On March 14, skip Brendan Bottcher and Team Alberta captured the 2021 Tim Horton's Brier. On April 2, they become Team Canada and represent the country at the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship.
"It's definitely a pretty proud feeling," Bottcher said on a Zoom call with reporters leading up to worlds. "When you reach the stage where you're putting the maple leaf on your back, that's a pretty big accomplishment and something that you all have to be just so proud of."
"I view it as a responsibility," added vice-skip Darren Moulding. "We have so many great players and such a great history in Canadian curling and to be a part of that long line of great people and great curlers who've been able to do this, it is a responsibility to represent our country in a good way and play with excellence like we like we usually and expect to do."
The team from Edmonton's Saville Community Sport Centre snagged the spot after defeating Kevin Koe's crew 4-2 in the final. The win snapped a string of gold-medal losses; they entered the final on three straight silver medals.
BRIER 2021: Results | Bottcher wins Tankard
Now they're set to reclaim Canada's spot atop the podium. Based in the bubble since the beginning of March, they aim to win Canada's first gold since 2017. While there won't be any fans in attendance, Bottcher knows he has Canadians backing him and his team — thanks to socks.
"I'm definitely up to counting them by the dozen," Bottcher noted. He has became known for sporting colorful socks during the Brier after Victoria's Barbara Wilson sent him a few when she noticed he wasn't wearing long-enough socks on the cold sheet.
"I've been able to share with my guys as well at this point and I'm hoping that that will get a variety of new socks here out at the world," Bottcher said.
"I think we even had some come from down in the States, which I think is pretty cool," he added. "That was such an organic story that came up it was, it was too good to try to not capitalize on and it's just awesome that there was someone that reached out and sent those my way and started this snowball going."
Canada will face some stiff competition, including the USA's John Shuster, Sweden's Niklas Edin and a faceoff against Scotland's Bruce Mouat to start the tournament.
Here's everything to know about the tournament, including how to watch live games in Canada, and a complete schedule with updated scores and standings.
Team Canada schedule, results at 2021 World Men's Curling Championship
Teams will compete in 13 round-robin games with the top two teams advancing directly to the semifinals. The next four teams will face off (3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5) for a spot in the semis. The teams that win the semifinals will go for gold and the losers will meet for bronze.
Aside for aiming for gold, Canada will be looking to finish in the top six to guarantee the country a spot at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
(All times Eastern)
| Date | Opponent | Result | Time (TV Channel) |
| Fri., April 2 | Scotland | 11 a.m. (TSN1/3) | |
| Fri., April 2 | Japan | 9 p.m. (TSN1) | |
| Sat., April 3 | Denmark | 11 a.m. (TSN1/3) | |
| Sun., Apri 4 | Switzerland | 11 a.m. (TSN1/3/4) | |
| Sun., April 4 | Netherlands | 4 p.m. (TSN1/3) | |
| Mon., April 5 | USA | 11 a.m. (TSN1/5, NBCSN) | |
| Mon., April 5 | South Korea | 4 p.m. (TSN1/4) | |
| Tues., April 6 | Italy | 4 p.m. (TSN1/3) | |
| Tues., April 6 | China | 9 p.m. (TSN1) | |
| Wed., April 7 | Russian Curling Federation | 4 p.m. (TSN1) | |
| Wed., April 7 | Sweden | 9 p.m. (TSN1/3) | |
| Thurs., April 8 | Norway | 9 p.m. (TSN1) | |
| Fri., April 9 | Germany | 11 a.m. (TSN5) | |
| Fri., April 9 | Qualification | 9 p.m. (TSN1) | |
| Sat., April 10 | Qualification | 11 a.m. (TSN2) | |
| Sat., April 10 | Semifinal | 5 p.m./9 p.m. (TSN1) | |
| Sun., April 11 | Medal | 1 p.m./6 p.m. (TSN1, NBCSN) |
How to watch Canada games live online
All of Canada's games will be played at the Markin MacPhail Centre at WinSport's Canada Olympic Park. The World Men's Curling Championship will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and World Curling TV, with live streaming available via TSN.ca and the TSN app.
