Saturday, February 22, 2014

Curling - Men - 2014 Winter Olympics

Gold Medal
Canada
 Brad Jacobs
Brad Jacobs (born June 11, 1985) is a Canadian curler. Jacobs is the skip of the 2013 Tim Hortons Brier championship team and 2013 World Championship runner-up and is a five-time Northern Ontario provincial champion, and one time provincial junior champion. He is skip of the Canadian Olympic Men's Curling Team at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Jacobs lead the team to win the gold medal.

 Ryan Fry
Ryan B. Fry is a Canadian curler currently living in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and playing third on the Brad Jacobs team. The team will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
 E. J. Harnden
Eric "E. J." Harnden, Jr. (born April 14, 1983) is a Canadian curler. He currently throws second stones for the Canadian champion Brad Jacobs rink. The team will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Harnden is the son of three-time Northern Ontario champion Eric Harnden, Sr. Harnden was a skip during his junior career, but joined forces with his father for the 2007–08 season, as his third. The team, which also included brother Ryan and Caleb Flaxey at lead won the Dominion Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship that season, and would represent Northern Ontario at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier. The team would have an unsuccessful Brier, finishing with a 3–8 record. Following the season, Harnden joined forces with Brad Jacobs, and has played with Jacobs ever since. He would play third for the team from 2008 to 2011 and then second since 2012, after Ryan Fry joined the team. In their first season together, the team lost in the 2009 Northern Ontario final to Mike Jakubo. The following season would be more successful. The team played in one Grand Slam, the 2012 The National that season, Harnden's first. The team went 0–5. However, the team did win The Dominion 2010 Northern Ontario Provincial Men's Championship and had a tremendous Brier that season. At the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier, the team finished 2nd after the round robin with a 9–2 record. However, they lost both of their playoff games and would have to settle for a bronze medal.
During the 2010–11 curling season, the team played in two Grand Slams. They first played in the 2010 World Cup of Curling, where they finished 2–3. The team also played in the 2011 Players' Championship, but Harnden sat the event out, and was replaced by Ted Appelman. That season, the team would then go on to win their second straight provincial title, by winning The Dominion 2011 Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship. While they had a decent 7–4 record at the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier, it was not enough to make the playoffs, and they had to settle for 5th. For the 2011–12 season, the team entered two Slams, the 2011 World Cup of Curling where they had a 2–3 record) and the 2011 BDO Canadian Open where they made the playoffs for the first time, but lost in the quarter final. The team would then go on to win The Dominion 2012 Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship, their third straight title. At the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, they once again finished 5th, but with a worse 5–6 record.
The 2012–13 season would be the team's best season to date. The team welcomed Manitoba-born Ryan Fry at the third position, bumping Harnden to play second. The team would make the playoffs in all three Slams they entered, losing in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Masters of Curling and 2013 The National. They made it to the final in their first ever slam at the 2012 Canadian Open of Curling where they lost to the Glenn Howard rink. The team won The Dominion 2013 Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship once again, qualifying for the Brier for the fourth straight year. At the Brier, the team finished the round robin with an 8–3 record, good enough for 4th. The team pulled off victories against Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue, Ontario's Glenn Howard and Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton en route to win Northern Ontario's first Brier title in 28 years. The team would later represent Canada at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship where they won a silver medal.

