It’s a story that has played out many times for Canada’s men’s curling team since its last world title.
A trip to the final, and a loss to Niklas Edin.
Edin won his seventh world title Sunday, a record for a skip, by leading Sweden to a close 6-5 win over Canada’s Brad Gushue and his team from St. John’s in the final of this year’s world men’s curling championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
“It feels indescribable, and it feels so good after this week,” said Edin, who went 11-1 in the round-robin before winning both his playoff matches. “It felt like we played so well the whole week, obviously it was going to be a tough one [in the final].”
Canada won its last world title in 2017 when Gushue beat Edin 4-2 in the final in Edmonton.
Edin has won five of the last six world championships since then — there was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — with four of those victories coming over Canadian skips. Three have come against Gushue, with the other at the expense of Kevin Koe in 2019.
WATCH | Gushue picks up 3rd consecutive world silver medal:
Gushue’s Canadian rink settles for 3rd straight world silver medal as Sweden’s Edin claims 7th world title
17 hours ago
Duration 2:54
Swedish skip Niklas Edin drew to the four-foot ring in the 10th and final end to beat Canadian counterpart Brad Gushue 6-5 in the gold-medal game Sunday at the world men’s curling championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Gushue has now settled for silver in four of the six tournaments since his championship, including the last three. In addition to his three losses to Edin, he was defeated 9-3 by Scotland’s Bruce Mouat in last year’s final in Ottawa.
“For the fourth time, silver sucks,” Gushue said. “To be second in the world, we have to be proud of what we did, but it’s just disappointing.
“That’s four [final losses] in a row for me and I’m sure at some point down the road I’ll appreciate it more than I do now, but right now it’s tough to take.”
The teams entered the last end tied 5-5, with Edin having the last shot.
He made it count, scoring on a tough draw to give him the record-setting title.
“We fought, made a lot of shots and we forced them to play a very, very difficult shot,” Gushue said. “I think that’s a shot you probably miss more than you make, to be honest. Credit to him, he made a great shot and no better way for him to win a world championship, but it kind of sucks for us.”
WATCH | Canada rolls to semifinal victory over Scotland on Saturday:
Brad Gushue’s Canadian rink routs Scotland to advance to gold-medal draw at curling worlds
2 days ago
Duration 3:05
Brad Gushue’s rink out of St. John’s stole three points in the sixth end, and scored another triple in the eighth end, on the way to a 9-4 semifinal victory over Scotland’s Bruce Mouat. With the victory, Canada advances to Sunday’s gold-medal draw at the world men’s curling championship in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.
Sweden got out to an early lead with two points in the second end and a steal of one in the third.
Canada fought back, and its two-point ninth end set the stage for the dramatic 10th.
“When we were down 3-0, and you would have told me that we’d give them that shot to win, I think we probably would have taken it, to be quite honest,” Gushue said.
Canada, which also had second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker on its roster, was looking to sweep the men’s and curling titles after Ottawa’s Rachel Homan won the women’s championship last month in Sydney, N.S.
The last time Canada pulled off that feat was also 2017, when Homan won the women’s championship alongside Gushue’s title.
In the bronze-medal game for this year’s tournament, Italy’s Joel Retornaz scored three in the ninth end and stole one in the 10th in a 7-6 comeback win over Scotland.
In Sunday’s bronze-medal contest, Italy earned a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over Scotland. (X/@worldcurling)
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
