Here's what you need to know about the World Men's Curling Championship in Ottawa

The best men's curlers are arriving in Ottawa this week for the start of the World Men's Curling Championship.

Canada's Brad Gushue will be joined by rinks from 12 countries for the nine-day curling tournament at the Arena at TD Place. The field includes four-time defending world champions Niklas Edin and Sweden.

"It's a stellar field this season, so it's going to be very tough competition for Canada," Neil Houston, event manager for the World Men's Curling Championship, told Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal.

Houston is encouraging fans to purchase their tickets as soon as possible.

"There are some tickets available, but the sooner they purchase the better off they'll be to make sure that they have a seat," Houston said.

"Ticket sales are going very well as the local community is supporting this event."

CTV News Ottawa looks at what you need to know about the World Men's Curling Championship in Ottawa

When

The World Men's Curling Championship runs April 1 to 9 at TD Place.

The opening ceremony will be held at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

The final is set for Sunday, April 9 at 4 p.m.

Tickets

Tickets are available for a single draw, weekend and weekday packages and a full tournament package.

For more information, visit curling.ca.

Team Canada

Brad Gushue will represent Canada after winning his record-breaking fifth Brier title as a skip earlier this month.

Gushue is joined by vice-skip Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden, lead Geoff Walker and alternate Ryan Harnden.

Gushue won the 2017 world championship in Edmonton.

Teams

Here is a look at the 13 teams competing at the World Curling Championship

• Canada – skip Brad Gushue
• Czech Republic – skip Lukas Klima
• Germany – skip Sixten Totzek
• Italy – skip Joel Retornaz
• Japan – skip Riku Yanagisawa
• South Korea – skip Byeongjin Jeong
• New Zealand – skip Anton Hood
• Norway – skip Magnus Ramsfjell
• Scotland -  skip Bruce Mouat
• Sweden – skip Niklas Edin
• Switzerland – skip Benoit Schwarz
• Turkiye – skip Ugurcan Karagoz
• United States – skip John Shuster

Defending champion

Team Sweden and skip Niklas Edin arrive in Ottawa as the four-time defending world champions.

Edin and Sweden defeated Gushue and Team Canada in the final at the 2022 World Curling Championship in Las Vegas.

Edin also won the 2021 world championship in Calgary, the 2019 championship in Lethbridge and the 2018 championship in Paradise, Nevada. 

Sweden, skipped by Edin, won the gold medal at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

How to get to TD Place

OC Transpo bus service runs to TD Place.

Limited parking is available at Lansdowne Park for events. TD Place recommends you pre-purchase parking tickets in advance to secure your spot.

You can also walk, bike or take a taxi/ride-share to TD Place for events.

The Original 16 Patch

Fans are invited to The Original 16 Patch, known as "curling's party place".

The patch at Aberdeen Pavilion is open to the general public daily. Minors will be allowed into the Original 16 Patch until 8 p.m.

"There's bands throughout the week, there are games going on," Houston said. "Entertainment going 12-hours a day."

Television coverage

CTV News at Six will be broadcasting live from the World Curling Championship at TD Place.

You can watch the action on TSN and the TSN app.