SASKATOON — Niklas Edin's secret weapon is now being used against him.
Rewind to Draw 12 of the 2023 World Men’s Curling Championship. Edin trailed by two points with the hammer in the 10th end against Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell. The Swedish skip needed a Hail Mary to force an extra end and fired a super-spinner shot — one with enough rotations to make your head spin, too — that unlocked Ramsfjell’s frozen rock, bumping it back far enough with his shooter sticking around to score the tying two points.
The reaction from the crowd at Ottawa's TD Place switched from laughter to roaring applause after witnessing one of the craziest shots in curling history.
Now that we've seen that it can be done in that situation, the floodgates have opened. Since then, many attempts have been made by other curlers, with varying degrees of success, including a couple against Edin this week during the HearingLife Canadian Open at Merlis Belsher Place.
Danny Casper tried and failed to connect with one on Tuesday, while Philipp Hösli also made an attempt Wednesday night that spun its way right through the rings. Both were the final shots of the game, leading to handshakes and victories for Edin.
Although he didn't invent the shot, Edin is seen as the innovator of offence. So, how does the man who kick-started the rotation revolution feel when the spinner shot is used against him? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all, so Edin feels somewhat honoured.
“Actually, we kind of joked about it, kind of like we showed the world a year too early. We should have waited, so we were the only team that had that weapon at the Olympics or something, but no, it's just a fun thing and lucky that that was made in that kind of sense,” Edin said after his 9-4 win over Team Hösli.
“It's fun to do the first one, I guess, but at the same time, I think it's still a low percentage shot. It's kind of a last resort. I think you can do a lot of things better before getting into that situation, usually at least.”
Ikue Kitazawa has been dubbed (by this reporter at least) the "spinner queen" and also had it used against her during her game Tuesday against Xenia Schwaller.
While more players have been adding the spinner shot to their repertoire, it’s still a desperation manoeuvre that even surprised Edin when he made his.
“First of all, I didn't think I would make one,” Edin said. “Obviously, some players had tried spinners before, but I think that they tried it more of what we see mostly still today. It's kind of a last resort draw around everything. I think the unique thing with that shot was that everyone saw the effect it got with the rotation when it pulled the other one sideways. It's useful and more than just a draw around everything.
“I think we still see mostly draws and some of them are made now. They're actually a little easier than people think. At this level, most players will be really close with their attempts, but they're useful for more situations, too. We saw Philipp in this game try it on his last shot and it wasn't super close.
"It's a really difficult shot, but sometimes that's kind of the only thing you've got, and at least now teams know they exist. You can do stuff with rotation that just isn't there without it.”
Coming off a gold-medal performance at the European Curling Championships, Edin said it feels really good to carry that forward to begin this Grand Slam of Curling tournament at 2-0.
"I think that's kind of what we're looking for most this week. The wins obviously are nice, but I think just playing well and keeping the level we had at the Europeans." Edin said. We played really well, especially the playoffs there, so a little bit different ice conditions and stuff here. The technique is a little different, tactics different too, some rules obviously that have changed, but I think we're focusing mostly on the shot-making, communication, technique, playing the way we want to, and then if we get the wins, it's more of a bonus. Obviously, for confidence, it's huge to get some wins too."
It was Edin's eighth gold medal at the Euros, but his first since 2019, and it serves as a nice boost for his team as they prepare to represent Sweden again at the upcoming Winter Olympics.
"We've had a few challenging years, my knee injury and COVID and lots of stuff happening," said Edin, who captured gold at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. "... Last year, we lost the quarterfinals at worlds and didn't make playoffs even at the Europeans, so I think it was nice just to do well in a championship close to the Olympics to know that we've still got it."
EINARSON ALREADY EXCITED FOR PLAYERS'
We assure you, Kerri Einarson will be at the Players' Championship.
The fifth and final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season will take place next month in her home province of Manitoba at the Southeast Event Centre in Steinbach.
There were some nervous moments as only the top 12 teams on the World Curling year-to-date rankings are guaranteed an invitation to the prestigious tournament. Einarson was right on the bubble, but the six-time Grand Slam champ from Gimli just made the cut at No. 12 on the list before the qualification deadline passed on Monday.
