P: Is there a curling crisis in Canada? | Boston.com

array( '1.head' => 'Is there a curling crisis in Canada? | Boston.com', '2.body' => array( '1.div' => array( '1.div' => array( '1.div' => 'All', '2.div' => array( '1.div' => 'TRENDING:', '2.div' => 'Search', ), ), '2.div' => array( '1.div' => 'Search', '2.div' => array( '1.div' => 'Shortcuts', '2.div' => 'Trending', ), '3.div' => 2019 Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC', ), '3.div' => 'Is there a curling crisis in Canada?', ), '2.div' => array( '1.div' => array( '1.header' => 'Is there a curling crisis in Canada?', '2.div' => array( 1 => 'Rachel Homan of Canada competes against Great Britian during the Women\'s Round Robin Session 11 at Gangneung Curling Centre.', '2.span' => '–Chris Graythen/Getty Images', ), '3.div' => array( '1.div' => 'By', '2.div' => 'February 21, 2018', ), '4.div' => 'Get the Boston Globe\'s most recent Olympics Headlines delivered direct to your inbox every morning.', '5.div' => array( '1.p' => 'There’s a crisis in Canada. The worst kind of crisis for our neighbors to the north.', '2.p' => 'It’s a curling crisis.', '3.p' => 'With a 6-5 loss to Great Britain Wednesday morning, skip Rachel Homan’s rink became the first Canadian curling team in the 20-year history of the sport at the Olympics to fail to reach the medal round. The Canadian women finished 3-5 in the round-robin stage of the tournament, unthinkable since Canada hadn’t ‘t lost more than one match at an Olympics in women’s curling since 2006.', '4.p' => array( 1 => 'A “seismic national sporting catastrophe,’’ is how Toronto Star sports columnist Dave Feschuk', 2 => '.', ), '5.div' => 'Advertisement', '6.p' => 'It was shocking, since Homan’s rink had won 37 of 40 major curling matches over the past year. Heartbreaking, since the Canadians had medaled in 11 out of 11 curling events since the sport became official at the Olympics in 1998, including mixed doubles gold this year.', '7.p' => 'There’s consolation to be found there, and in the fact that the men’s team is still playing for a medal with a semifinal match against the United States next up. Many of the top women’s teams still in contention, including the Brits, are coached by Canadians.', '8.blockquote' => array( '1.p' => array( 1 => 'That was a heartbreaking loss for', 2 => 'as Canada drops out of the medal hunt in Curling.', 3 => 'It’s like not winning in hockey.', 4 => 'Expectations are high.', ), 2 => '— ColleenJonescbc (@cbccolleenjones)', ), '9.blockquote' => array( '1.p' => array( 1 => 'For all my non-Canadian folks.', 2 => 'My timeline is awash with commentary over Canada’s sudden and deeply worrisome curling crisis.', ), 2 => '— John Wawrow (@john_wawrow)', ), '10.blockquote' => array( '1.p' => 'omg canada just lost at the curling again and life has no meaning.', 2 => '— randy turner (@randyturner15)', ), '11.p' => 'If none of that works, a box of donuts from Tim Hortons may be the only thing to provide comfort for the Canadian hearts that were breaking from Toronto to the tundra early Wednesday.', '12.p' => 'The loss was especially devastating considering that the Canadian women had gotten off to the worst possible start, with three straight losses, then rebounded before unraveling again. Homan’s husband, ex-hockey player Shawn Germain, couldn’t hide his nerves while watching his wife compete in a morning match against Japan.', '13.blockquote' => array( '1.p' => 'Favourite Olympic moment so far: Canadian curler Rachel Homan\'s husband double-fisting his third and fourth beers while watching his wife compete against Japan. It\'s 9am in Korea. Not all heroes wear capes.', 2 => '— Ben Johnson (@Ben_T_Johnson)', ), '14.p' => 'Germain actually missed the end of the match, which Canada won, because he went to grab beers Nos. 4 and 5.', '15.p' => 'In a since-deleted tweet, Germain said that the “stress level is high, I’m not a drunk, I’m just Canadian.’’', '16.div' => 'Advertisement', '17.p' => 'Hey, 9 a.m. in South Korea is 7 p.m. in Toronto.', '18.p' => 'Lest you think Homan’s rink will return home to a frosty reception, remember: this is Canada we’re talking about. They handled this as only Canadians would.', '19.blockquote' => array( '1.p' => array( 1 => 'Canada’s', 2 => 'falls short of a playoff berth in', 3 => 'women’s', 4 => 'play, but holds its collective head high. Here’s a post-game blog from Rachel:', ), 2 => '— Curling Canada (@CurlingCanada)', ), '20.blockquote' => array( '1.p' => array( 1 => 'The bad news: Rachel Homan is out meaning no women\'s curling medal for Canada', 2 => 'The good news: Curling is getting better on a global scale and while bad for Canada, it is good for sport as a whole', ), 2 => '— Mitchell Blair (@scruffyregina)', ), ), '6.div' => 'TOPICS:', '7.div' => array( '1.div' => 'Want to see what readers are saying about our stories?', '2.div' => 'Check out the conversations on', '3.div' => 'Tips? Corrections? Feedback? Email us at', ), '8.div' => array( '1.span' => 'Close', '2.div' => 'The biggest headlines, delivered to your inbox', '3.div' => 'Get news as it happens. 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