It’ll be home-ice advantage for Brad Jacobs and his rink from the Glencoe curling club.
Moose Jaw will host the World Men’s Curling Championship from March 29 to April 6.
Jacobs is the skip, and he says there’s no better place than home.
“A lot of people have come up to me and said, ‘It’s too bad you guys don’t get to go on a big, long trip and be somewhere fancy and experience something new,’” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but in Canada.”
Second time at Worlds
This will be Jacobs' second time skipping the Worlds, and both times were in Canada.
The last time was back in 2013 in Victoria, where Jacobs and his rink won the silver medal.
Jacobs doesn’t think there’s any more pressure curling at home.
“I think any time you can have the crowd behind you can definitely create an advantage, and I’m just looking forward to throwing on the Maple Leaf at home in front of our Canadian fans and hopefully creating a lot of excitement as a team for everyone in the arena.”
Special Worlds for Hebert
No one is happier that the Worlds are being held in Moose Jaw than lead Ben Hebert, who was born in Regina.
Even though he’s had plenty of experience playing in big events at home, he’s looking forward to this one because he’ll have a lot of family and friends at the games.
“It’s going to be pretty special,” said Hebert.
“We’ve played in a world championship in Moncton and the Olympics in Vancouver and another world championship in Lethbridge. Like Brad says, when you hear the Canadian fans roaring and waving the flag, it’s pretty awesome to hear the roars on your side.”
Stiff competition
Third Marc Kennedy says winning the world championship is tougher than winning the Brier.
He says Team Canada will have to be on top of their game if they want to come away with the world championship.
“Looking at that schedule, I think we’re preparing for no easy games,” said Kennedy.
“We’re going to try to get into the top two so we can get a bye to the semi-finals. The depth here is definitely deeper than the Brier, and we’re going to have to be at our best.”
Canada opens up the world championship with a pair of games on March 29.
They’ll face Japan in the afternoon draw and then take on Germany in the evening draw.
