News Elite 10

Winnipeg’s own Reid Carruthers kicks off his hometown Princess Auto Elite 10 tournament taking on four-time world champion Glenn Howard in the opening draw.

The Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling released the match schedule Wednesday for its fifth tournament of the season running March 15-18 at St. James Civic Centre.

Full-event and single-draw tickets are now available! Visit elite10.goigniter.com to purchase your tickets today!

Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson also opens the event and plays recently crowned Olympic gold medallist John Shuster from Duluth, Minn. Toronto’s John Epping meets Olympic silver medallist Niklas Edin of Sweden to round out Draw 1 action.

Shuster will be back on the ice for the following draw in a battle between Olympic champions taking on 2014 victor Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Canadian Olympic rep Kevin Koe of Calgary clashes with Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen and reigning world champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., goes up against Howard, from Tiny, Ont.

The full list of matches can be found below.

The Princess Auto Elite 10 features 10 of the top men’s teams from around the world competing under unique match play rules where scoring is based upon winning ends. There are two ways to win an end: either counting two or more rocks with the hammer or stealing at least one rock without the hammer.

Blank ends result in a loss of hammer. While this may seem similar to a skins game, the key difference is in match play points do not carry over when there is a blank; all ends are worth one point each.

Games are played to eight ends. If the score is tied after eight ends, an extra end draw-to-the-button shootout will determine the winner.

Teams earn three points for a regulation win (within eight ends), two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss. The winning team qualifies for the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 24-29 at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.

Points are also up for grabs towards the Bonus Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions.

Teams were invited to the Princess Auto Elite 10 based on the World Curling Tour’s year-to-date rankings. In the event a team declined, the next-ranked team on the list received an invitation to complete the 10-team field.

Television coverage begins with the opening draw March 15 at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and gsoc.yaretv.com (international). CLICK HERE for the full TV schedule.

PRINCESS AUTO ELITE 10 DRAW SCHEDULE

Note: Schedule subject to change.