#BetweenTheSheets: Bye Bye #IceBubble
World Women's Curling Championship Parting Rocks
RIP #IceBubble
February 19, 2021 - May 9, 2021
For 79 days you brought air into the curling community and now we must say good bye to you.
Welcome to the #IceBubble Eulogy!
You brought us tears of joy and tears of heartbreak.
You brought us broom taps and broom slams.
You brought us curling in masks.
You brought us positive COVID-19 cases and schedule delays.
You brought us testing....lots and lots of testing.
But, most importantly, you brought us the sport of curling.
Before we say "Good Bye" we must first say "Thank You".
I know we have been saying this a bunch throughout the #IceBubble run but it continues to be repeated. We need to give props and thank you's to EVERYONE who helped make this event, and all #IceBubble events, possible.
From Curling Canada to Alberta Health Services to the Government of Alberta to World Curling Federation to Grand Slam of Curling to TSN to Sportsnet to WinSport to broadcasters and the broadcasting teams to sponsors to host committee members to volunteers to athletes and everyone in between...THANK YOU!!
Curling fans thank each and every person, regardless of their role, who helped make these events happen. Nothing ever runs perfect. No event does, regardless of pandemic environment or not. The #IceBubble was just under the microscope more where those small issues that did arise became magnified for the world to see.
It does not mean the events were not a success.
I will self-admit my hesitation of the #IceBubble creation but am happy to see it went well with minimal issues, considering the growing COVID-19 case issues in Alberta and, specifically, here in Calgary.
Everyone worked hard to make this happen and did the best they could given the situation placed in front of them.
I still believe Health >>> Sport but am also thankful for those who helped make Health = Sport.
Thank you #IceBubble. We loved you....and hope to never see you again!
Don't take it personal, it's us not you. We created you. Hopefully we learn and never need to create you again. But, if so, hopefully you will be ready to return to us.
Back to curling....
#PartingRocks
🥌 #HoppSchwiiz - The more things change, the more things stay the same. #IceBubble. #COVID19 pandemic. Schedule issues. At the end of the day, none of it mattered. The team who came into the competition looking to #DefendTheIce did exactly that. Switzerland's Team Tirinzoni was the class of the field all week (see #AllStars rock below). The 2019 champions reigned supreme once again...hmmm, didn't we see this same ending at the #WMCC2021 too?
For Switzerland it is world title number six in the past nine years. The dynasty we already knew of continues to grow. For Silvana Tirinzoni, she owns a special piece of #HERstory as she becomes the first Swiss skip to win back-to-back world titles. And to think, this team would not have competed at the 2020 world championships due to losing the Swiss title to Team Stern.
Special props to Alina Paetz as well. Paetz has 5 world championship appearances for Switzerland and has 4 world championship titles to show for it: 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021. What an amazing accomplishment! And she was also voted by her fellow competitors to be the recipient of the Frances Brodie Award for Sportsmanship. She crushes you on the ice and is your friend off of it.
And of course how could we forgot the mention the 8-ender vs. Denmark in Draw 9 Sunday night. This was the first 8-ender recorded at a world championship, men or women. #HERstory!! Too bad nobody was around to see it.
🥌 #TeamBellatrix - Y'all are on board the Team Kovaleva Express now right? The blog has been saying it for years. This team is one of the best in the world and this week they finally put it all together and showcased just how strong they are. They finished one game behind Switzerland in the RR, knocked off favourite Sweden in the SF before coming up short in the final. The silver medal win is the second ever silver medal for Russia at the world championships (2017). This team is a real contender for slams, world championships and the 2022 Winter Olympic podium.
And, while we discuss the dynasty of Switzerland due to winning titles, no nation has been more consistent for finding the podium as of late than Russia. Over the past 7 years, Russia has finished on the podium 6 times. The only miss was 2019, where they reached the playoffs but lost in the Qualification Round to finish 5th overall. No other nation has been THAT consistent over the same time span. Yes Switzerland has 5 world titles in those 7 years but they also have back-to-back 8th place finishes as well (2017, 2018). The Swiss may be the world dynasty but no nation is as consistent as Russia right now.
Also note, Russia made their debut world championship appearance in 2001. In a span of only 20 world championships, they have gone from debut nation to regular participant to playoff contender to consistent podium finisher. The growth has been remarkable.
🥌 #5Spot - Nik Edin is haunted by a USA 5-spot. Now Anna Hasselborg will share the same daunting nightmare. In the bronze medal game, Sweden had a 4-2 lead playing 7 and looked to be sitting nice for a bronze medal win. BOOM! 5-spot. Olympic redux...except now on the women's game. The US scored 5 in 7 to break open the game and never looked back. USA's Team Peterson picked up the bronze medal, a surprise result in some ways, and Sweden's Team Hasselborg has held off the podium for the first time since a similar 4th place finish at their debut championship in 2017.
There is something about the combination of a 5-baller, USA and Sweden at major international curling events. Is this becoming a regular thing now? For Sweden, hopefully not. But for USA fans, they are happy to keep "surprising" the favourites with the big end to capture the big win.
🥌 #TeamUpset - While we all enjoy seeing our favourites score big and win, it is fun to root for the underdog story. Obviously two big #TeamUpset stories emerged from the #IceBubble this past week.
Denmark's Team Dupont entered the competition as the 14th seed and a long shot to reach the playoffs. They were ready to prove the doubters wrong. They started 1-4, including the epic 8-ender to Switzerland. But they defeated USA Monday night leading into a remarkable 4-game winning streak. The Danes closed out the RR winning 7 of their last 8 games to reach the playoffs with an 8-5 record and the #4 seed. Who saw that coming? Denmark's playoff spot also qualified them for the Olympics. DYK Denmark's women have competed in every Winter Olympic field? Sure the team lost to USA in the Qualifying Round on a beauty final draw from USA's Tabitha Peterson but it was still a surprise result and a feel good story for the week.
