The Green Zone: Curling Championship to be tight race for Team Canada

Ahead of the Men’s World Curling Championship in Moose Jaw, curling legend and analyst Russ Howard joined Jamie and Locker on the Green Zone

He said fans should expect to see a lot of close games.

Team Brad Jacobs of Alberta won the Brier and will represent Canada all week long at the tournament until April 6.

Canada is seeking its 37th world title at the tournament, and its first since 2017.

Listen to Russ Howard on The Green Zone:

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The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Jamie and Locker: How even is the playing field now on the world stage?

Howard: My first worlds was 1987, and there was us (Canada), Norway, and maybe Scotland. We’d have to bring our C game to lose, kind of thing.

You can still lose because you often bring your C game. But then the next time around, there were probably five or six teams that we were afraid of.

Some of these teams are professionals. Some of these guys are just so good. We’re sending an awfully good team, but they’re gonna have their hands full.

How impressed are you with how quickly Canada’s team has taken off since Brad Jacobs showed up this time last year?

Howard: You forget that they’ve only been together for 10 bonspiels.

They’ve really made some big changes. They were talking about the slight delivery changes, the release changes, the same philosophies and workout things. They packed a lot into this winter, and they’re reaping the benefits now.

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Looking at the draw for Canada in the middle of the week, they get Scotland, Sweden, and Italy back to back to back. How important will that trio of games be to see who makes the semifinals as a one or two seed, rather than have to go to those qualifying games?

Howard: I think what you’re going to see is Canada in a whole bunch of close games.

You’re going to see a lot of games come right down to the wire. You’ve got to win your share of the close ones or a team like USA, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy — you name it — could be the outside looking in.

For Canada to go two and one in those three games would be brilliant. I would caution the viewer, though, you could see Canada lose all three of those by a rock. You could see them go 3-0.

How much impact does home ice advantage have in curling, if at all?

Howard: I think it’s a ton. If you’re the home team and you start 0-2, it’s the worst place in the world to be because you start gripping your stick a little tighter. You don’t know how to answer the interviews because you’ve got Canada on your back.

The fans out here are so knowledgeable in western Canada, Saskatchewan, that they’ll give the team a break, but at the same time it’s the very best. It’s the fifth man in the team.

This home crowd should keep this fired-up team energized for the whole week, which is what they’re going to have to be to win.

We talked about how difficult these tournaments are, but you can still have a dark horse. Is there a country that fits that bill?

Howard: I do and I’m going to pick Germany. That team, every time I watch them online or in a slam, they are fearless. They put rocks in play all over the place. They’re the type of team that I think people look at.

This is the first time Moose Jaw is hosting the Men’s World Curling Championship. But it’s not the first time they’ve had events, and there’s a rich curling history in Moose Jaw. Do you have any curling memories from Moose Jaw?

Howard: We’ve been lucky enough to cover the Scotties here.

I spent most of my life in Ontario, lucky enough to play a couple of Briers in Ontario. I moved down east, where curling is not nearly as important and the crowds aren’t as knowledgeable, but you get out here and it’s like a religion.

I was shocked coming from New Brunswick. When I first moved here, you get stopped at the grocery store and somebody says, ‘Why did your brother play that double in the fifth end?’

Being a curling freak, I love it. It’s just great. It’s the best thing in the world to have the worlds in Saskatchewan.