By Ben Hoppe, U.S. curling writer

OGDEN, Utah — The World Men’s Curling Championships are now underway. While the first championship following a Winter Olympics is often a showcase for new teams making their debuts on the world stage, it is the most decorated world championship curler of all time making the biggest splash early.

After a disappointing result at the Winter Olympics, Sweden hit the ground running with three quick wins and a small adjustment in their lineup. The throwing order remains the same, but lead Christoffer Sundgren has joined skip Niklas Edin in the house, with third Oskar Eriksson sweeping.

“It’s a lot about the sweeping nowadays. We feel like we get a little more effect doing that lineup,” Edin said.

The seven-time world champion has seen some benefits of having Sundgren in the house with him as well.

“Christoffer is really calm, calm demeanor, so it makes it really easy to call kind of a quick game, so that we have more time to discuss the weights," he said.

Sweden debriefed following their performance in Milano Cortina and thought they needed a little bit of a change. The switch so far seems to have re-energized the team.

Alternate Simon Olofsson stepped in for second Rasmus Wranå on Saturday afternoon, with the Olympics mixed doubles gold medallist dealing with some back soreness.

“I guess age is catching up with him,” quipped Edin following their 9-2 victory over China.

Dunstone starts strong, falters slightly vs. Scotland

It was just a few weeks ago that Matt Dunstone booked his ticket to the worlds with his first Brier win. If he had any jitters, he worked them out in their opening draw victory against a short-handed South Korea.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind,” Dunstone said on Friday. “It’s been 10 years since I’ve had this feeling. A lot of excitement. A lot of anticipation.”

Canada did have a bit of a scare when Ryan Harnden fell after he got clipped by his brother E.J.'s broom in their second game against Italy. After the game, Dunstone said that Ryan's knee was a bit sore, but it was nothing serious.

Shuster in front of home crowd

The United States took the ice for the first time in the second draw of the event to a loud, boisterous crowd on Friday evening. Unfortunately for the hometown audience, the festivities were spoiled by a strong performance by Germany's Marc Muskatewitz.

“It was awesome to see the number of people that were there and the cheering for sure,” Shuster said after their opening game.

Second Colin Hufman loved the opportunity to play in the same building that played host to curling at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“It’s awesome being able to play in front of a home crowd in a place like Utah in a building that’s like this with the Olympic rings in the background," Hufman said.

Despite the early loss, Shuster didn't see any need to make any major adjustments.

“We’ve had a great season and rallied back after some tough losses. Stick to what we do and try to communicate great. Make a bunch of shots and make some good decisions and see what happens," Shuster said.

Odd and Ends

• Teams are showcasing some different strategies for the pre-game draw shot to determine hammer. Scottish skip Ross Whyte has been sweeping his team's stones when he is not throwing the draw. For the United States, alternate Aidan Oldenburg has been sweeping the draws, as any four members of the five-person team can be on the ice for the draw shot.

• South Korea will be playing the entire 12-game event with just three players. Their fourth, Soo-hyuk Kim, has shingles and is flying back to South Korea for treatment and recovery.

• Longtime China skip Xu Xiaoming has been serving as the team's alternate thus far, with Fei Xueqing taking up skipping duties for the young lineup.