Canada’s Gushue joins leaders at men’s world curling championship

“It’s hard to make that call because you can look stupid,” Gushue acknowledged.

“I tend in those situations to look at it as, if I’m Norway looking at that situation, what do I not want them to do? I would want them to put a rock in play where I can potentially freeze to it or potentially come around it.

“When I sat back and thought about it I said to the guys ‘what about throwing it through?’”

Gushue ended up with a soft tap to score two in the end. After a three-pointer in the seventh, the Norwegians shook hands to concede an 8-2 victory to Canada.

With an 8-5 win over Jaap Van Dorp of the Netherlands at night, Canada was in a three-way tie for first at 7-1 with Scotland’s Bruce Mouat and Sweden’s Niklas Edin.

The top six teams at the conclusion of the preliminary round Friday make the playoffs. The top two get byes to Saturday’s semifinals with teams three to six squaring off in quarterfinals earlier that day.

Canada takes on China’s Dejia Zou (3-5) on Thursday afternoon followed by a game against host U.S. skipped by Greg Persinger (2-6) at night.

Gushue, Nichols, second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker out of the Bally Haly Golf and Country Club in St. John’s N.L., are the defending champions having gone unbeaten to win last year’s world title in Edmonton.

Skips throw away their last rocks for a blank end or when they believe there isn’t a better offensive or defensive move.

It backfired on Canada’s Kevin Martin, who was inducted into the World Curling Hall of Fame on Tuesday, in the 2009 world championship final in Moncton versus Scotland’s David Murdoch.

After hashing through the angles with his teammates, Martin threw away his first stone. Murdoch made a double bump for shot stone and Martin missed the raise double to give up the steal and the win.

“We still tease Kevin about it,” Gushue said. “There’s times when it’s probably a good call, but the fear of it is what happened to Kevin a couple of years ago and it backfires and you give up a steal.”

Thirds rarely throw a rock away. Nichols says it runs counter to his instincts, but agreed with Gushue’s strategy at that moment.

“You always think you want to put another rock in play, but play the scoreboard, a little safer,” Nichols said. “You just don’t want to give them a shot to get back in the game.”

Gushue controlled the game early against the Dutch making all 10 of his draws and shooting 95 per cent, while his teammates laboured under 80 per cent, for the first five ends.

Canada was up three points coming home without hammer and ran the Dutch out of rocks in the 10th.

Gushue was light on a couple draws in the back half. He tried for a piece of the button and a deuce in the ninth, but took just one.

The Canadian skip was also light on a draw in the eighth. Van Dorp drew in for two to trail 7-5.

Nichols overthrew an attempted double takeout in the seventh, but Gushue’s wide double hit bailed his team out. The skip then hit for a single point to go up 7-3.

Van Dorp drew the four-foot rings against three Canadian counters in the sixth to trail 6-3.

The Dutch skip didn’t touch any granite on an open double hit in the fifth end, so Gushue drew in for a three-pointer and a 6-2 lead.

It was Van Dorp’s draw that fell short in the third and Canada stole one to lead 3-0.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Canada’s Gushue joins leaders at men’s world curling championship

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