Team Gushue speaks

EDMONTON – Alberta native Chris Schille, the second for Brad Gushue, is here at the Ford Worlds, in the runup to Wednesday’s Tylenol Players’ Championship in nearby Calgary.

Moments ago, Schille was dispatched to the Rexall Place media workroom (photo) by his skip to meet the media and explain the unpopular decision to drop popular lead Jamie Korab.

Apparently, the team members had spoken “a lot of times over the past few weeks” and it had “been talked about prior to the Brier”, and the situation all came down to “some on-ice problems, and we had discussions about it throughout the year.”

It was “a real tough decision” and “it really broke our hearts to make this decision.”

It was “almost a clash personality-wise” and “near the end, Jamie seemed not to be in the direction we were going.”

When a reporter asked about Korab’s commitment, Schille said no way, Jose: “Not at all, his work ethic was terrific.”

Another reporter asked about a reported incident between Gushue and Korab at the Strauss Canada Cup, right after the team’s tough loss in the Brier final, and Schille confirmed it to be “an example” where “Brad was saying one thing and Jamie was hearing another… Jamie took it the wrong way.”

Schille said that Korab “started to get a little bit on the negative side… we were trying to build on something they did last year (the 2006 Olympic gold) and (Korab) seemed to be going in another direction.”

Schille also added that “Brad is being attacked about this, especially out east… it’s not really about winning at all costs, it’s about doing the right thing for the team.”