What about Team Germany? No team dealt with more distractions than Team Jentsch this week. From the two positive COVID-19 tests upon arrival in Calgary to not knowing if they could even compete to finding out hours before the competition started they could compete with only 3 players to a tough medical timeout vs. Denmark in their game Tuesday afternoon...it was all adversity facing this team from the beginning. Yet there they were, competing on the ice and winning. Jentsch picked up her first career world championship win over Canada when she defeated Team Einarson in Draw 10. Germany actually pulled the North American sweep, defeating USA earlier in Draw 3. The Germans just missed the playoffs, finishing with a record of 6-7. Had they defeated Italy and/or Estonia though in the RR, they would have made the playoffs based on the TB procedure. Congrats to Team Jentsch for showing true grit and resiliency this past week. It was not easy. But they also showed how strong of a team they are, how far they have come and they are a legit playoff contender. Lets hope they can take the positives out of this championship rather than dwell on the negatives.
🥌 #PACC - The PACC struggles continued. We saw the PACC nations fail to make the playoff at #WMCC2021 but were optimistic perhaps at least one would crack through at #WWCC2021. Unfortunately it was just a case of #HIStory repeating. All three nations (China, Japan, Korea) failed to reach the playoffs. Korea had the best final result, going 7-6 tied for the final playoff spot but missing out due to the TB procedure and finishing 7th overall. China finished 10th, Japan 11th. And this coming after the breakout performance of 2019 when all 3 nations reached the playoffs. And still building off the 2018 Winter Olympics, which saw Korea and Japan land on the podium. Heading into the 2022 Winter Olympics, the region has some work to do, including qualifying at the #OQE. I think this will remain just a blip on the radar screen rather than cause of concern for the region...but it is still a bit shocking and disappointing.
🥌 #GSOCAdvantage - Speaking of the #PACC struggles, could it be slightly accredited to the advantage 6 others teams had leading into this championship? 6 teams played in the #gsoc events prior to WWCC2021, thus essentially being tune-up events. The remaining 8 teams did not get as lucky, some barely able to get practice ice time let alone competitive games. How did it work out? 5 of the 6 playoff teams were GSOC teams. The Final Four, and podium, comprised of all GSOC teams. Yup, I would say advantage was given. Now this is not to say the playoff teams, final podium placements and eventual champions would not have been the same under a "normal" season. We simple will not know. What we can say is those teams who were already competing in the #IceBubble did have an advantage. There is no debate. They were already sliding down the ice while the other teams were trying to settle in the hack opening weekend. This field did see parity though and was a very staked group of competitors, just look at how tight the final standings were. But the slams provided an "advantage" for those 6 teams. Fact is fact. It is what it is.
🥌 #ResultsMatter - Canadian curling fans may be disappointed to see both our men's and women's national champions fail to land on the podium; however, they did reach the playoff round, ran into hot opposition and (more importantly) punched our ticket to Beijing. It is always interesting how, during the Scotties/Brier, MANY fans were all on board for Team Bottcher/Team Einarson being the best in our country and happy they won. Then, when they falter slightly at the world championship, some of those same people start slamming them AND the qualification process on how they earned their right as Team Canada. Does anyone REALLY believe revamping the Scotties/Brier into a more Canada Cup format will really change those results? Come on. Just stop with that bullshit discussion. Our national championship events are fine. They produce our best teams year after year after year. Stop whining. We cannot win every time. Stop being so ethnocentric Canadian curling fans.
On the flip side, put yourself in the position of other nations who failed to qualify for the playoffs at these world championships. For many nations, their final placement dictates their funding. This was discussed with Germany's Daniela Jentsch back in her 2017 interview with the blog. Failing to make the playoffs results in some funding cuts. Failing to crack the Top 8 is another level of funding cut and so on and so forth. Germany finished #WWCC2021 in 9th place. For many of us we would think great job considering the circumstances. Unfortunately, the result could mean a reduction in funding for next year for the team. And we get angry when we don't land on the podium? Try being a nation where their entire curling funding is depending on your position at the world championship. We don't do that in Canada...and consider ourselves thankful. Next time you want to "complain" about Canada's result, think of the extra pressure put on athletes from other nations where results-based funding is the norm.
🥌 #AllStars - As was the case with #WMCC2021, #TwineTime is happy to hand out unofficial all star awards to recognize outstanding curling this past week. Here are your #AllStars, as designated by this fan at least (doubt there will be many surprises here either):
The #TwineTime First Team All Stars:
S: Alina Paetz (SUI) - 85%
V: Silvana Tirinzoni (SUI) - 86%
2: Esther Neuenschwander (SUI) - 86%
L: Melanie Barbezat (SUI) - 91%
The #TwineTime Second Team All Stars:
S: Anna Hasselborg (SWE) - 81%
V: Kaho Onodera (JPN) - 84%
2: Galina Arsenkina (#TeamBella) - 86%
L: Briane Meilleur (CAN) - 87%
The #TwineTime Overall Team All Star:
Switzerland (Team Tirinzoni) - 87%
Congratulations to our 2021 All Stars!.
#StayTuned
The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship is set to hit the ice in Aberdeen, Scotland. The competition starts May 17 and will conclude with the gold medal game on May 23.
Worth noting, 4 players who just finished competing at this championship will turn around and jump right on a place to compete in Scotland: Canada's Kerri Einarson, USA's Tabitha Peterson, Scotland's Jennifer Dodds and Estonia's Marie Turmann.
The blog will return with a preview of #WMDCC2021 closer to the start date.
Until then, we officially pop the #IceBubble and bid it a fond farewell.
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