By Ben Hoppe, U.S. curling writer
John Shuster was on a flight while Team Casper was playing in their game against China to qualify for the Olympics. He attempted to watch the game, but the internet on the plane was not stable enough, so he had to rely on texts from his wife for updates. By the time Shuster was on the ground, he already knew Casper had won, but he hadn’t been able to see the winning moment.
Shuster pulled up video of Danny Casper’s shot for four to win the game once his flight landed. Even knowing the result, the impact of that moment washed over the 2018 Olympic gold medallist.
“I had chills because I know exactly what that feels like,” Shuster said.
He had been through an Olympic Qualification Event before, earning his spot at the 2014 Olympics through the do-or-die second qualifier game. In that game, Shuster scored five points in the eighth end, a precursor to achieving the same feat four years later in the gold medal game against Sweden.
It was during those 2018 Winter Games that Shuster’s mindset about curling shifted. With the team one loss from elimination, he stopped allowing results to get in the way of his joy for the game, but instead focused on finding happiness through his process and performance.
Eight years later, that mindset shift was put to the test when he endured the best-of-three loss to Casper, despite defeating the team in three of five games at the Olympic Trials.
“I've really worked very hard at not letting results define my happiness, I think it has made it much easier for me and then to also have the relationships that I personally have with Danny Casper and that team," Shuster said.
Now, with the Olympics no longer in the picture for Team Shuster, they’ve had to reflect and refocus for the remainder of the season.
“We all had to take a good long look in the mirror at what we’re trying to accomplish,” Shuster said. “I think the body of work we’ve put together this year, it’s been a crazy impressive year.
"We have two Grand Slams, our national championships, and hopefully the world championships to show that our work that we put in was meaningful and we could still end this season on the highest of highs that doesn’t include the Olympics.”
The team looks poised to continue their impressive run this year, which the 43-year-old skip called “ridiculously good." They are off to the best start they’ve had in a season, making the semifinals or better in every single event they’ve played while posting a 43-13 record on the year.
When they step back on the ice on Tuesday against another team of Olympic Trials finalists, Team Dunstone, John Shuster will be looking to check some other boxes off his bucket list.
“I’ve always wanted to win a Slam, and I wanted to win a world championship, and I think our team is in a better position to do that than at any time in my career," Shuster said.
It would be entirely human for any of the teams to struggle with their emotions this week, but Shuster is confident that it’ll be good for the team to be back together. He hopes their focus they had shown all season will power them through any challenges and onto taking the next step together.
“Our relationships and friendships and trust in each other has only grown throughout all this time,” he reflected.
Shuster shared that the team was able to sit down in the locker room in Sioux Falls, S.D., immediately after their Game 3 loss to Casper and talk through how they were feeling and were sure to be there for each other.
“I hope that we’ve been there for each other in the capacity that each of us needed," he said. "It will be good to get back together next week.”