"I had so many friends messaging me: Are you in? Do you know?" Einarson said with a smile. "I haven't played in Manitoba since 2020, and I'm so excited to be able to play in front of our hometown fans. My family's all coming and my friends, so it's going to be a good party, too. It’s going to be so much fun, and it's close to home."
Einarson is also off to a good start in the HearingLife Canadian Open, climbing to a 2-0 record with a 7-3 victory Wednesday over Team Wang from China.
Skip Wang Rui jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a deuce in the second and a steal in the third, but it was all Einarson from there. After settling for a single in the fourth, Einarson stole one in the fifth and four in the sixth as Wang overthrew an open hit that rolled out. Another steal in the seventh put the game out of reach.
"We've been playing really well," said Einarson, who also earned an 11-3 victory over South Korea's Eun-jung Kim on Tuesday. "First game, we just put pressure on them early, and we made some clutch shots when we needed them.
"Today, we got off to a little bit of a slow start. It wasn't terrible, it was just a cheap deuce to start off, and then I had to just give them a steal one. The ice just seemed a little bit quicker today and a little different underfoot, so it took me a few ends to find that draw weight. But the team stuck with me, and we made some good ones when we needed."
Gallant gearing up for double duty at Olympics
Brett Gallant will be in it for the long haul in Milano-Cortina.
Gallant will become the first Canadian curler to handle double duty in the Olympics, winning both trials in mixed doubles, with his wife Jocelyn Peterman, and in men's play, with Team Jacobs.
With exactly seven weeks to go until the start of the Winter Games, Gallant is up for the task ahead.
“It's a pretty cool opportunity,” Gallant said. “You plan four years and you hope that this is what's going to happen at the end of the cycle, but there are no guarantees. So, to have this opportunity now, it's pretty special and just kind of grateful for the opportunity.”
Gallant throws second stones alongside skip Brad Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert. The Calgary-based club captured the Brier and a bronze medal at the World Men’s Curling Championship during the first half of the year and took home gold at the Pan Continental Curling Championships in October.
The HearingLife Canadian Open is the team’s final event of 2025, and they’re looking to end the year on a high note before the calendar flips.
“We don't want to let up,” said Gallant, who has won 14 Grand Slam of Curling titles. “We've got some good momentum on our side, so just keep doing a lot of positive things and try to carry it forward into the new year.”
Jacobs holds a 1-1 record in the event, starting with a 5-4 shootout loss against Team McEwen on Tuesday and picking up a 7-6 shootout win over Team Epping on Wednesday.
“We're grinding a little bit,” said Gallant, who threw the draw-to-the-button winner against Epping. “We're just trying to stay positive. It's kind of a little bit of a hangover coming off such a big high, big event, big win (at the trials), but no, it's good to get back on the ice.
“We're just battling a little bit, but it's great. This is a great event, the crowd's been good, so just enjoying it.”
Mouat machine maintains momentum
Bruce Mouat is also looking to cap a sensational 2025 on a high note at the HearingLife Canadian Open.
His Scottish squad won the World Men’s Curling Championship and the Players’ Championship in April and is now looking for a third straight Grand Slam of Curling title, following back-to-back title wins at the CO-OP Tour Challenge and KIOTI GSOC Tahoe events.
Team Mouat picked up a second win in as many days with a 7-4 victory over Saskatoon’s own Team Kleiter during Draw 6. (Sidenote: Kudos to the fans that braved the blizzard to make it to the arena.)
“It's been a really good week so far. The atmosphere and the crowd have been pretty fun,” Mouat said. “We're hoping for a few more fans in the stands towards the end of the week as well. That will be amazing.”
Mouat also defeated Kleiter this past weekend in the final of the RBC Securities Western Showdown in Swift Current Sask., although he needed a steal in the eighth end to escape with the 5-4 win that time.
Things went smoother on Wednesday as Mouat scored three off the bat in the first and added another trey in the third.
“We played better there than we did on Sunday, so it was nice to get away with the win again,” Mouat said. “We started off really strong, and we made some really good shots for threes. We're in our groove.”
