This lede was supposed to read: Canada’s Team Matt Dunstone is truly rounding into its best form heading into the playoffs at the men’s world championship in Ogden, Utah.
Instead, we now have to talk about the fact that the Canadians, specifically Dunstone, fell apart after the eighth end for the second straight day.
The Canadian rink did pull out the 6-5 extra-end victory over Norway, which finished 0-12, but there never should’ve been an extra end to begin with.
Up until the ninth end, the Canadian lineup of Dunstone, Colton Lott, E.J. Harnden and Geoff Walker, who was subbing for Ryan Harnden, were straight up dominating play against the Norwegians, and held a 5-2 lead.
But just like in the game against Switzerland on Wednesday, Dunstone couldn’t make a key shot in the ninth end, helping Norway score two to cut the lead to 5-4.
Even then, everything should’ve been fine. Canada was still in control, up 5-4 with the hammer and could finish the game in the 10th end.
Wrong.
Dunstone was facing a double takeout on his last, but stuffed it and gave up a steal of one to the Norwegians to tie the game 5-5. In both cases, Dunstone softened the release and threw lighter than he wanted, causing more curl, and for him to miss the shot.
The skipper did show poise, however, in the extra end as he was able to regather himself and make a nice hit to win the game.
There are still a lot of positives for this Canadian team, like the fact that it has looked amazing at times (all but two of the 16 ends played on Thursday) during this now eight-game winning streak, which it will take into the playoffs.
But with how the closing ends have gone in the last couple of games, there is reason to be concerned.
Surprisingly, the Canadians' 10-2 record wasn’t good enough for a top-two spot at this year’s world championship, with Sweden and Scotland beating them on the draw to the button tiebreaker.
As a result, Dunstone’s Manitoba-based rink has to settle for third in the 13-team round-robin and will now face Italy, which finished sixth overall, in the qualification game. The winner will face Scotland in one semifinal, while Switzerland and the U.S. will battle in the other qualification game to match up against Sweden.
Even though Dunstone defeated the Italians 9-2 on day one, it will be a much different team the Canadians will go against on Friday.
20-year-old rookie skip Stefano Spiller shot 60 per cent for Italy in that opening game after replacing Joel Retornaz, who decided to pull himself from the event, just a couple weeks before the championship began.
That will most likely not be the case again. Spiller is playing with a lot more confidence and has a better understanding of how his teammates want to play now.
Need to force Whyte to miss
The favourite as we head to the playoffs has to be Scotland’s rookie team led by skip Ross Whyte. After starting 0-2, the Scots have won 10-straight games.
Sure, we can look at the whole team made up of Whyte, third Robin Brydone, second Craig Waddell and lead Euan Kyle and say all four have been a key part to its success this week — as a team they’re first overall at 89 per cent.
But when looking at the playoffs, the other top teams aren’t going to be as worried about them, as they will be with Whyte.
The Scottish skip has been a massive problem for every team he’s faced this week. He’s been the best skip in the field, shooting 89.4 per cent overall with no games below 81 per cent.
Most importantly, it’s been the clutch shots that Whyte has made to either get his team out of trouble without the hammer or just to score one. Just ask Switzerland’s Team Marco Hoesli.
In the 10th end on Thursday, the Scots were up 5-4 without hammer, and Hoesli had one sitting back button buried to score his one.
Somehow, Whyte came through an incredibly tight port of three stones for an in-off to hit the Swiss stone and sit two. Switzerland ended up losing 7-4.
If any team is going to beat Scotland in the playoffs, the focus has to be on forcing Whyte into the hardest shots possible each end to hopefully earn a miss. If he makes them, then you live with it.
We’re talking angled double runbacks, triple raises, forcing a draw to only the pin, because if not, he’s probably going to make whatever the shot is with ease on the way to a world championship as a rookie.
Edin’s shoot touch is back
Through seven games at this year’s world championship, Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin was perfect, rebounding from the disappointing 2026 Olympics, where his squad went 2-7.
Edin himself was shooting lights out, and looked like he had the magic touch back that helped him become a seven-time world champion — the most of all time.
However, Sweden then proceeded to drop two important games to Switzerland and Canada on the same day, when Edin shot 57 and 75 per cent, respectively.
Edin lost his shooting touch and wasn’t able to get a handle on his draw weight, costing him both games.
Well, it seems that lit a fire under Edin, because the Swedes finished on a three-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 28-6. Sweden also finished 10-2 on the week, good for first overall and a bye to the semifinals.
In those three games, we saw the same Edin to start the week, or maybe even a better version, as he shot 100, 94 and 100 per cent.
Looking at the playoffs, Edin’s shot-making ability will be the driving force for Sweden to have success and help him find world championship No. 8. All season, when Edin has been on, the team goes, and when he doesn’t seem to have it, the team gets blown out.
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