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Textured rocks and faster, straighter ice conditions presented a fresh challenge for the curlers Saturday at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
Team Great Britain made the necessary adjustments, and Canada did not.
Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never trailed in a 7-5 victory over Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman of Chestermere, Alta.
“It was kind of like going from your municipal golf course (to) the greens at the U.S. Open,” Gallant said.
Great Britain led 7-2 after five ends, and only a rare Dodds miss made things interesting late in the game. Canada stole a pair in the seventh end when Dodds was heavy with a draw, but Gallant flashed a stone in the eighth and couldn’t generate a comeback.
“We were just trying to chat a lot, trying to talk about the throws and just adjusting the broom,” Peterman said. “It’s a really hard visual.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever played on ice that straight.”
There was the usual five feet of curl on each sheet at the start of round-robin play on Wednesday. Rocks were textured — also called sanding or papering — on Friday night, as is standard around the midway point of an event.
The challenge for the icemaking crew can then be trying to find the right balance when scraping the four sheets before each session. Overclipping the frozen pebble on the ice surface can cause freshly sanded rocks to curl too much.
“We used caution and underclipped,” deputy chief ice technician Greg Ewasko said via email, adding the ice would be back to normal in the afternoon.
The loss left the Canadian duo in fourth place at 3-2, a nervy position with only four of 10 teams making the playoff cut.
WATCH | Canadians drop 2nd straight at Milano-Cortina:
Canada’s Gallant, Peterman fall to Great Britain for 2nd straight loss in Olympic mixed doubles curling
Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds defeat Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman 7-5 in mixed doubles curling at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games. Canada falls to 3-2 while Great Britain improves to 6-0.
Sweden’s Rasmus Wrana and Isabella Wrana were next at 3-3 after a 13-7 win over Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann in the other early game.
“It was a much different speed and a different surface, and it honestly just took us a little bit of time to adjust,” Gallant said.
Entering afternoon play, Great Britain (6-0) was alone in top spot with Korey Dropkin and Cory Thiesse of the United States next at 4-0. Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner of host Italy were third at 3-1.
Canadian coach Scott Pfeifer said the quicker speed on the ice was evident as soon as Great Britain started its pre-game practice.
“I think (their) first four rocks were in the hacks,” he said.
Gallant and Peterman were scheduled to play Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill in the evening session.
The Canadians aren’t quite in must-win territory, but they’re not far off. Depending on results over the next few days, a 6-3 record may be required for them to advance.
Sometimes a 5-4 mark is enough, but Canada was in last place in the last-stone draw (LSD) standings. Statistics from pre-game draws for the hammer are used to break ties for the playoffs if needed.
Peterman is all too familiar with that scenario. She missed the cut at the 2022 Beijing Games when her women’s team skipped by Jennifer Jones was 5-4, but too far behind on LSD numbers.
“I watch some of the athletes who have one chance at a one-minute run for their entire Olympic career,” Pfeifer said. “And out here we get to play nine games, and yes, there’s an LSD instead of a tiebreaker [game].
“There’s plenty of opportunities to make it into the playoffs based on the virtue of your play on the ice. And that’s all we’re focusing on.”
Dodds made a hit to pick out a Canadian stone for the opening three-ender and made another hit for two points in the third. Canada used its power play in the fourth end but could only generate a single point.
Great Britain shot 83 per cent overall while Canada was well back at 74 per cent.
“They’re just great throwers of the rock,” Gallant said. “They give every rock a chance.”
Medal games are scheduled for Tuesday. Canada missed the mixed doubles playoffs in 2022 and won gold when the discipline made its Olympic debut in 2018 at Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“We’re in a really good spot still to make the playoffs,” Pfeifer said. “We have four great teams still coming up, but if we win a few of those, we’ll be exactly where we want to be.”
