Stoughton has only 2 real challengers

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Sweden skip Niklas Edin, centre, with front-enders Fredrik Lindberg, right, and Viktor Kjell, seems poised for a breakthrough performance. (Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images)

As Canada's Jeff Stoughton prepares to step onto the ice in Regina, the only real question is who he'll be playing in the world men's curling championship final next Sunday.

This may be one of the weakest fields we've seen in years, as it appears only two other countries have sent teams that have a real chance of winning the title.

The only serious challengers to Team Canada are Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Sweden's Niklas Edin. There are a couple of other teams with the potential to make the playoffs, but anyone other than Canada, Norway or Sweden winning this championship would be a huge upset.

In a rebuilding year for most of the top teams in the world, Stoughton has had the best season of anyone and was very deserving of the Brier title he captured nearly a month ago by beating Glenn Howard in the final in London, Ont.

I expect Jeff to cruise through the worlds field with ease and I'd be shocked to see him lose more than one or two games in the round robin. He is the clear-cut favourite to capture his second world championship.

Norway and Sweden are represented by two teams that compete at the highest level - the World Curling Tour - and are capable of defeating Stoughton at any given time. Look for both of these teams to be in the mix as the playoffs approach.

Norway's Ulsrud was the runner-up at both the world championship and the Olympic Games in 2010 and he's got a great team. "The Pants" are going to right in the mix again.

Sweden's Edin has been knocking at the door for a couple of years now, and his rink is looking for that big breakthrough event on the world stage. This may be the week for them to do so.

The next group of possible playoff teams is led by Tom Brewster from Scotland, Christof Schwaller from Switzerland, Andy Kapp from Germany and Pete Fenson from the United States. All four of these teams have had their successes on the world stage over the years and, when playing their best, are capable of a big win when it matters most.

Fenson and Schwaller have Olympic medals in their pockets, and Kapp has made the playoffs at the world championship on more than one occasion, finishing as the runner-up in 2007.

Brewster knocked off perennial Scottish representative David Murdoch, was part of the Scottish Olympic selection program over the years and is a very talented player.

Thomas Dufour from France, Tommy Stjerne from Denmark and Luan Chen from China have all defeated most of the teams in the field at one time or another, but will have to be at their best this week to make the playoffs. Chen has the best chance to sneak through the field, in my opinion, and is looking for a breakthrough at the world level. He can certainly do it in this field.

Rounding out the field are Dongkeun Lee from Korea and Jiri Snitil from the Czech Republic. Both of these teams are looking for valuable experience at this level, and may win a few games in this field but will not make the playoffs.

How they'll finish (with projected round-robin record)

Gold medal: Canada (10-1)
Silver medal: Sweden (9-2)
Bronze: Norway (9-2)

Scotland (7-4)   
Germany (7-4)
Switzerland ( 6-5)
United States (5-6)
France (4-7)
China (4-7)
Denmark (2-9)
South Korea (2-9)
Czech Republic (1-10)

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