 Ryan Harnden
Ryan Harnden (born June 28, 1986) is a Canadian curler. He currently throws lead stones for the Canadian champion Brad Jacobs rink. The team will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Harnden is the son of three-time Northern Ontario champion Eric Harnden. Ryan joined forces with his father for the 2007–08 season, as his second. The team, which also included brother E. J. and Caleb Flaxey at lead won the Dominion Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship that season, and would represent Northern Ontario at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier. The team would have an unsuccessful Brier, finishing with a 3–8 record. Following the season, Harnden joined forces with Brad Jacobs, and has played with Jacobs ever since. He would play second for the team from 2008 to 2011 and then lead since 2012, after Ryan Fry joined the team as third, and E. J. replaced Ryan at second. In their first season together, the team lost in the 2009 Northern Ontario final to Mike Jakubo. The following season would be more successful. The team played in one Grand Slam, the 2012 The National that season, Harnden's first. The team went 0–5. However, the team did win The Dominion 2010 Northern Ontario Provincial Men's Championship and had a tremendous Brier that season. At the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier, the team finished 2nd after the round robin with a 9–2 record. However, they lost both of their playoff games and would have to settle for a bronze medal.
During the 2010–11 curling season, the team played in two Grand Slams, the 2010 World Cup of Curling (where he team finished 2–3) at the 2011 Players' Championship where they also went 2–3. The team would then go on to win their second straight provincial title, by winning The Dominion 2011 Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship. While they had a decent 7–4 record at the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier, it was not enough to make the playoffs, and they had to settle for 5th. For the 2011–12 season, the team entered two Slams, the 2011 World Cup of Curling where they had a 2–3 record) and the 2011 BDO Canadian Open where they made the playoffs for the first time, but lost in the quarter final. The team would then go on to win The Dominion 2012 Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship, their third straight title. At the 2012 Tim Hortons Brier, they once again finished 5th, but with a worse 5–6 record.
The 2012–13 season would be the team's best season to date. The team welcomed Manitoba-born Ryan Fry at the third position, bumping E. J. to play second. and Ryan at lead The team would make the playoffs in all three Slams they entered, losing in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Masters of Curling and 2013 The National. They made it to the final in their first ever slam at the 2012 Canadian Open of Curling where they lost to the Glenn Howard rink. The team won The Dominion 2013 Northern Ontario Men's Curling Championship once again, qualifying for the Brier for the fourth straight year. At the Brier, the team finished the round robin with an 8–3 record, good enough for 4th. The team pulled off victories against Newfoundland and Labrador's Brad Gushue, Ontario's Glenn Howard and Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton en route to win Northern Ontario's first Brier title in 28 years. The team would later go on to represent Canada at the 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship where they won a silver medal, after losing to Sweden's Niklas Edin in the final.
Outside of curling, Harnden works as a real estate appraiser for Algoma Property Appraisals. He attended Sault College, the University of British Columbia and Algoma University.

 Caleb Flaxey
Caleb Flaxey (born August 30, 1983) is a Canadian curler from Mississauga, Ontario. Flaxey currently plays lead for the Wayne Tuck, Jr. rink.
Flaxey, originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, played lead for the Eric Harnden rink that represented Northern Ontario at the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier. The team finished with a 3–8 record.
Flaxey joined the Brad Jacobs team in 2008, and played lead for the team for two seasons. He played for the team when they represented Northern Ontario at the 2010 Tim Hortons Brier, where they finished third. He was invited by the Jacobs rink to be the team's alternate at the 2014 Winter Olympics, representing Canada.
Flaxey joined the Tuck rink in 2012, and has since won one World Curling Tour event as part of the team, the 2013 Mount Lawn Gord Carroll Classic.
Flaxey also represented Northern Ontario at the 2009 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, playing second for Ian Fisher. The team finished with a 6–5 record.


10th Place
USA
 John Shuster
John Shuster (/ˈʃuːstər/; born November 3, 1982) is an American curler and 2006 Olympic bronze medalist from Chisholm, Minnesota.
 Jeff Isaacson
Jeff Isaacson (born July 14, 1983) is an internationally elite curler from the United States.







 Jared Zezel
Jared Zezel is an American curler. He will compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
 John Landsteiner
John Landsteiner is an American curler. He will compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Craig Brown 
Craig Brown (born August 18, 1975) is an American curler.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, he is one of the top skips in the U.S. He was the skip of the 2000 and 2008 U.S. champion rinks. At the 2000 Ford World Curling Championships, Brown skipped the U.S. team to a fourth place finish, losing to Finland in the final.
Brown played third on the U.S. team at three World Junior Curling Championships (1994, 1995, 1997). Mike Peplinski skipped the team in 1994 and 1995, while Matt Stevens skipped the team in 1997. Brown won the bronze medal with Peplinski in 1994.
Brown is employed by Steve's Curling Supplies.

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