VICTORIA — Canada’s world men’s curling championship reign ended Sunday after three years, but Brad Jacobs was still able to put the loss in perspective.
Jacobs’s Northern Ontario rink fell 8-6 to Sweden’s Niklas Edin in the gold-medal game.
“It’s not like we came out and we curled really horrible,” said Jacobs.
“We threw the rock really well. I feel like we curled really well. The ice was a little different. We didn’t catch on to it quick enough. That’s why they’re holding hands (as champions) and we got the silver medal today.”
Edin locked up the win in the eighth end as he stole two points to go up 8-4. After Jacobs pulled within two in the ninth, the Swede was able to run the Canadians out of rocks in the 10.
“We’re so happy that we could make enough shots in the beginning to get that good start,” said Edin.
Sweden led throughout the game after going up 2-0 early.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t bring our A-game today and we were on the wrong side of the edge,” said Jacobs. “We didn’t give (fans) much to cheer for.”
Jacobs’s Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., rink had hoped to complete a fourth-place to first-place run after entering the playoff round with two straight losses. The Jacobs rink also fell short in its quest to win the first world crown for a Northern Ontario rink since Al Hackner’s Thunder Bay rink triumphed in 1985.
Jacobs’s rink was the first Northern Ontario team to win the Brier and gain entry to the worlds since then.
Edin captured his first world men’s crown after serving on bronze-medal-winning teams in 2011 and 2012. He also played on a Swedish team that won a world junior men’s title in 2004.
“It means a lot, having the Olympic season just one year ahead,” said Edin, who also garnered the Colin Campbell award as the competition’s most sportsmanlike curler. “It feels amazing, because now we know we can get all the support we need to improve our game and to really get strong for that.”
Starting with the hammer, the Swedes took a 2-0 lead in the first end as Jacobs missed both of his shots. In the second end, Edin forced Jacobs to settle for one point, but Sweden went ahead 4-1 in the third as the skip drew for two while gently tapping a Canadian rock back.
Jacobs cut Canada’s deficit to 4-3 in the fourth as he hit and stuck for two points. But Edin restored his team’s two-point advantage in the fifth as he broke up a cluster of Canadian and Swedish stones with the hammer.
Before Edin took his final shot, 11 rocks were in play, including six — three from each country — on each side of the four-foot ring. But he only managed to earn one point after a Jacobs hit and roll had put Canada in scoring position.
Edin managed to capitalize on a Jacobs miscue and one of his own in the sixth end. After Jacobs was heavy on his first shot and left the rock at the back of the house, the Swedish skip failed to get his second rock behind cover, wicking off a guard and leaving both rocks exposed.
Jacobs tried to split them and take out both, but he did not catch a large enough piece of one rock, and Sweden stole a point to go up 6-3.
Canada pulled within two points in the seventh as Jacobs drew to the four-foot. They might have scored more, but Jacobs was heavy on his first attempt, and the rock wound up in the back of the 12-foot.
The Canadian skip was heavy with another draw attempt on his final shot in the eighth end, enabling Sweden to go ahead 8-4. But Jacobs made no mistake in the ninth end, drawing for two points after Edin attempted to take out two of Canada’s rocks but only got one.
Despite the disappointment of the loss, Canadian coach Tom Coulterman was happy with what the Soo crew achieved this year.
“They accomplished all of the goals that they set for themselves, except the last one,” said Coulterman. “It’s unfortunate, but they’re still Brier champs. That’s what they wanted to do.”
Coulterman said the silver medal will still mean a lot.
“We’ll enjoy what the silver medal means,” he said. “It would have been nice to win gold, but a silver shines pretty nice.”
Earlier, Scotland’s David Murdoch claimed the bronze medal with a 7-6 win over Rasmus Stjerne of Denmark 7-6.
The Scots clinched the win by scoring three points in the eighth end to go up 7-4 before Denmark counted two in the ninth and Murdoch blanked the 10th.
Scotland and Denmark were both relegated to the bronze-medal game after losing to Canada’s Brad Jacobs on Saturday.