Team Canada's 2021 World Men's Curling Championship roster
The guys from Alberta are set to represent Canada on the world stage. While the majority of the team is the same from the Brier, there is one change. Two-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Marc Kennedy has been added as an alternate.
The move comes after Moulding suffered back spasms during the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship last week and had to pull himself and partner Joanne Courtney out of the tournament. Brier alternate Patrick Janssen is serving in a support role for worlds with the addition of Kennedy.
"Yeah, my back feels great," Moulding said Monday. "I've had some really good treatment and it feels good and ready to go. I've been throwing a little bit and looking forward to getting back out on the ice [Tuesday] for practice."
While Kennedy brings a wealth of experience, Bottcher, Moulding, Brad Thiessen and Karrick Martin will be making their Men's World Championship debut. Coach Don Bartlett has also competed in two worlds as Canada's lead in 1991 (silver medal) and 1997. Bottcher does have experience on the world stage as he won gold at the 2011 World Junior Men's Curling Championship as Team Canada's skip.
| Name | Position | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Brendan Bottcher | Skip | Sherwood Park, Alta. |
| Darren Moulding | Third | Calgary, Alta. |
| Brad Thiessen | Second | Edmonton, Alta. |
| Karrick Martin | Lead | Edmonton, Alta. |
| Marc Kennedy | Alternate | St. Albert, Alta. |
| Don Bartlett | Coach | Gander, Nfld. |
| Jeff Stoughton | National coach | Winnipeg, Man. |
| Patrick Janssen | Support role | Pickering, Ont. |
2021 World Men's Curling Championship standings
The tournament begins April 2 with an expanded field as 14 teams will hit the sheets in a bubble in Calgary, Alta. All will have their sights set on gold.
| Team | Games | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada (Bottcher) | |||
| China (Qiang) | |||
| Denmark (Nørgård) | |||
| Germany (Totzek) | |||
| Italy (Retornaz) | |||
| Japan (Matsumura) | |||
| Netherlands (Gösgens) | |||
| Norway (Walstad) | |||
| The Russian Curling Federation (Glukhov) | |||
| Scotland (Mouat) | |||
| South Korea (Yeong-seok) | |||
| Sweden (Edin) | |||
| Switzerland (Schwarz) | |||
| United States (Shuster) |
WORLD MEN'S CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2021: Results, standings, schedule and TV channel
Who has won the last 10 World Men's Curling Championship?
Canada has won the most titles in tournament history with 36. Sweden is the reigning back-to-back champs, skipped by Niklas Edin, and defeated Canada (Koe in 2019 and Brad Hushue in 2018) in both gold-medal games.
2011: Canada (Jeff Stoughton, Jonathan Mead, Reid Carruthers, Steve Gould)
2012: Canada (Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh, Brent Laing, Craig Savill)
2013: Sweden
2014: Norway
2015: Sweden
2016: Canada (Kevin Koe, Marc Kennedy, Brent Laing, Ben Hebert, Scott Pfeifer
2017: Canada (Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant, Geoff Walker, Tom Sallows)
2018: Sweden
2019: Sweden
2020: None
2021 World Men's Curling Championship pool schedule, results
Draw 1 (April 2, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Russian Curling Federation
Netherlands
Sheet B
South Korea
Italy
Sheet C
Norway
Denmark
Sheet D
Scotland
Canada
Draw 2 (April 2, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Germany
Japan
Sheet B
China
USA
Sheet C
Sweden
Switzerland
Sheet D
South Korea
Russian Curling Federation
Draw 3 (April 2, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Denmark
Scotland
Sheet B
Japan
Canada
Sheet C
China
Italy
Sheet D
Netherlands
Norway
Draw 4 (April 3, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
USA
Sweden
Sheet B
Switzerland
Germany
Sheet C
Scotland
Netherlands
Sheet D
Canada
Denmark
Draw 5 (April 3, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
