Koe and the Canadians in tough at Worlds in Basel

The 2016 men's world curling championship is set to go Saturday afternoon from Basel, Switzerland as a dozen of the best curling nations in the world do battle for curling supremacy.

Niklas Edin of Sweden will look to win his third career (and second straight) world title after his victory last year in Halifax, NS. He'll be opposed by the likes of Canada's Kevin Koe, Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, Thomas Brewster of Scotland, Switzerland's Sven Michel and John Shuster of the United States.

All of Canada's games can be seen live on TSN throughout the week.

Check out TSN.ca's preview of the 12-field rink below. 

 

Team Canada (Kevin Koe)

Kevin Koe isn't a stranger to the world championships. 

This will be the third appearance at Worlds for the three-time Brier champ, but the first skipping his new squad.  Koe, 40, won it all in 2010 and finished fourth in 2014 playing with the likes of Blake MacDonald, Pat Simmons, Carter Rycroft and Nolan Thiessen. 

Now with an entirely new rink, Koe is back hoping to add another trophy to the mantle. Third Marc Kennedy (2008 with Kevin Martin), second Brent Laing (2007 and 2012 with Glenn Howard) and lead Ben Hebert (2008 with Martin) have world titles in their back pockets as well. 

This is the second year this Alberta foursome has been together and has arguably been the best rink in the game in 2015-16. Not only did they win the Canadian championship, but they also sit first on the CTRS rankings and second on the World Curling Tour Money List. Team Koe have won five events this season including the Home Hardware Canada Cup in early December.

Koe and the Canadians are on a roll and will be one of the favourites to win the title.

However, the last time Canada won gold at the men's worlds was in 2012 when Howard captured first in a familiar place - Basel, Switzerland. In 2013, Brad Jacobs settled for silver, and then Koe finished fourth in 2014 followed by a bronze medal performance by Simmons last year in Halifax. 

Will Basel turn out to be lucky again for Canada?

 

Team Sweden (Niklas Edin)

Niklas Edin beat Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in last year's final 9-5 for his second world championship after defeating Brad Jacobs and his Canadian squad in 2013 in Victoria, BC. 

The 30-year-old and his young Swedish foursome are seventh on the WCT Money List, winning two events in 15 played. Team Edin have surely been busy this curling season.    

Edin has appeared in two Olympic Games, grabbing bronze in Sochi in 2014. 

Team Sweden is a rink to be reckoned with and should be in the mix come the playoffs. 

 

Team Scotland (Thomas Brewster)

Tom Brewster will make his first appearance at the world championships since 2013, when he curled with David Murdoch.

The Scottish skip has two World silver medals to his name (2011 and 2012) as well as a pair of World bronze medals (2002 and 2013). Brewster fell to Howard in the 2012 final, the last time Canada won gold. He was also an alternate for Great Britain’s silver medal squad at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

In 2015-16, Team Brewster has appeared in 11 events, making three finals, but losing each one. He sits 16th on the Money List.

 

Team Norway (Thomas Ulsrud)

When 44-year-old Thomas Ulsrud steps onto the ice in Basel, it will mark his 12th appearance (and sixth straight) for Norway at the world championships.

And lately the man who skips the rink with the fancy pants has been very successful. Ulsrud won his first world championship two years ago in Beijing and followed that up with a silver medal performance (lost to Edin in the final) last year in Halifax. Ulsrud also won bronze medals in 2006, 2008 and 2009 and won silver at the 2010 Olympics.

Team Ulsrud sit 17th on the Money List with $26,866 in winnings.

Norway seems to always be in the mix at Worlds and this year should be no different. Expect to see Mr. Ulsrud on championship weekend.

 

Team Switzerland (Sven Michel)

Sven Michel will make just his second career appearance at the men’s world curling championships and will look to improve on his 6-5 performance from 2013.

Team Michel have been busy this winter playing in 13 events, making it as far as the finals of the Dave Jones Cashspiel and German Masters where they lost to Brad Gushue and Brendan Bottcher respectively. They have collected $24,863 in winnings in 2015-16.

Michel represented Switzerland at the 2014 Olympics and finished with a 3-6 record.

The 27-year-old skipper will be the crowd favourite as he’ll be playing on home soil.

 

Team Korea (Soo-Hyuk Kim)

This will be the first world championship for 30-year-old Soo-Hyuk Kim of Gangwon, Korea.

Kim has had a solid season on the World Curling Tour, taking the Uiseong International and Avonair Cash Spiel to position his rink 20th on the Money List.

The Korean skipper has been in charge of this rink for the past three years and could do some damage in Basel if they can get off to a solid start.

 

Team United States (John Shuster)

John Shuster will make his second straight (sixth total) appearance at Worlds after losing to Finland’s Aku Kauste in a tiebreak last year.

Shuster is having a productive year on tour, winning three events and was also a part of Team North America’s triumph over Team World at the Continental Cup in Las Vegas.

With the victories, the native of Minnesota is 14th on the WCT Money List, collecting the third highest winnings out of anybody in the Basel field.

Shuster, 33, is a three-time Olympian and captured bronze at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy.

The Americans will be a hard out at Worlds.

 

Team Finland (Aku Kauste)

Aku Kauste and his Finnish squad made a surprising run at the world championships last year, making it to the bronze medal game where the lost to Simmons and the Canadians.

Switzerland will be his fifth appearance at Worlds.

The 36-year-old is 80th on the WCT Money List with just over $4000 in winnings.

It will be interesting to see if Team Finland can put together the same type of run they did in 2015.

 

Team Denmark (Rasmus Stjerne Hansen)

 

- Third appearance at Worlds for the 27-year-old from Hvidovre, Denmark
- Finished fourth in 2013 in Victoria
- Team Hansen has made one final this season on the WCT
- They sit 71st on the Money List

 

 

 

 

Team Japan (Yusuke Morozumi)

 

- This will be the fifth appearance at the world championships for the 31-year-old Morozumi
- Has secured $5728 in winnings in 2015-16, good enough for 59th on the Money List

 

 

 

 

 

Team Germany (Alexander Baumann)

 

- Team Baumann sit 98th on the money list with $2876 in winnings
- This squad has played in eight events this season, getting as far as the quarterfinal round

 

 

 

 

 

Team Russia (Alexey Stukalskiy)

- Fourth career and fourth straight world championship (although he was an alternate in 2015)