CANADA INTO PLAYOFFS AT JR. B 

CANADA’S U21 MEN SCORE PLAYOFF BERTH WITH WIN OVER POLAND 

While it wasn’t the route they envisioned, Canada’s U21 men found their destination in the end.  

Although they suffered round robin losses to Ukraine and Japan, the Alberta-based squad found their way to the playoffs Sunday by defeating Poland – finishing pool play with a 4-2 record.  

While two losses were enough to eliminate several other teams from the World Junior B Championship, Canada’s Last Stone Draw score was among the best in the competition, and that was the difference that earned them a spot in the quarterfinals. 

Canada will face undefeated Sweden in the Monday morning matchup. A win in that game would not only earn them a spot in the semi, but also a berth in the ‘A’ group World Championship in February. 

“We played a strong game this morning as a team,” said Jaedon Neuert. “We’re excited to have achieved our initial goal of making playoffs, and now we’re looking forward to the quarterfinal game.” 

Neuert, along with teammates Johnson Tao (skip), Zach Davies, and Adam Naugler, punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 7-2 win Poland on Sunday morning. While Canada’s LSD was the difference in the playoff seeding, Poland actually started the game with hammer. 

After a blank in the first, Poland’s Antoni Frynia was forced to take a single in the second. Canada answered with a score of three. After another single from Poland, Canada put another three on the board, and cruised to the finish line with a comfortable lead. 

Canada, supported by coach Skip Wilson, assistant coach Ben Morin, and team leader Rob Krepps, will have their hands full with Sweden. The Swedes, skipped by Axel Landelius, went through their eight-team pool without a loss. In two of their seven wins, they scored more than 20 points.  

“The Swedes are solid,” said Krepps. “But we’ve been gaining steam and we’re playing really good right now. It should be a good game.” 

The quarterfinal is scheduled for 10:00 am in Finland, which is 3:00 am Eastern Time. 

Live scoring can be found here:  
https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wjbcc/aspnet/current?EventID=1  

Some games are livestreamed here: https://www.youtube.com/@CurlingFinland