China
Russian Curling Federation
Sheet B
Norway
South Korea
Sheet C
Germany
USA
Sheet D
Italy
Sweden
Draw 6 (April 3, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Japan
Switzerland
Sheet B
Netherlands
Denmark
Sheet C
Norway
China
Sheet D
Scotland
South Korea
Draw 7 (April 4, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Italy
Germany
Sheet B
Canada
Switzerland
Sheet C
Russian Curling Federation
Sweden
Sheet D
USA
Japan
Draw 8 (April 4, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Netherlands
Canada
Sheet B
Scotland
China
Sheet C
Denmark
South Korea
Sheet D
Sweden
Norway
Draw 9 (April 4, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Switzerland
USA
Sheet B
Netherlands
South Korea
Sheet C
Italy
Japan
Sheet D
Russian Curling Federation
Germany
Draw 10 (April 5, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Sweden
Scotland
Sheet B
Russian Curling Federation
Japan
Sheet C
USA
Canada
Sheet D
Denmark
China
Draw 11 (April 5, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
South Korea
Canada
Sheet B
Germany
Norway
Sheet C
China
Netherlands
Sheet D
Switzerland
Italy
Draw 12 (April 5, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
USA
Italy
Sheet B
Denmark
Sweden
Sheet C
Switzerland
Russian Curling Federation
Sheet D
Germany
Scotland
Draw 13 (April 6, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Sweden
Netherlands
Sheet B
South Korea
China
Sheet C
Japan
Norway
Sheet D
Russian Curling Federation
USA
Draw 14 (April 6, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Germany
Denmark
Sheet B
Japan
Scotland
Sheet C
Canada
Italy
Sheet D
Norway
Switzerland
Draw 15 (April 6, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Canada
China
Sheet B
Italy
Russian Curling Federation
Sheet C
Switzerland
Scotland
Sheet D
Sweden
South Korea
Draw 16 (April 7, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Norway
USA
Sheet B
Sweden
China
Sheet C
Japan
Denmark
Sheet D
Germany
Netherlands
Draw 17 (April 7, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Japan
Netherlands
Sheet B
Scotland
USA
Sheet C
Italy
Norway
Sheet D
Canada
Russian Curling Federation
Draw 18 (April 7, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Canada
Sweden
Sheet B
Denmark
Switzerland
Sheet C
South Korea
Germany
Sheet D
Italy
Scotland
Draw 19 (April 8, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Russian Curling Federation
Norway
Sheet B
South Korea
Japan
Sheet C
Netherlands
Switzerland
Sheet D
China
Germany
Draw 20 (April 8, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
China
Japan
Sheet B
No match
Sheet C
Scotland
Russian Curling Federation
Sheet D
Denmark
USA
Draw 21 (April 8, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Switzerland
South Korea
Sheet B
USA
Netherlands
Sheet C
Sweden
Germany
Sheet D
Norway
Canada
Draw 22 (April 9, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet A
Scotland
Norway
Sheet B
Germany
Canada
Sheet C
Denmark
Italy
Sheet D
Switzerland
China
Draw 23 (April 9, 4 p.m. ET)
Sheet A
Netherlands
Italy
Sheet B
Russian Curling Federation
Denmark
Sheet C
USA
South Korea
Sheet D
Japan
Sweden
2021 World Men's Curling Championship playoffs, schedule results
Qualification Game (April 9, 9 p.m. ET)
Sheet TBD
3rd place
6th place
or
4th place
5th place
Qualifying Game (April 10, 11 a.m. ET)
Sheet TBD
3rd place
6th place
or
4th place
5th place
Semifinal 1 (April 10, 4 p.m. ET)
TBD
TBD
Semifinal 2 (April 10, 9 p.m. ET)
TBD
TBD
Bronze medal game (April 11, 1 p.m. ET)
TBD
TBD
Gold medal game (April 11, 6 p.m. ET)
TBD
TBD
source https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/other-sports/news/world-mens-curling-championship-2021-canada-scores-schedule-how-to-live-stream/bap0pue6qi6v17kplrxsk7p4n&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjBjZWNkYTc1ZDc4NTFiNjM6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNENccHF9gnv4lApQO76tlY4dyqDvg
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