There's a changing of the guard in American curling. Team Casper dethroned the king of U.S. curling John Shuster and his supremely talented rink to become Olympic Trials champions.
Led by Skip Danny "Cardiac" Casper, Team Casper demonstrated time and time again throughout the thrilling three-game finals that they were unphased and unbothered by the moment, rising to each occasion seemingly with more confidence than the last.
In Game 3, the rink gained momentum early, stealing a point in the first end when Shuster had hammer. The matchup was tied 3-3 after five ends and Casper went to work. They put a deuce on the board in the sixth and followed it up with another deuce in the eighth, thanks to a pair of masterful throws from their skip. Team Casper led 7-4.
Olympic gold medalist John Shuster found himself and his squad in a familiar position in the ninth end. The stones were aligned so that he could potentially rack up five points with a hammer throw, much like he did in the gold medal game at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics against Sweden. It was a tall task, not an easy shot by any means, and he just couldn’t replicate the magic. Shuster's rink came away with a single point. A masterful double peel by Team Casper’s Luc Violette in the 10th helped Casper keep the house clear to seal the deal.
When the game officially ended, the four members of Team Casper shook hands with their opponents as is customary, and then embraced each other on the sheet. They hugged and shouted in jubilation.
“These guys were so patient with me over the last year-and-a-half,” an emotional Danny Casper said. “We had a million different people on our team and they'd still go out and play well and put us in a position to be here. I can't thank them enough.”
“These are the best teammates that I could ever hope for,” sweeper Ben Richardson added. “We're all different in our own unique ways, but we make it work. We always go out and fight with everything we have, and we’ve always got each other's backs. We've been through a lot, so we've learned how to get through adversity, and I think that's made us stronger as a team.”
The newest member of Team Casper, Aidan Oldenburg, reflected on his own journey to this point. “It meant a lot, obviously, being able to achieve some success here tonight. It’s been a bit of a wild ride, going from four years ago losing to Danny in the junior nationals, to now being on his team and winning the Olympic trials. It's a really good feeling.”
The current iteration of Team Casper formed prior to the start of the 2024-25 season while their captain Danny dealt with severe physical ailments. It started in March of ‘24 when excruciating pain gripped his entire body, and he had no idea why. He couldn’t walk and he couldn’t use his hands. He was bedridden for weeks.
Doctors diagnosed him with Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), a disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the nerves. He wound up playing in roughly 15 of the rink’s 60 games during the 2024-25 curling season, forcing them to constantly search for replacements (hence the “million people” Casper referenced).
As the 2025-26 campaign rolled around, Danny still dealt with symptoms but a mix of the right medication and physical therapy has prevented him from missing any games due to GBS. With their leader back in the fold, the rink thrived, reaching their highest world ranking ever (eighth), which is good for best out of all U.S. national teams.
Before the Trials even began, Casper was confident in his squad’s abilities.
“We’re the best team in the U.S.” Danny confidently declared. “For the last year-and-a-half or two, we've kind of felt that, and we think that we have the best foundation in terms of team dynamics and communication and mental fortitude. We're just super confident that will get us through a lot.”
The shot-making and sweeping throughout the Trials final were elite, and the matchups themselves were thoroughly entertaining. Team Casper took Game 1 after a controversial shot in which Violette accidentally touched a stationary stone with his broom. Shuster ultimately decided that the violation did not impact the number of points Team Casper would have collected had it not been displaced initially. Therefore, Casper scored four points instead of three. They wound up winning by a point.
The next day, Shuster outcurled Casper by a hair, securing a clutch deuce in the tenth to complete a come-from-behind victory and keep their Olympic hopes alive.
Casper landed a knockout blow in Game 3, delivering about as close to a perfect performance as you can get on the ice.
For John Shuster, the defeat represents the first time in 20 years that the squad he's curled on lost in the Team Trials. It also snaps his historic consecutive Winter Games streak at five.
“Obviously, this one's going to take a while to get over,” the 43-year-old remarked. “I thought we did all the right things to prepare to be ready for this, and we showed it too. We played great all week, went through the round-robin undefeated and earned some hammers. But, you know, credit Team Casper, they're an incredible curling team.”
Sweeper Colin Hufman shined all week for Team Shuster, demonstrating a knack for delivering timely shots and wearing his emotions on his sleeve.
“This is the hardest day of the year, period,” he said. “Four or five of your friends are losing their opportunity to chase a dream, and that's what it is for us.”
After revealing that the end of his curling career is near, Hufman shared a touching message with his rink’s supporters. “Shuster fans everywhere need to get behind those guys for the next three months. They're amazing people and they deserve it. So get behind them and push them.”
Chris Plys has already stated the 2026 Winter Olympics probably would have been his last, and Matt Hamilton acknowledged that he’s not quite sure what his future holds on the sheet.
Meanwhile, the five-time Olympian Shuster didn’t seem quite ready to hang up his curling shoes. Although he passed the torch to Danny Casper on this night, he very well may snatch it back.
“I'm not counting me out necessarily because I got nothing else to do. I got no job,” he joked. “But we are going to be here to support all of our athletes who are obviously working their butts off.”
With the victory, Casper's road to Milan Cortina nearly is complete. In order to qualify for the Winter Olympics, the rink must compete against seven other countries in an international Olympic Qualification Event (OQE) in December and finish with a top-two record within the pool. Should they accomplish that feat, Team Casper will find themselves facing off against the world's best in February.
Tune into the OQE from Dec. 5 - 18 in Kelowna, Canada and watch as the Casper rink tries to realize its Olympic dreams.