Canada's Gushue on men's world curling championship: 'I'm going into this like it could be the last'

Brad Gushue is approaching this year's men's world curling championship like it could be his last.

The veteran skip from St. John's won the world title in 2017 and lost in the final three times, including the last two years. The 43-year-old isn't taking his future for granted.

"At this point, you have to treat every one like it's the last one," Gushue said in recent media availability before leaving for Schaffhausen, Switzerland. "I'm going into this like it could be the last because, whether I play for five or 10 more years, winning a Brier is extremely tough. You don't get these opportunities all the time.

"Hopefully we've got a few more left [in us] but I don't think we can assume that's going to happen."

Gushue and his rink of third Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker won this year's Brier with a 9-5 victory over Saskatchewan's Mike McEwen in Regina. For Gushue, Nichols and Walker, it was their sixth Brier victory and third straight.

WATCH l Gushue successfully defends Brier title:

Harnden, in his second season with Gushue, collected his third national title. His first was in 2013 with Brad Jacobs' Northern Ontario crew.

The men's curling championship begins Saturday at the KSS Sports Complex. The 13 teams will play a round robin with the top six advancing to the playoffs and semifinals next Saturday. The winner will be crowned April 7.

"I think one thing we've done real well at the world championships is put ourselves in the position, if we have a great game, we can win it," said Gushue. "Or, if someone slips up, we might win as well. Unfortunately for us, the last three times we played in the final we either had a poor game or, in the situation last year, Bruce had an incredible game.

"This year is just about getting back in that position of getting into the playoffs and hopefully making the final. If we could put a game together like we're capable of playing, then we'll give ourselves a real good chance. To win these big championships, you need a little bit of luck and a little bit of timing. At the last few worlds we haven't had that in the last game of the week."

Gushue was the last Canadian rink to win the world title. Edin won four consecutive crowns before Mouat won last year. The 2020 championships were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Rachel Homan ended a four-year drought for Canada by winning the women's world curling championship with a 7-5 win over Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni on Sunday in Sydney, N.S.

"If anything it probably takes the pressure off," he said. "We have a world championship.

"I think Canadian curling fans are fully understanding of world curling now and how challenging it is."