#Fav

World championship advantage?

The GOAT Niklas Edin just won his 6th world championship. Team Edin just completed the #4peat. How can you bet against them?

Minus the world championship hangover perhaps? Maybe too much curling over the past few months, including winning Olympic gold remember, catches up to them at this event?

If so, world silver medalist Brad Gushue always seems ready to win another slam event.

Team Gushue has had a season for the #HIStory books, winning the Olympic Trials, earning bronze in Beijing, winning the Brier and earning silver at world's.

Plus they won the last slam event, The National.

And do not forget world bronze medal winners Team Retornaz from Italy. This may be their #GSOC debut but they are also coming in hot. A bronze medal at 2021 Euros, competing in Beijing and a bronze win on Sunday in Vegas.

This team may be a slam rookie but hard to argue against their potential when they come in with confidence. Note they originally did not qualify for the field of 16 but when Norway's Team Walstad declined their invite, Retornaz was next on the invite list.

The 3 podium teams from Vegas arrive in Toronto with some momentum. But can they survive the possible jet lag for those opening games? 

The draw gods certainly did them no favour with all 3 (all 4 actually including Team Schwaller) playing their opening games Tuesday afternoon, not even 48 hours after wrapping up play in Vegas. Ouch!!

All 3 competed in Beijing too so they have travelled through MANY time zones in the past few months. Will all of it catch up to any of them or do they ride the momentum now? You can sleep after the season is over after all, right?

#TeamUpset

Rookie Retornaz is an obvious #TeamUpset flag bearer choice here. But given the season they are having, they are under the #Fav category for this section of the draw. Agree or disagree, fine. 

If we look at a flag bearer here, and a team who is very familiar with this position, check out Team Flasch.

When we last saw them competing, they were turning heads in Lethbridge with their magical run at the Brier.

They knocked off Sasky rival Team Dunstone in a TB, followed it up with a Qualifier Game win vs. Team Jacobs before coming up short against eventual Brier runner-up Team Koe and eventual champions Team Gushue in the 3vs4 PPG.

3 of those games were playing on the same day, back-to-back-to-back.

They seemed to thrive under the pressure but also as the underdog.

Why can't they do the same here?

Plus, remember, they are sticking together after this season, unlike most of their opposition. Huge advantage knowing they can focus on the now and the team with less distractions on next season.

#W2W4

The bottom pod of this draw is quite interesting.

We have ECC rivals, Sweden's Team Edin and Italy's Team Retornaz, facing off a mere days after their SF clash in Las Vegas.

We have Team Jacobs vs. Team McEwen, two teams who have missed opportunities this season and are riding it out before disbanding.

Jet lag vs. Team lag.

The top pod will see Gushue in the favourite role but Flasch is a great #TeamUpset and we have not seen Team Epping in awhile. Are they the more fresh team in the field? Or will they be distracted with an end of season/end of team story?

We could also get a #WMCC2022 finals rematch in the Qualifier #1 game. And perhaps on better ice.

Lower Draw

#Fav

The Olympic silver medal winners are back on the ice and looking to continue their #GSOC mastery.

The Scottish lads have reached the past 4 slam finals, dating back to last season. They have also claimed 3 of those 4 titles.

And they are attempting to #DefendTheIce at this event, albeit in Toronto and no longer inside the #IceBubble like last season.

Team Mouat should have extra motivation here. They wanted to play at the world championships but their appeal was overturned and Team Paterson headed to Vegas.

There may be a minor chip on the young shoulders of the guys, wanting to prove they are the best Scottish team overall heading into the next Olympic cycle.

Tough to argue against them. Expect another deep playoff run here.

#TeamUpset

Ross Whyte has been in this position before, heading into a slam and labelled as the #TeamUpset flag bearer. And look how that turned out?!

Team Whyte qualified via the #CSideGrind at the 2021 National, falling in the QF to Team Gushue.

We saw them also ride the #CSideGrind to qualifying at the 2021 Masters, losing the QF to Mouat.

This team loves the triple knockout and gets the most bang for their buck in terms of games played.

So, based on 2021/22 slam season results, probably not fair to label them a #TeamUpset here.

Welcome Switzerland's Team Hosli.

Ross Whyte was considered the "baby face" at the slams already this season at the young age of 23.

How about Marco Hosli? He is only 21 years old! Yes folks, we are starting to see those 2000 babies on the slam ice. Feel old?

Do not undersell Hosli because you may not be familiar with him though.

Hosli is a two-time world junior silver medal winner (2019, 2020). They were also supposed to represent Switzerland at the 2021 Winter Universiade until it was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The team has won two tour events this season too. Sure they will be the long shot here, especially in their rookie appearance, but they can still give these teams a run for their money. 

#W2W4

Are members of Team Dunstone, Team Koe and Team Gunnlaugson going to be caught looking to the future and not focus on the present?

With these 3 top Canadian teams already announcing plans with new teammates next season, are these final slam events just a distraction? Are they just riding out the schedule and emotions of playing together?

Or can they come together and put a cherry on top of great years playing together and end with a slam title? Who knows really?!

And watch out for the "other Swiss" in the draw: Team Schwaller.

They are coming off a playoff appearance at the world championships and might be overlooked in this field.

This will be Team Schwaller's 11th slam appearance but they have only qualified once (QF, 2020 Canadian Open).

We note the other world championship teams are playoff contenders, Schwaller should be considered in this conversation as well.

Qualifiers: Team Gushue, Team Mouat, Team Koe, Team Jacobs, Team Dunstone, Team Flasch, Team Retornaz, Team Edin

#GSOC Players' Championship Men's Final: Team Mouat def. Team Jacobs

What say you rockheads? Agree or disagree with the predictions? Who are YOU cheering for?

Share your thoughts via the comments below and/or via social media using #GSOC.

#StayTuned

The curling season is not over folks.

We still have another world champion to crown at the 2022 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, hitting the ice in Geneva, Switzerland starting April 23.

And the season will wrap up with the #GSOC Champions Cup in Olds, Alberta early May.

The blog will be back with previews of those events plus who knows what else.

Happy Spring Season!