Eight Ends: All you need to know for the Elite 10
PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. — It’s right back to business for Brier winner Brad Gushue.
No, not to the office at his brand new Orangetheory Fitness franchise, the St. John’s, N.L., skip returns to the ice to defend the Princess Auto Elite 10 title just days after capturing his first career Canadian men’s curling championship in his hometown Sunday.
Gushue told thegrandslamofcurling.com earlier this month winning the Elite 10 last year in Victoria was therapeutic after falling just short of his Brier dream in Ottawa.
“Last year, obviously losing the [Brier] final, I was pretty devastated,” Gushue said prior to this year’s Brier. “We went into Victoria on a pretty big down. But to kind of jump right back into it helped us get over it pretty quick and once you play a game or two you realize you’re back in the swing of things. It helped us get over the loss last year.
“I think the toughest situation is if you actually win [the Brier]. That’s when you want to take some time and enjoy winning and not have to play again. I would certainly love to have that problem going into Port Hawkesbury.”
Talk about prophetic as that’s exactly the “problem” Gushue now faces.
Here’s the 411 on the Princess Auto Elite 10 with Gushue set to play Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers during the opening draw Thursday at noon AT (watch on Sportsnet) in a rematch of last season’s final.
1st End: A brief history of the Elite 10
The Elite 10 started in 2015 and was the first new event for the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling since the inaugural 2001-02 season. While not considered a major — that title is reserved for the original four events — the Elite 10 stands out from the pack by featuring the unique match play format (more on that in the next end).
Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen was the first Elite 10 champion defeating Sweden’s Niklas Edin for the title in Fort McMurray, Alta. McEwen isn’t around this time as the recent Brier bronze medallist is heading to Aberdeen, Scotland, for another tour event. Gushue posted a perfect 6-0 record to capture the Elite 10 title a year ago.
2nd End: Explain like I’m five — match play
Here’s the match play rundown: Teams compete to win the most ends per game by either scoring two or more points with the hammer or stealing at least one point without the hammer. Singles and blank ends net you nothing and the team loses the hammer. While this is similar to a skins game, the main difference is in match play a blank end does not result in a carryover; every end is worth one point.
While it is a drastic change from what you may have just seen at the Brier, here’s Gushue again to explain why players enjoy it.
“It’s nice to have that different nature to it,” Gushue said. “I think it’s good for the fans to see something different because there’s so much curling on at this time of the year, to go and jump into four-rock rule that we watch at the Scotties and at the Brier it would probably be a little bit more monotonous. But to have this match-play format it throws something fresh at them.”
“When you play on tour week after week, things at times can become a little bit monotonous so when you get a different format like the Elite 10 you’ve got to think and go through that process as opposed to mindlessly calling a shot,” he added. “That’s kind of neat. I enjoy that and I enjoy the format. I wouldn’t want to play it more than once a year but I certainly would be willing to play it when we do get the chance at the Elite 10.”
If the game is tied after eight ends, a draw-to-the-button shootout will determine the winner. All games during the first Elite 10 finished within regulation, however, last year’s event saw both semifinal matches and the final come down to the shootout.
“We beat Reid [Carruthers] twice — in the round robin and then in the final — and we beat Steve Laycock in the semi in a shootout,” Gushue said. “It is pretty dramatic when you have that draw to the button. There’s a lot of pressure but we were pretty lucky to come out on the right side of it.”
Another unique rule to the Elite 10 is tick shots — when curlers nudge guards but do not eliminate them from play when the five-rock rule is in effect — cannot be done on guards sitting on the centre line. Although this eliminates a key maneuver from a lead’s repertoire, teams want rocks hiding in the house in order to score two or more or steal, so they probably wouldn’t want to tick guards and open up the centre lane anyway.
3rd End: Stoughton skipping Elite 10 Select
Four-time Grand Slam champion Jeff Stoughton walked away from competitive curling two years ago. Now the Winnipeg native is back skipping the one-time-only Elite 10 Select team.
While nine teams were invited based on the World Curling Tour’s year-to-date rankings, a special squad was formed featuring past champions to complete the field.
Stoughton will play with third David Nedohin, second Jamie Korab and lead Nolan Thiessen for the Princess Auto Elite 10. Combined the quartet have won six world championships, 10 Briers, 11 Grand Slams and one Olympic gold medal. Talk about star power!
It’s not the first time the Elite 10 has featured a special guest with Rachel Homan’s rink making history last season. Team Homan became the first women’s squad to compete against the men and defeat a high-ranked men’s team (Team Charley Thomas) in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling since Sportsnet acquired the series in 2012.
4th End: Rogers Grand Slam Cup points & Humpty’s Champions Cup spot
This is the first year Rogers Grand Slam Cup points will be offered at the Princess Auto Elite 10.
The Rogers Grand Slam Cup is awarded to the overall season champion following the conclusion of the WestJet Players’ Championship next month in Toronto. Edin leads in the standings, but with two events to go — and almost double points up for grabs at the Players’ — the chase is far from over.
The winner of the Rogers Grand Slam Cup scores a cool cash bonus of $75,000. Click here for the full standings and points breakdown.
The winner of the Princess Auto Elite 10 will also receive an invite to the Humpty’s Champions Cup, the season-ending Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event running April 25-30 in Calgary. As you can see from the list of teams who have already qualified, eight of the Princess Auto Elite 10 squads have already booked their spots, with just Team Morris and the Elite 10 Select looking to lock that up here in Port Hawkesbury.
5th End: No rest for the best
In addition to Gushue, Brier runner-up Kevin Koe, Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs and B.C.’s John Morris make the tight turnaround from the Canadian men’s curling championship to the Princess Auto Elite 10.
Fortunately they’ve had a few days rest and didn’t even leave Atlantic Canada.
Gushue defeated Koe’s Team Canada crew 7-6 during the final in a game for the ages. With Gushue leading 5-1 at the break, Koe came back with a three-ender in six and a steal in seven to tie it up. The teams split singles in eight and nine as Gushue held the hammer coming home in the 10th end. Koe sat two counters and Gushue needed to draw into the eight-foot circle. Although he thought it looked light, third Mark Nichols helped brush it in for the win.
Both Gushue and Koe will feature spares at lead this week: Scott Pfeifer takes the place of Ben Hebert on Team Koe and Tom Sallows is in for Geoff Walker on Team Gushue.
6th End: New second for Laycock
Matt Dunstone got the call this week to fill in at second on Team Steve Laycock at the Princess Auto Elite 10.
Longtime second Colton Flasch left the team earlier this month and later announced he will be skipping his own squad next season. Dunstone, a two-time Canadian junior champion, played at the Elite 10 last year subbing on Team Thomas.
7th End: Draw Schedule
Here’s the full list of matches for the Princess Auto Elite 10 at the Civic Centre in Port Hawkesbury, N.S. Tickets are available, click here for details.
Note: Schedule subject to change. All times listed as Atlantic Time (AT).
8th End: TV Schedule
If you can’t make it to Port Hawkesbury, Sportsnet will be the place to be with live coverage starting right from the first draw Thursday. Watch online by subscribing to Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).
Note: TV schedule subject to change.