THE CANADIAN PRESS
REGINA — It took 15 years, but Canada’s Jeff Stoughton finally won his second world men’s curling championship.
Stoughton, third Jon Mead, second Reid Carruthers, and lead Steve Gould defeated Scotland’s Tom Brewster 6-5 in Sunday’s championship game.
"Indescribable. It’s an unbelievable feeling," Stoughton declared. "We did it."
Stoughton and Gould won the world crown 15 years ago in Hamilton. Stoughton and Mead were teammates when they lost the 1999 world final in an extra end in Saint John, N.B.
Canada was stellar in the preliminary round of the Ford World Curling Championship with a 10-1 record, followed by the Scots at 9-2. The only hiccup for the host team from Winnipeg was a loss to Norway in the final round-robin draw.
Stoughton and company beat Scotland 5-2 in Friday’s playoff game between the top two seeds. Brewster earned a rematch with a semifinal win over the Norwegians, so Canada had to defeat them a third time in this tournament to hoist the trophy.
Canada trailed 3-1 after four ends, but scored a key three points in the fifth to take the lead. Stoughton didn’t have to throw his final stone in the 10th as Brewster was light on a draw to the rings with his last shot.
"You know it was a struggle at the start," Stoughton said. "We got control in five. What can I say? Hats off to the team. "
Stoughton, Mead and Gould have curled together for years at various points in their careers, but Carruthers was a newcomer to the squad. He had to adapt from playing skip all of his career to the role of second on the Stoughton team.
Canada has won 33 world championships since the first one held in 1959, including four of the last five.
Both teams had to contend with quickening ice as the 5,800 bodies in the Brandt Centre warmed the air and the ice. The curlers had to adjust their draw weight and monitor the changing curl in the ice.
Brewster’s mistake in the ninth was fatal. He needed to peel a Canadian stone in the middle of the house and keep his shooter in the rings to score two and tie the game. But the skip’s final throw ran straight and didn’t push Canada’s counter far enough out of the rings.
The Scots scored a single point and trailed by one coming home without the hammer.
Stoughton just had to keep the front of the house open in the event he needed to make a shot for the victory, but when Brewster came up light with his last shot, the Canadians began their celebration.
A double hit and roll behind cover by Gould in the eighth allowed Canada to split the house and make the Scots chase them. Stoughton had an open draw to score two and lead 6-4.
As he prepared to throw his stone through the house in the seventh and blank the end, the fans exhorted Stoughton to demonstrate his patented 360-degree spin out the hack and he obliged.
Scotland second Scott Andrews completely missed a takeout in the sixth, which hurt his team’s chance to score two with the hammer. But Brewster had a fairly easy tap to score one and tie the game 4-4.
After falling behind 3-1, Canada scored that key three points in the fifth end to take a 4-3 lead. When Scotland third Greg Drummond was heavy on a draw, the Canadians put the pressure on. Stoughton still had to execute a tricky hit to squeeze a Scotland counter off the four-foot rings and get his three.
Missed runbacks by Mead and Carruthers in the fourth had Canada scrambling. Stoughton had to get by a guard for the double takeout and keep his shooter tight in the four-foot rings. But he left Scotland with shot stone to give up a steal of one and fall behind 3-1.
After blanking the second, Drummond got the Scots out of trouble in the third with a triple takeout. Stoughton tried to bury a draw behind a Scotland counter, but his stone stayed in the open. Brewster ended up drawing for his two and a 2-1 lead.
Canada’s reward for beating the Scots in the one-two playoff game was starting the final with last-rock advantage. Brewster’s spectacular raise double spilled three Canadian stones and had Stoughton drawing for his one against five Scotland counters.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin defeated Thomas Ulsrud of Norway 7-6 earlier for the bronze medal. Just under 100,000 people attended the nine-day event.
The 2012 men’s world championship will be held in Basel, Switzerland, while Lethbridge, Alta., is the host city of next year’s women’s championship.
Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland won a silver medal at the world championship last month in Esjberg, Denmark, falling to Sweden’s Anette Norberg in the final.