Canadas Kevin Koe is trying his best to avoid distractions and focus on curling as he prepares for the upcoming mens world curling championship.
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the competition, which opens Saturday at Beijings Capital Indoor Stadium. Chief
among them is news that there are changes coming to his rink next season. Koes
current lineup features second Carter Rycroft, third Pat Simmons and lead Nolan
Thiessen. Rycroft, whose wife is pregnant, has already said hell be taking a
year off after this season. Kevin Martin confirmed to The Canadian Press that
Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert will be leaving his rink to join Koes team next
season. Koe preferred to keep his focus on the world championship and declined
to comment on the coming changes. The future plans of Simmons and Thiessen were
unclear. It was the first major shakeup in whats expected to be a summer of
significant change on the mens curling scene now that the four-year Olympic
cycle is complete. The timing is less than ideal for Koe and his teammates.
Gerry Peckham, the Canadian Curling Associations high-performance director,
expects Koe to be able to lock in on the immediate task before him. "Our
analysis of his performance skills and performance attributes would suggest that
hes an incredibly focused individual and is seldom distracted by anything
external to the game at hand," Peckham said. "I think those teammates have
looked in each other in the eye again, squared their shoulders, are shaking each
others hands and are now moving on to complete this journey of a world
championship." Koe won gold in his only previous appearance at the world
championship, taking top spot at the 2010 playdowns in Cortina DAmpezzo, Italy.
At this years event, Canada will be a favourite along with Scotland, Sweden,
Norway and China. The 12-team field is rounded out by the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Germany, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the United States. "Canada used
to be known obviously as a big favourite going in all the time but you quickly
realize how the gap is changing," Koe said. "Our experience in 2010 was awesome
in Italy and it was a great feeling to win. But this is just as important for
us. "To get to be two-time world champs would be pretty neat and kind of
validate our first win." Koe arrived early in the week so that hed have time to
adjust to the 14-hour time change. He was greeted by plenty of smog, heat and
humidity. Hes also still getting used to the various culinary options in the
Chinese capital. "Its a bit of a culture shock for us," Koe said in a recent
interview. "Big difference from what were used to. Obviously a huge city but it
will be a great experience." Koe had a strong performance at the Tim Hortons
Brier and is enjoying another solid year on the World Curling Tour. Hes third on
the money list and fourth in the order of merit standings behind only Olympic
champ Brad Jacobs, Howard and Jeff Stoughton. The only change from the 2010
lineup is that Simmons has replaced Blake MacDonald on the Calgary-based rink.
"We dont get too excited or too worked up as a team," Koe said. "Were pretty
calm. Obviously the experience of being to one (world championship) will help
for sure, especially when youre coming to a foreign country where everything is
different. "At least we can rely on the experience once we actually get on the
ice of knowing weve been to the worlds and we did well last time." Its the first
World Curling Federation world championship event to be staged in China. The
venue was used for volleyball competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The
Chinese team skipped by Rui Liu is coming off a fourth-place result at the Sochi
Games. Scotlands Ewan MacDonald has three world titles to his name although this
is his first appearance as skip. Thomas Ulsrud, who won Olympic silver at the
2010 Games in Vancouver, will skip the Norwegian team. "We know most of these
teams and theyre all pretty good," Koe said. "Not too many easy games out
there." Swedens Niklas Edin is not back to defend the title he won last year in
Victoria. Instead, Oskar Eriksson will skip the Swedish entry. Round-robin play
will continue through Thursday evening and tiebreakers will be used if needed to
determine the top four teams. The Page playoff system will be used ahead of the
medal games on April 6. Koe said the ice conditions in the venue will be a huge
factor. "They do have some great icemakers but its really warm here," he said.
"Its supposedly pushing 30 (degrees Celsius) here and they had an event in the
facility early in the year and there was a lot of problems. But I think theyve
brought in some dehumidifiers and air conditioning to cool the arena down.
"Thats the big worry here. If the ice is good, I for sure like our chances. Bad
ice would be a bit of an equalizer I think. But when you have some of the best
icemakers in the world, Im sure theyll get it figured out." Canada has won gold
three of the last four years at this event. Stoughton was victorious in 2011 at
Regina and Howard won at Basel, Switzerland in 2012. The Canadians are scheduled
to open against Denmarks Rasmus Stjerne on Saturday. "You have four very solid,
confident, resolved individuals (who are) mentally tough," said Peckham. "I
think they realize the significance and the importance of this world
championship to themselves individually and as a collective, and then of course
representing this curling nation of Canada. "So I think theyve gone out the door
with their game face on." The world championship will return to Canada next year
as Halifax plays host.
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