US stun Sweden to win first ever men’s curling gold

Canadian women’s hockey player Jocelyn Larocque apologized after taking off her silver medal during Thursday’s ceremonies at the Pyeongchang Olympics, saying she meant no disrespect and was caught up in the emotion of a bitter loss.

The United States will once again be the underdog, but that hasn’t been a problem lately.

“It’s hugely disappointing”, Canada curling skip Kevin Koe said.

“Sports brings out the best in us”, says St. Germain, who has many more athletic feats in his future plans. While it might be attributed to South Korea’s distance from home and the lack of NHL stars, Canada’s average attendance of 4,378 ranked ninth among the 12th hockey entries.

The gold and bronze medal games are set in the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament. Their previous best came in 1976 when they won bronze.

In perhaps the biggest blow of all, the men’s hockey team didn’t even make it to the final courtesy of a stunning 4-3 loss to Germany on Friday night in the semifinals.

“We didn’t want to finish in that fourth-place position; get the third, get the bronze and it’s something you’ll cherish forever”, Ebbett said.

“It added a little pressure that whenever you went into the dining hall you see all these athletes showing off their medals to their friends and families”, he said. However, two of those guys on the Swedish team were at [US rink member] Matt Hamilton’s wedding.

Yeah, he was part of that bronze medal-winning squad in Turin, but he’d been dealt much more heartache by the Winter Games. They had to win their final three, starting with a 9-7 decision against the gold medal favorites from Canada.

That booked a rematch against Canada in the semifinals, which the Americans were able to win thanks to a clutch two-point steal in the eighth end after the Canadians had purposefully blanked in the sixth and seventh ends to keep the hammer in the eighth. As a result, the US led Canada 1-0 with 25 seconds left on the clock in the first. The weight was good and we’re in the top button. It’s not the medal we wanted but it’s a medal and we can cherish that, at least, for the rest of our lives.

After matching their bronze from 2010, Swiss skip Peter De Cruz said the success of their compatriots in other sports had made things hard. Noreau expected that he would be given another opportunity to showcase his potential, but he never got his shot.

Just like that, the match went from a 5-5 tie to a 10-5 lead for the Americans.

Against the Swedes, the US broke a tie with a massive double-knockout in the eighth end, scoring five points to take a 10-5 lead.

John Shuster delivered another Miracle on Ice for the Americans, only this one came with brooms instead of hockey sticks.

“We’ve played our best when our backs were up against the wall”, said Tyler George, the United States of America vice skip.

Sweden and the US took very different paths to get here.

“Not having the National Hockey League is still a disappointment, but actually with the result yesterday, Germany going to the final, and the interest, I would say that in Germany nobody cares that the National Hockey League is here or not”, Fasel said of Germany beating Canada in the semifinal. Anyone that’s been watching the grand slams of curling, we’ve got European teams winning all the time. They spend nine months of the year in Canada, training and learning our strategies, using our coaching, and using our ice.