| Olympic curlers win domestic sport awards |
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 In Sweden, the 2006 sport awards gala dinner saw Team Anette Norberg, the "Triple Crown" winners of Olympic, World and European gold in 2006, earn three nominations. The team, which includes Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Svard and Ulrika Bergman, won the "Performance of the Year" award for Norberg's final stone of the Olympic championship final: a brilliant double takeout versus Switzerland. The curlers beat out Kajsa Bergquist's new indoor world record in the high-jump, soccer player Henrik Larsson's two passes for goals in the Champion's League final for FC Barcelona, and the Swedish female hockey team which defeated the USA to qualify for the Olympic final. In addition, a fan vote among TV viewers and radio listeners during the gala placed Team Norberg third among 10 candidates. Team Norberg finished higher than fellow Swedish Olympic gold medallists Anja Parson (Slalom), Anna Carin Olofsson (Biathlon) and Bjorn Lind (Cross Country Ski), among others.  In Canada, the Olympic gold medal champion Brad Gushue team captured the 2006 "Canadian Team of the Year" honours, as awarded by Canadian Press and Broadcast News. The team of Gushue, Mark Nichols, Russ Howard (referred as the skip at Turin), Jamie Korab and Mike Adam earned 173 points in balloting by sports editors and broadcasters. Canada's junior hockey team, which won world championship gold for a second consecutive year, finished second in the balloting with 160 points, ahead of the Canadian women's Olympic champion hockey team at 159. Gushue's rink received 39 first-place votes, 21 seconds and 14 thirds. "The last year has been so crazy and it went by so quick," said Gushue. "There are times you wake up and you still want to pinch yourself." The Edmonton Oilers, who lost Game 7 of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup final, were fourth with 10 first-place votes and 84 points. Team Gushue is the first curling team to be named Canadian Team of the Year since Sandra Schmirler won in 1998, the year she captured Olympic gold in Nagano. South of the border, the U.S. men's Olympic curling team was named the United States Olympic Committee's 2006 "Team of the Year".  Pete Fenson and teammates Shawn Rojeski, Joe Polo, John Shuster and Scott Baird finished the Olympic Winter Games with a 7-4 record, losing in the semifinals to Canada and then defeating Great Britain's David Murdoch to win the bronze medal. It was the first Olympic medal ever won by an American curling team. "We're quite pleased and honored to have been named team of year," Rojeski said. "It is quite an accomplishment and privilege to be named along with the athletes who have received this award before us." Team Fenson won the 2006 U.S. National Championships just days after the Olympics, and advanced to the 2006 World Men's Championship in Lowell, Mass., where they finished fourth. The team also finished in the Top 20 on the World Curling Tour, and ended the season with a quarterfinal finish at the WCT Players' Championship. |
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WCF RANKED TOP 5 (M) | ||
| # | Team | Points |
| 1 | Canada | 1038 |
| 2 | Scotland | 724 |
| 3 | Norway | 639 |
| 4 | U.S.A. | 636 |
| 5 | Germany | 542 |
WCF RANKED TOP 5 (W) | ||
| # | Team | Points |
| 1 | Canada | 928 |
| 2 | Sweden | 795 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 672 |
| 4 | U.S.A. | 615 |
| 5 | Denmark | 521 |
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