World Men's Curling Championship 2015: Full Medal Results and Reaction

Sweden defeated Norway 9-5 on Sunday to take home the gold medal at the 2015 World Men’s Curling Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  

Hot shooting propelled Sweden to a big victory over the favored host Canada in the semifinals, and that momentum carried over to Sunday's finale against the reigning champion Norway.

Canada fought back from a disheartening defeat on Saturday to salvage the bronze earlier on Sunday. Skip Pat Simmons' team never trailed en route to an 8-4 triumph over Finland to qualify for the podium.

Former Olympic silver medalist Cheryl Bernard congratulated those who represented her country for hanging tough following a 6-3 loss at the hands of the eventual gold medalists:

Curling Canada documented the key sequence in the gold-medal game, when Sweden star skip Niklas Edin notched three points for his side in the seventh end:

The Edmonton Sun's Terry Jones praised Edin's showing with a twinge of sarcasm:

Devin Heroux of CBC Calgary commended Norway's Thomas Ulsrud for keeping the mood light amid extremely high stakes as his team hung tough, tied at three through four ends:

But it wasn't enough to stave off Edin and Co., who were too much once they had the big three-point shot in the seventh.

Canada scored in each of their first two ends and answered Finland's third-end point with three of their own in the fourth. The outcome was never really in doubt thereafter.

Lead Nolan Thiessen weighed in on Team Canada's overall performance afterward, per The Canadian Press (via CBC.ca):

"

We wanted to be playing [for gold] this afternoon. So it still stings from last night. But you don't want to go home empty-handed. Last year, we stood out there at the closing ceremonies while everybody else walked up on the podium. That's the biggest kick in the head there is. We found a way and we medalled and we can be proud of that.

"

While the host nation will be left feeling a bit down after such a promising start, there is still solace to be taken in the fact that the Canada team has been exceptional since Simmons became skip. It was a polarizing gamble that's paid big dividends to date.

The Canadians should still be considered favorites if their form keeps up into 2016, though it would have been nice to win one in front of the friendly fans.

Dynasty talk can begin for Sweden after their second world championship in three years. As long as Edin is at the helm as skip, it doesn't seem this team can be stopped even by the most formidable foes.

Edin has a knack for pulling off clutch shots in the biggest moments, which is invaluable on such big stages. After managing to achieve the bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, the Swedes have surged strongly under Edin's leadership and show no signs of slowing down.